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About Learnosity

Supporting their mission to deliver excellence and innovation in the field of language assessment, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), one of the largest English Language testing bodies in the world, just launched a new, interactive, web-based learning solution to help students prepare for the speaking part of the Cambridge English: First exam.

With the help of Learnosity, Cambridge ESOL's Online Speaking Practice provides students with an authentic way to practice and refine their speaking skills. Christine Nuttall, director of Cambridge ESOL, explains:

Cambridge ESOL’s Online Speaking Practice incorporates video footage of a real Cambridge ESOL examiner asking authentic exam questions. Students can record and share their answers with teachers and friends via a URL. They can also compare their responses with videos of students giving sample answers.

As the technical solution behind Online Speaking Practice Learnosity are thrilled with the successful launch of the final product - the culmination of more than three months of hard work. Learnosity are really proud of our work as we feel that Online Speaking Practice highlights much of our expertise in the area of audio capture.

This is the first solution developed under our new "Powered by Learnosity" brand and looks set to be the first of many more. Keep your eyes open for more Learnosity-powered solutions in the near future.

I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming European Association of Test Publishers (E-ATP) conference which is taking place in Prague from 28 to 30 September.

I will be speaking with Patrick Craven from Cambridge Assessment on Thursday 29th in the Tiber/Seine room at the Coninthia Hotel. Our session entitled ‘Assessment & Learning – the Yin-Yang of Education’ will see a premier of our recent work with Cambridge ESOL.

Peter Pascale from Pearson VU will be speaking earlier on the same day in his session entitled “Mobile Technology in Education and Assessment - Separating Opportunity from Hype”. In what’s sure to be an interesting session, Peter is likely to talk about some Learnosity’s latest work including iPhone/iPod apps and our new iPad app that we have called “Learnosity Capture”.

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at the conference. If you can’t make my session and would like to catch up then please do contact me.

Email: Gavin.Cooney[at]Learnosity.com

Phone: +353857111222

Twitter: @gcooney

We are delighted to announce that Learnosity have been shortlisted for the prestigious e-Learning Awards in three categories.

In the region of 250 entries from all over the world were submitted to organisers, e-Learning Age Magazine.

With such high levels of entries, making it onto the shortlist is a great achievement. We are proud to have made the shortlist in 3 categories:

• E-Learning Development Company of the Year
• Best Distance Learning Project – Open University and Learnosity
• Best Use of Mobile Learning

Learnosity have been lucky to win an e-Learning Award for the two past years in the categories Best Use of Mobile Learning and Most Innovative New Product or E-Learning Tool. We are really hoping to continue the winning streak for a third year.

Winners will be announced at a Gala Evening in London on November 10th.

We are delighted to announce that the Learnosity team in Australia is moving to a fantastic new office.

Our new office is the penthouse suite at number 40 King Street, located on the corner of King and Kent streets with spectacular views over Darling Harbour. The new place is just around the corner from our valued long standing client the Board of Studies NSW.

The busy team of 10 will be able to enjoy the benefits of the spacious new office which includes a great entertainment area. The team is looking forward to getting settled in the coming weeks into this large space that will allow for continued growth of the organisation.

If you would like to join the Learnosity team at our new office we would love to hear from you so please check out our careers section for current opportunities.

Learnosity develop cutting edge tools for teachers and educators.  Our flagship product Learnosity Voice uses the telephone to enable language students and teachers to interact on a one to one level.

Our service:

• Makes it practical for students to practice Oral and Aural skills.
• Is efficient and effective for teachers, as they can listen to each student individually at a time to suit them.
• Can be used for homework assignments or “High Stakes Assessments”.

Learnosity are creating the next generation of language and assessment technology for use in schools and education worldwide.  The current product portfolio includes:

• High availability web based systems.
• Cross platform software platforms (Windows, Mac and Linux).
• iPhone/Android native applications.
• VOIP and SMS applications.

We need someone who can:

• Use Javascript or Actionscript to create great user interfaces.
• Develop highly scalable web applications using ColdFusion, PHP or similar.
• Cut code with the best in the world.

You will also need to be:

• keen to continue learning new technologies.
• able to have a conversation with non technical people.

You'll need:

• 1-3 years of programming experience.
• Expert in at least one Client side language (Actionscript or Javascript/jQuery).
• Experience in at least one Server side language (eg PHP, Java, ColdFusion, etc).
• Understanding of Object Oriented design.
• Understanding of XHTML and CSS.

It would be good if you have:

• a degree in Computer Science, Engineering or similar.
• been working with open source tools.
• been playing around with iPhone/Android applications.
• experience with some of Linux/VOIP/SIP/Asterisk/Jabber/XMPP.

