With more digital noise than ever before vying for the attention of students and educators, it is important that any digital tools a language teacher uses are intuitive, efficacious, and engaging. Language learning, after all, requires intense concentration and is an inherently multisensory experience. vhlcentral is an online learning environment that is purpose built for language and literacy instruction. Its course management features include data and analytics capabilities that give educators a real-time understanding of students’ strengths and weaknesses. vhlcentral is also home to thousands of learner engagement articles like videos, real-time video chat, audio-sync readings, and other materials that can help students not just learn, but also retain information. As leaders in the language instruction and learning space, Vista Higher Learning’s mission is to deliver programs that reflect our commitment to improving outcomes for instructors and students. Rather than assuming we know the features and tools that instructors and students need, our products are supported by data and built for true purpose and benefit.
Like language students, we improve by listening
With language expertise at our core, Vista Higher Learning’s mission mirrors that of language educators everywhere: to make the process of language learning engaging and effective for all students, no matter where they come from and regardless of their knowledge base. Our teams of language experts strive to support language educators on the ground by giving them the very best tools and resources for their instructional environments. We’re only able to do this by putting into practice something that is second nature to language students: listening. That, coupled with a mindset of constant innovation, allows us to build and deliver products that serve educators well. Our products, like vhlcentral, were built using detailed from both educators and students. As a result, we’re confident that vhlcentral gives educators the specific tools they need to prepare and deliver powerful lessons that engage students and make language “stick.” Taking our commitment to understanding customers’ needs a step further, we recently surveyed a large group of K–12 and higher education language educators who use vhlcentral. Some encouraging themes emerged.
vhlcentral earns a seal of approval from veteran educators
Encouragingly, our most recent surveys revealed that language educators who have been in the field the longest are among vhlcentral’s most enthusiastic users and promoters. We are exceptionally grateful for the positive feedback from our long-term users and are thrilled to learn that vhlcentral is meeting the needs of expert language teachers as they guide and instruct students. We also believe that the endorsement of vhlcentral by veteran educators offers encouragement for new and prospective educators who may be exploring which tools and platforms can best set them up for success.
Easier course management, more engaging lessons all around
We also know that language educators of all experience levels appreciate the ease and simplicity that the online learning environment brings to their instruction. Two-thirds agreed that it has made learning more engaging for students or made students more proficient in the language. Overall, users appreciate features like assessment, auto-grading, immediate feedback, and the platform’s user-friendly interface.
Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents (72%) agreed that vhlcentral has made managing their courses easier.
In their words: vhlcentral user testimonials
Going beyond the numbers, here are some things our customers have told us:
“One of the most valuable aspects of vhlcentral is that it offers various ways of learning the content. The audios and videos make it a complete experience of learning a language.”
– High School Language Teacher
“The platform is well organized and easy to navigate. Students’ feedback is always positive.”
– University Language Instructor
“Lessons are very creative, and easy for students who do not know much English.”
– High School Language Teacher
“Being able to see the teacher’s book and the students’ books online is helpful for planning.”
– Middle School Language Teacher
“I love that everything is digital, so I can project the activities, readings, and textbooks onto the screen in my room.”
– High School Language Teacher
A roadmap for the future of vhlcentral
We are happy to celebrate the success of our customers, but at the same time, we always strive to understand those areas where optimization and innovation are warranted. Because the truth is that the needs of educators are evolving quickly in response to broader trends in education and technology, and it’s our responsibility to remain several steps ahead. For example, our product development teams are listening closely to users’ evolving requirements in the areas of grading and LMS integrations and then adapting products accordingly. Lightning-fast developments in the space of AI are also driving a changing appetite for different types of teaching and learning solutions, and we’ll be addressing those in depth in the coming months.
Listening to our customers gives us a deeper understanding of their needs. Their insights guide our strategy and give us the knowledge we need to build a road map that directs our future product efforts. The best news? Our routine listening exercises reinforce that Vista Higher Learning is truly a market leader in language instruction. The results of these exercises validate that an online learning environment like vhlcentral is the optimal tool to help language educators manage their courses effectively. And perhaps most importantly, the results reinforce the bottom line: that vhlcentral is serving its intended purpose of helping educators reach students in more powerful ways and helping students unlock the skills they will need to communicate effectively in their chosen languages.
