bahabeach recognizes that due to the COVID-19 crisis, many teachers are currently moving to online classes. This non-traditional environment can present challenges for many, but we are here to help! bahabeach’s many approved learning products provide great ways to continue your students’ progress at home.
Over the coming weeks, bahabeach will be publishing different installments in our series “Teaching through COVID-19”, with each article highlighting a different learning product. These posts are meant to answer your most frequently asked questions about learning products, and how you can use them in a distance learning capacity. Our first post covers GMetrix, a fantastic practice test platform for PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks. Check out the details about launching and utilizing GMetrix below.
- What features are available in this program to help my students continue learning at home?
- If your students can connect to the internet, they can continue using GMetrix at home. Please note that LITA (live in the app) exams require the GMetrix SMS to be downloaded (available at gmetrix.net/download), in addition to having the target application installed on the computer (such as Microsoft Office). If this applies to your certification, please make sure to have students download those elements. If students are unable to download these applications, you can have them use the “Selected Response” exams that are available (see details below).
- How do my students get access and set up their accounts?
- Once you have an administrator account (created by your bahabeach sales rep if your school is new to GMetrix or by an existing GMetrix administrator account at your school), you can log in through gmetrix.net/manage and can set up codes for your students to use. There are several steps to this process.
- From the homepage, select “Access Codes” from the panel on the left-hand side.
- On this new page, you will need to select the license from which you are creating the codes. Find the correct license and click the green plus sign on the right.
- Once this is done, make sure you see the Code Settings section. Here you will be prompted to create an identifier for your codes. You create this yourself, so you can distinguish between class periods, teachers, etc. The access code must be 8 characters or less, and it can only have letters and numbers—no special characters. For example, you can use the identifier MOSA3 for your Microsoft students in your A3 period, but you cannot use the identifier MOS A3 or MOS_A3. Note that the identifier is only part of the access code; the rest of the code is automatically created when you confirm the code settings.
- After adding the identifier, you will also need to add the number of students using this group of codes, which will vary depending on your class size, etc.
- Next you will need to decide on the type of code you want to create. You can choose “Individual” or “Multi-Use.” Selecting Individual will give a separate access code for each student. Multi-Use will create one code that can be used by multiple students (up to the amount you specify in the Number of Students field). Student accounts can be tied to multiple access codes, so they will not need to have separate accounts if they have codes from more than one class.
- The expiration date will be auto-filled, especially if you are receiving access as part of a trial from bahabeach, or a recent purchase.
- Next, you will move down to the Test Settings option. You can decide if you want students to have access to missed questions and study guides, if available. You can also change the value in the Tests Per Student field, which determines how many times a student can start a new test using that access code. We recommend keeping it at the maximum value.
- After that, you will need to select the programs you want the access codes to apply to. Make it as simple as possible, coordinating the code with the program that you are teaching in class. Whatever option you select here will be visible to the student when they redeem their access code. If you later need to change what programs are on the code, you will be able to do so.
- Once you click “Confirm,” you will see the table of access codes. This is what you send to your students to get them access to the GMetrix materials.
- Do my students need to install anything?
- For LITA tests (live in the app tests, such as Microsoft Office, Adobe 2018, or Autodesk), students need to have the target application installed as well as the GMetrix SMS (available at gmetrix.net/download) to use the full functionality of GMetrix. However, there are also selected response practice exams available for select programs and exams to accommodate students who are unable to have those programs installed. You can add the tests with “Selected Response” in the title to new access codes you create (see the previous steps), or you can add those tests to access codes you’ve already created. To do so, go to the Administrator panel (gmetrix.net/manage), select Access Codes, find the access code you want to change, and click the “Edit” icon. Scroll down to the “Test Settings” section of the page, and you’ll be able to see which exams have selected response options (click on the triangle to the left of the product categories to see a detailed list of the tests). Make sure the selected response tests have checkmarks in their boxes, and then confirm and save your changes.
- What web browsers work best?
- All web browsers are supported for the selected response tests. The LITA tests require the GMetrix SMS to be installed and do not require a specific browser.
- Can they work offline?
- No. GMetrix functionality is web-based, even for the LITA tests, so students must have an internet connection to be able to complete trainings and practice tests.
- If I need to provide my students printable materials to accompany their online course, what can I give them?
- If you have course content in addition to the practice tests, your students will be able to access the printable materials in their GMetrix student account. Once they’ve selected the course and started it, there will be a folder icon under the course name. They can select the folder icon to see the various course materials available for downloading and printing.
- Is there a video/demonstration component that the students can complete before taking any practice quizzes?
- If you have a license with courses on it (through LearnKey or BrainBuffet), then the courses have training videos for the students to use before taking practice tests. The GMetrix practice tests themselves don’t have any video training content, but there are study guides included with practice tests for some products. To access the study guides, students need to log in to their student account and scroll down to the bottom of the home page. There will be a section labeled “Study Guides,” and it will every guide that is currently available for the products on their access codes. These study guides are organized according to certification test objective and offer further explanation on each objective.
- Can I see what my students are doing? What they have completed, how they have done on their quizzes, etc.
- Absolutely. Within your administrator profile, you can select “Reports” from the left-hand menu. From there, you can see individual results from your students. If you would like a more granular view, you can click on the “Details” option to see a section-by-section score report. This will allow you to see which concepts your students are struggling with and help with additional focus and custom tests.
- Is your course broken up in modules so I can assign short learning every day?
- Yes. When a student logs into their profile, they can select their course and see the different modules or projects within the course. You can break down the daily assignments using these sections, making the overall course more digestible for your students.
- What works without downloads and what needs to be downloaded to be fully functional?
- For Microsoft Office, Adobe 2018/2019, and Autodesk practice tests, only the selected response tests are available without the need to download anything. The other practice tests in those products require the GMetrix SMS to be downloaded (gmetrix.net/download) as well as the target program (Word, Photoshop, etc.). Adobe CS6 and CC 2015 practice tests do not require any downloads. All other products do not require any downloads for their practice tests.
- Can I give feedback to my students within their account?
- Giving feedback to students through their GMetrix account is not currently available, though students are able to see their scores on completed practice tests, including a breakdown of how they did on each objective.
Looking for a more visual representation of the platform? Check out bahabeach’s full Gmetrix demonstration here, and a bonus teaching session with Jennifer Stubblefield here.