Student and Parent Guide

Learning
Hub |
Virtual
Classroom

September 2020

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Learning Hub

A safe, supportive place to learn.

Happy students make confident speakers. We provide a safe, supportive and relaxed place to
learn, where everyone feels welcome. Your child will feel connected to others and learn about
themselves too. This sense of community will enhance their learning and build their confidence.
At the British Council we take the safety, well-being and protection of children and adolescents
very seriously, both in our classroom and when delivering online classes.
Please read this document in conjunction with the Child Protection Policy, the Code of Conduct,
the Acceptable Use Policy of ICT and our Anti-bullying Policy. You can find them inside the
students’ notebook we give out to students at the beginning of the academic year.
For any doubt or clarification, or if you observe any action that seems inappropriate, please
contact us at the following email: contact@britishcouncil.ro

A focus on strong learning outcomes and a trackable sense of progress

The new, more flexible structure of our courses offers more support between classes, so your
child can continue learning English throughout the week. For example, via the Learning Hub, your
child can:
• develop an individual e-portfolio for projects
• access the high-quality magazines they’re used to in class and make notes
• access a wide range of extra resources, e.g. helpful grammar and vocabulary activities.

Another great feature of the platform is the personal dashboard where both the student and parent
can see what progress has been made and which activities have been completed – all adding to
a sense of satisfaction and improvement. Your child will feel proud of their progress. Together
you can celebrate their successes and reflect on where they can improve.

We’ve always believed teaching is a partnership with parents that helps us get the best out of
each child. Our dashboard helps you to follow your child’s learning journey even more closely.

If it’s required, the Learning Hub will also enable your child to study English online, live, on the
same day and at the same hour, with their teacher and classmates, just as they do in their face-
to-face classroom. Our virtual lessons are designed to cover the same skills and provide the same
progress as regular classes.

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Get online!

Open Chrome browser

This is the best browser to use with the platform, other browsers may not work.

1. Open https://englishonlinelearn.britishcouncil.org
and use your email
address and supplied
password to log on
Important! Copy-
paste the password
and the username
from the e-mail you
received, in order to
prevent getting locked
out.

Access lesson activities

The teacher will recommend
which of these activities the
student should complete
before and which they should
complete after the lesson.
Click “Validate” to see instant
scores. Click on “reattempt”
to repeat the activity.

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If your lesson takes place online
If we are required to switch to live online teaching in order to comply with health and safety
regulations, your child’s lesson will be delivered via Learning Hub, through this platform. There
are a few steps which you need to check to make sure that your child’s live online learning
experience is as smooth as possible.

Be seen and be heard

In virtual lessons students need to have a camera in

order to participate fully. If you have ever used Skype,
FaceTime or any other video calling app, the
experience is very similar. Depending on your device, Test your video and
you may also need ear/headphones with a built-in mic before the lesson if
microphone to speak to the teacher and other you are not sure they
students throughout the class. work.

Be in a quiet place
The great advantage of Virtual lessons is that you can
choose where to study. For the best experience,
however, find a place where other people will not
interrupt and where noise is not a problem. Being
interrupted and constantly on the move can result in a
poor learning experience.
You can use either a
desktop/laptop
Be properly connected computer, or a
You are going to need a stable internet connection. A tablet.
poor connection will mean students may find it hard to
hear or see each other and the teacher. This can be
frustrating for everyone.

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 2. Find the name of your current magazine and click on the + sign

3. Click join up to 10 minutes before the start of class

4. A new window will pop up. If you don’t have Zoom, click ‘download and
run’.

5. Run the install file

6. Wait a few moments

while the software
installs

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 7. If you already have Zoom installed, click ‘Open Zoom’ in the dialog box

8. When prompted, click join with video

9. You may have to wait for the teacher to let you

join the class

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 10. When prompted, click
‘Join with Computer
Audio’

System check

Before logging in, we recommend that you do the following system checks to make sure
your child can easily access and take part in the Virtual Class lessons.
These will test the access of Zoom to your camera and microphone, as well as the Internet
connection.
Please check these are working before joining the class.

1) Open the Zoom app (download here, if you don’t have it installed)

2) Open settings by clicking the cogwheel at the top right.

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 3) Choose video, and check you are seen. Select the correct camera if you have more than
one. Choose audio and check your microphone and sound are working. Select the
correct microphone if you have more than one.

