What's Different in USA Learns

Here are some of the key differences between the new and old USA Learns site.

The New USA Learns: How It Works Now	The Old USA Learns: How It Used to Work
Information for Teachers
Teachers now distribute an automatically-generated class key to their students, in order to enroll them in a class. Note: Please STOP distributing your old class passwords.	The old site used a class password and teacher’s last name to enroll students in a teacher’s class.
There are several easy ways to distribute your class key to students. Visit your My Homepage for details.	Class passwords were distributed manually.
Teachers need to use a valid (real) email address so the account can be confirmed. Before using the site, check your email and select the link to confirm your teacher account.	There was no email confirmation process, which made it tricky for us to provide technical support.
There’s no more waiting for downloadable gradebook. Instead, you can copy/paste the grade data info a software program of your choice.	Required wait time to get downloadable grade book.
Students can no longer drop themselves from your class. The teacher does it.	Students could inadvertently drop themselves from a teacher’s class.
It’s easy to tell when you have writing assignments to grade. You’ll find an obvious notice on your teacher homepage.	It was not so easy!
Time tracking now shows the approximate amount of time that the student spends doing each activity. Keep in mind that time tracking is not an exact science with online learning tools.	There was no time tracking.
Information to Tell Your Students
Now, both independent learners and students with a teacher all go to the same site (usalearns.org) to register and sign-in. We will forward your students to the new URL.	There were 2 separate sites (usalearns.org and usalearns.org/class). Your English lessons and scores from the old site have been copied to the new site. If something is missing or incorrect, please tell us: help@usalearns.org
Students can only have 1 of each USA Learns course (either with a teacher or without a teacher, but not both).	Students could simultaneously study a course with a teacher and have a second copy of the course without a teacher.
After registering, students will receive a confirmation email. We encourage students to go through the confirmation process, but it is not required.	There was no such process.