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EMC Publishing Launches Online Platform to Teach World Languages

• By Christopher Piehler
• 10/14/14

EMC Publishing has launched Passport, an online environment for teaching and learning world languages. Passport (formerly EMCL) is designed to tap into the learning technologies that digital natives embrace and to increase students’ fluency by allowing them to fully experience the language they are learning.

Passport connects students to EMC’s curriculum in and out of the classroom via a platform that includes authentic cultural videos, news and songs, as well as video collaboration and assessment tools. Built through a partnership between EMC Publishing and the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Design Innovation (IDI), Passport combines IDI’s research-based language-learning platforms with EMC Publishing’s ACTFL-aligned instructional content.

Compatible with all mobile and desktop devices, Passport is now available for K-12 students studying French in traditional, blended or online classrooms. The Spanish version will launch later this month, with Chinese and German versions to follow in early 2015.

For students, Passport offers a multimedia interface that shows assignments, quick views, due dates and instructor feedback. It integrates EMC Publishing’s e-books and allows learners to create, share and perform their work.

For educators, Passport supports differentiated learning initiatives, allowing teachers to tailor information for various learning levels within one class and provide personalized feedback via video-based platforms. Passport allows educators to create tasks based on EMC’s media library or their own resources, then conduct a 1-to-1 assessment of a student’s performance via webcam recording. The environment includes a video-based discussion platform that encourages students to record responses to questions posed by their teacher in the language they are learning. It also provides current content like music, videos and news stories.

For example, students can test their skills via a karaoke competition in French, document their visit to the Louvre, re-enact a scene from a French-language movie or explore typical bistro cuisine. The material is updated to incorporate the latest news and cultural developments.