This is a full time role and you will be working in a casual workplace with flexible hours in the Sydney CBD.   Salary commensurate with experience.

If this sounds like the job for you, email a covering letter explaining why you'll be great and your resume to mark.lynch[at]learnosity.com - no agencies please. 

Learnosity have developed a powerful new rubrics (marking) engine that will be launched by Gavin Cooney, CEO, at the ATP Conference in Phoenix this week.

We are delighted to release these new marking schemes which will allow for better, more flexible marking, some examples of which are shown below.

Marking Interface

• The solution supports single, double marking and 'n' marking. 
• Markers log on to a secure web interface to view the tests assigned to them.
• Different markers can be assigned entire tests, certain questions or sections of the tests.
• A second marker will not have access to the marks/feedback provided by the first marker. 
• Once the second marker has given a grade or some feedback the exam will no longer be available for another marker.

The table below outlines the feedback types and how they can be displayed to the candiate.

Sample Marking Options

Our marking schemes are very flexible and marking can be implemented in practically every way.  Below are some popular marking schemes that give a flavour of what is possible.  Marks can be assigned to each individual question or to a group of questions. 

Single Criteria

In the example shown here, a marker listens online to three responses, then determines which grade best reflects the student’s overall performance and just clicks the radio button to apply that grade in respect of the 3 answers.

Audio Feedback

In this example markers listen to the audio response and then give a score out of 10 (or any other number).  Written comment and/or audio feedback can also be left for the student.  This can be very useful for addressing particular issues, for example, a candidate that may tend to mis-pronounce a particular word.

Multiple Criteria

This enables the marker to listen to the response and then assign an individual grade for each of a number of elements.  For a language assignment these may be based on fluency, comprehensibility and coherence. 

Checkboxes

By using checkboxes, innovative assessments can be created where a candidate listens to a story and then retells that story as best they can.  The marker uses check boxes to indicate if key elements were included in the student’s versions.  Scores are based then on the numbers of boxes that have been checked. 

Showing the marking scheme (Rubric)

By clicking the (i) icon, markers and students can view the description of each grade and the requirements needed to achieve a particular grade.  The option to show the information to candiates can be disabled.

If you would like to talk to us about your marking requirements, please do Contact Us.

The New Year got off to a great start when we learned that Learnosity Voice has been shortlisted for a prestigious Digital Media Award in the category Best in e-Learning.

The high profile Irish awards were first launched in 2003 to honour individuals and organizations who have achieved excellence in the digital sector. This year the expert panel of judges reviewed a record number of entries across the 20 categories. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in the Convention Centre Dublin on 11th February. The host for the evening will be Mark Little the well known Irish journalist, television presenter, author and social media visionary.

We are really thrilled to be a finalist and will keep our fingers crossed until the results are announced.

On November 11th, we were delighted to win a prestigious e-Learning Award for the second year running. In a glittering London ceremony CEO Gavin Cooney accepted the award for the Best Use of Mobile Learning.

The high profile awards are organised by e-Learning Age Magazine and represent the very best of the e-Learning industry. Competition was tougher than ever this year and we were delighted to be shortlisted in the Best Use of Mobile Learning category. Read more about the awards.

The judges praised the ways in which Learnosity have used mobile technologies so effectively to improve learner acceptance and engagement.

We are very proud of this award as it recognises our hard work and dedication in delivering the very best mobile learning solutions.

Judges Comments

To mark the biennial Taoiseach’s Public Service Excellence Awards, The Irish Times produced an excellent supplement on July 13th which featured the NCCA FÓN project.

Learnosity has partnered with the NCCA to deliver the FÓN project and the two other projects that were part of the same initiative. On July 8th, the NCCA were honoured with a prestigious Taoiseach’s Excellence in Public Service Award at a ceremony in Dublin Castle.

The Irish Times article remarks that mobile phones are normally seem as the enemy of traditional classroom learning but in the case of FÓN they became very much an ally.

The junior certificate level students on the FÓN project used Learnosity Voice to do spoken homework, build their vocabulary by getting new words by text message and chat directly to other students in Irish. With all of their work being recorded, teachers and students could review the work online, identify any weaknesses and address them together.

Learnosity Voice is the solution behind all 3 phases of the initiative: MALL in 2007, FÓN in 2008 to 2009 and most recently in a project that focused on a more formal spoken assessment environment.

The benefits of FÓN are many, and some in particular were recounted by John Hammond, deputy CEO of the NCCA, when he referred to improvements in autonomous learning, opportunities for students from different schools to chat in Irish on the phone using Learnosity Voice and the way in which the project brought Irish to life for students.

We congratulate the NCCA on their recent award and look forward to many more successful partnerships together.