You may also want to check your bandwidth. Zoom recommends you have a minimum of 1 Mbps
for good video quality.If you want to check your Internet speed you can use Speed Test:
https://www.speedtest.net/. For further information on system requirements, you can refer to the
Zoom website (English only), https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-
Requirements-for-PC-Mac-and-Linux

How the Virtual Classroom works

This button mutes your microphone. Click again to unmute

This button stops your video feed. Click again to become visible again

Click this button to see who is in the meeting

and here to raise your hand to ask the teacher a

question.
Click it again to lower your hand.

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 This is the lesson chat. You can send written messages to everyone in the
classroom or to your teacher.

You will see these buttons at the bottom of your screen:

Click this button to leave the lesson.

House Rules
We expect all our students to be responsible for their behaviour when taking part in virtual lessons.

Positive Behaviour
Like all classes, students and teachers are expected to respect others. This means they need to:
• Be friendly to other students
• Let other students join in activities with them
• Try the activities their teacher asks them to participate in
• Follow the teacher’s instructions
• Listen to others and give them an opportunity to speak
• Make sure they are the only person on their camera
• Ask for help from their teacher or tell an adult that they trust if they are unhappy.
We believe that the most effective way of achieving our aims is to praise and encourage positive
behaviour.

Unacceptable Behaviour
Students must not show any of the following behaviour:
• Use of or threat of violence
• Bullying
• Deliberate disobedience
• Discrimination
• Use of swear words in any language
• Use of telephones during lesson time
• Sending impolite messages.

In addition, students and parents must abide by the rules in the signed Code of Conduct.

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Code of Conduct

No recording
Parents / Guardians are responsible for ensuring that no screenshots or recordings
are taken at any time during the virtual class. Failure to comply strictly with the no
recording policy may result in expulsion from British Council courses.

Only students on camera

No person other than the student must be visible on camera at any time during the
class.

Contacting students
No person apart from the student should attempt to contact any other student in the
class.

Sharing personal data

The sharing of any form of personal data, including telephone numbers, e-mail
addresses and all other forms of personal data or contact data is prohibited.

Appropriate use
Students should abide by all policies covering the appropriate use of virtual learning
platforms managed by the British Council. Students should only interact with other
students in the virtual classroom environment provided for this purpose, and will not
attempt, or aid any attempt by another person, to interact with other students outside
of the virtual learning environment.

Anti-bullying policy
Students must follow the behaviour policy applicable for face-to-face classes,
including our zero-tolerance stance on bullying.

Failure to abide by this behaviour policy may lead to the student’s

suspension or exclusion from the course.

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As a British Council student, I commit myself to:
• Before I start the lesson, I will make sure that I have no object in the room that can
distract me. I just need the device where the lesson is taking place
• Act in a responsible way when I am using technology, this includes the resources that
I am accessing, and the language used
• Not to reveal my passwords to anyone or use anybody else's passwords
• Only use technology when there is an adult at home, and he / she knows that I am
using it
• Do not deliberately browse, download, upload, or forward materials that may be
considered offensive or illegal. If accidentally I come across any type of similar material,
I will immediately inform my teacher, parent or guardian.

During a live session:

• I will not record or take photos of my classmates and / or teachers
• I will not block any partner or turn off their microphone
• I will not share my screen or any other means of communication unless my teacher
requests it
• I will not invite any other user to join the session
• I understand that during the lesson provided by the Centre, my use of the platform can
be monitored.
• I understand that I do not have permission to use, in any way possible, information from
students or staff, images and / or video recordings. I understand this rule is necessary
to be compliant with privacy and copyright requirements.
• I understand that these rules are designed to help maintain my safety and that, if I do
not follow them, my parents and / or guardians will be contacted.

Guidelines
When we learn online, please remember that it is an extension of the classroom and that you
should behave as if you were inside the classroom. This includes:
• Video conferencing from an environment that is quiet, safe and free from distractions
(preferably not a bedroom) using a plain background, if possible, when on camera.
• Be on time for your live class. An attendance register will be kept
• Be dressed appropriately for learning (no pyjamas or other inappropriate items of
clothing)
• Remain attentive during class

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 • Interact patiently and respectfully with your teachers and peers and follow instructions
to support the flow of the class
• Provide feedback to teachers about your experiences and any relevant suggestions or
concerns
• And remember as always to report us to contact@britishcouncil.ro any situation that
you do think does not comply with these rules.

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