Monday 13 October 2014

With the latest update Lexicum is turning into a powerful tool for teachers

Lexicum has been helping learners improve their vocabulary for a while now - our web and mobile apps have been live for months. However, with our latest release we add some exciting new features that will not only make the platform more useful for learners but also turn it into a powerful tool for teachers. The most significant addition is the word lists feature - users can now organize their words into groups and can also share these groups with other users. The new functionality allows teachers to prepare lists of words based on topic or a work of literature covered in class. These lists can then be shared with the students so they can use them as a reference in class and practice them later, on any device.

Here is a quick overview of how the new functionality works (no audio):

Keen to try it? Sign up now on http://lexicum.net and get going!

The word lists feature will enhance the stored context of users' words by putting them in different groups based on the learner’s preference. This way every user can create personalized list for each language lesson, or on particular topics like gardening, fishing, politics, sports etc. More importantly, this feature can be used by teachers to create and share curated lists of words with students. This was a requirement that we heard time and time again from the many teachers we talked with and is a problem to which no software provides a satisfactory solution - teachers often resort to circulating photo-copied handwritten notes. With the Lexicum list sharing functionality students can import the list from the teacher on any device - smartphone, tablet or PC - and use the spaced repetition quiz to memorize the new words from the lesson along with any other words they may have added.

Note that the lists feature is currently available on PC and tablets - the mobile app will be updated shortly. Also, expect to see public lists on common topics that any user can import in order to expand their vocabulary in a particular area. Further features for teachers are in the pipeline and soon the class module will contain a progress overview, showing the number of words from each list that the students have already learned. We are very keen to hear your thoughts about these features and the directions in which we should take the platform to best address the challenges teachers face in the classroom. Feel free to share any thoughts on this, both comments on the existing functionality and feature requests, on our support forum: http://lexicum.uservoice.com/

Additionally, we'll be attending the LanguageShowLive in Olympia, London, and we'd love to talk to you in person. Looks like there are no stalls left so we'll be wondering around - the safest way to make sure we meet and have a chat is to arrange an appointment. If you are planning to attend the event and want to talk to us please let us know in the comments or drop us a line at info@lexicum.net

Looking forward to receiving your input and meeting you in person!

The Lexicum team

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