Trim the admin: Keycode Access

by | 29 August 2023

Assigning ClarityEnglish programs to students has traditionally been a task performed by the teacher. The Admin Panel, our easy-to-use administrative system, is a great tool for this. It enables teachers to create learner accounts (or bulk import hundreds at a time), group users into classes, assign programs, check progress and more. We’re proud of the Admin Panel, however — as someone who has done a fair amount of course administration — I’ll be the first to admit that making small adjustments to students’ access settings for large cohorts can become time consuming.

Not any more.

We’re excited to announce an efficient, new self-registration administrative option, called ‘Keycode Access’. It simplifies the administrative process of handling multiple students, groups and programs. The following questions will help you to see if Keycode Access is the right solution for your online and blended learning needs.

How does Keycode Access work?

Teachers are provided with unique 13-digit keycodes that correspond with certain programs and access periods. Students then activate these keycodes to start learning.

Let’s look at an example. Say you’ve got a group of students who will progress through three programs: Tense Buster, then Active Reading, then Practical Writing. They must complete their current program to move onto the next one. With the previous administrative system, all students would start out in the first group (‘Step 1’), with access to Tense Buster. You’d need to track their usage, and then move the students who hit 100% coverage into the next group (‘Step 2’), with access to Active Reading — and so on. Certainly doable, but a bit tedious; especially as the students will be completing their programs at different times.

With Keycode Access, this is made much more straightforward. Rather than fiddling with multiple groups and access settings in the Admin Panel, you simply distribute keycodes as needed. Once a student completes Active Reading, you send them a keycode for Practical Writing — they can automatically gain access to the program and start learning.

Is Keycode Access right for me?

While a brilliant time-saver in many situations, Keycode Access isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. If you’ve got a single group of students who will be using the same program for the year, the regular Admin Panel is probably the way to go.

You’ll see the most benefit from Keycode Access if any of the below applies to your situation:

  1. A group of students will work their way through multiple programs one at a time (as in the example above).
  2. Multiple groups of students will need distinct access settings (e.g. access to different programs or for different durations).
  3. A group of students will be using the programs on a self-access basis for independent study, and you want to keep track of their progress. (Note: if you don’t need to track their progress an Anonymous Access licence is more suitable.)

In short — as the complexity of the course administration increases, so too does the value of Keycode Access.

Keycode Access provides course administrators with a new and efficient option for managing student access to various programs. While the Admin Panel continues to be a great tool, Keycode Access provides time-saving benefits in cases where course administration is complex.

To learn more about how Keycode Access works, and to see if it might be the right administrative option for your organisation, please reach out to info@clarityenglish.com. We’ll be happy to help you.

Lucas Gade, Online English Specialist, Atlas English, London Office

Lucas Gade, Online English Specialist, Atlas English, London Office