FAQS, FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can my students use this both in class and online? Yes, absolutely. One of the key features of EduNovela.com has been its 100% fluidity between classroom use with a teacher and use remotely. At a moment's notice, you can move your users completely online if needed with no additional work on the part of the teacher. Or, use the product in a fully online class or in a lab setting. The programs are made for all scenarios: hybrid, classroom only, or purely online. Your students can also use the complete course package without an instructor. You choose!
If I am an individual at home or in a business and I want to learn or practice my Spanish, can I use EduNovela.com? Yes! You can register as an individual home user on our portal access page.
Can I use this in place of a pricey textbook or as a supplement? Yes, both! EduNovela.com programs are designed with multiple needs in mind and are compatible with various approaches.. For maximum use and minimum costs, make our shows the driver of your course and use our grammar as the supplement to it. Or, use our shows as the supplement to you existing grammar. You choose. All tv programs also come with a new feature: Auto-correcting GRAMMAR with Vocabulary in context.
Do you offer online discussion/classroom activities & homework sheets? Yes, a multitude, and all highly customizable. For free samples before you order check out the samples posted on our Products page. We offer more than 200 for the first two levels and more than 300 for the advanced level. All fully customizable by you.
What is your pricing for high schools? We offer our high school products at a discount for $19 per student user for Basic or Intermediate and $24 for Advanced and AP,. per academic year, ending on July 30. Teachers are free with a classroom set of licenses. We do not sell single licenses to teachers. There is a minimum of 10 licenses per school. However, each student user must have a unique license. (Please note: we do not sell under 10 licenses per show.) All licenses expire on July 30.
What if my school is small? If less than 10 students, then, you would order the minimum of 10, calculating your own per user cost based on that sum. But please note that you cannot order fewer than 10 licenses per show.
What is your college pricing? Our college price is $32.00 per user with licenses ending on July 30, unless for summer school of course. We set your school up and students pay online for the license. Should your school choose to pay, please contact us to arrange.
Do you sell the same products to both high school and college? Yes, with two differences. Our college products have college authors who are professors. Another difference: we do not overlap the sale of our products. If students are properly placed, they should not repeat materials in college that they had in high school. Why do we do this? Because we are committed to best student outcomes! For this reason, we do level our products. They should not be chosen by choice of TV program, rather by level.
Who are the authors?
We rely on real humans, not AI, "bots" or other technology to create every piece of material we offer.
We are a group of professors and high school teachers from all over the country. We are all real Spanish teachers. A core group of us met at Northwestern University and have at least 15 years experience with this methodology in college, high school, and middle school teaching. For more about our authors, click here. Our authors are from Northwestern, the University of Iowa, the University of Illinois, Purdue University, and the University of Texas San Antonio, plus public and private high schools schools across the country.
What approach does EduNovela.com use?
We use our own unique "1:1 authentic media made comprehensible" with various help functions such as vocabulary, Spanish only subtitles, quick check comprehension questions in English, and pre and post readings with narration. In the classroom, the instructor facilitates conversation via storytelling (by both students and teachers!) to deliver the best whole experience possible to students. Teachers will also receive a robust bank of activities for the classroom or online. To read more about our use of input with authentic media, see our NEWS.
Where and when was this approach developed?
Language teachers have long been using video for their teaching. We have combined input with authentic media to maximize student engagement and motivation. We call our approach 1:1 authentic media made comprehensible. Then, in the classroom or in online discussion, we use student and teacher storytelling to continue the experience. This approach was first used with students in Spanish 1 and 2 at Northwestern University in 2000. It required many years of faculty personal time outside of school to bring this experience to students. We know dedicated teachers do this type of thing at home as we did without compensation...Now, you can save yourself hours of work with our EduNovela.com projects. No more searching through video at home, trying to direct your students to the clips with English only subtitles, and making worksheets! And, of course, we are partnering with the media companies and have legal permission.
Why was this approach so successful with students for 15 years?
Check out what our Senior Editor, Prof. Sue Pechter from Northwestern University, has to say about that by seeing our NEWS here.
Why do you combine reading with video?
Most students need a cue, prompt, or introduction to authentic materials. We let them know who is of importance in the lesson, what to look for, and give them some glimpse into what might happen. We also offer narration of our reading for added fluency. We have female and male narrators with various Spanish accents to expose your students to a broader amount of Spanish than only from the video itself. Then, we offer Spanish only subtitles!
How many episodes do you offer?
We offer 42 episodes for each program. We found this to be the best balance between what students wanted and what was feasible in one academic year. If your students do not finish, they will still have access until July 31 of the following summer. Our last episode can also be ordered in “party format” for showing in an auditorium setting. With the prototypes, we always had a big party and students and teachers came dressed as their favorite characters. Silvana sin lana has 42 episodes of 15 minutes each, El tiempo entre costuras has 42 episodes with approximately 16 minutes of video each, and Gran Hotel has 42 episodes of approximately 20 minutes. All shows have a one-hour Gran Finale that can be shown auditorium style if you wish. We had a lot of fun doing that for many years at Northwestern, having students come to a "pre-party" and then showing the video. We had contests for students who came dressed as their favorite characters!
What would a typical schedule look like for using one of your products as a stand alone or as a supplement in either college or high school? Our programs are very flexible and can be used on many schedules. Please see scheduling suggestions here or develop your own. You set the release of lessons on your own schedule.
Why are the subtitles only in Spanish?
We do not offer English subtitles because it is contrary to our teaching methodology, however, having them in Spanish contributes to it. We offer integrated vocabulary and short comprehension quizzes.
As a teacher, can I buy only one license and show it to my class?
We do not sell individual licenses to teachers. Our approach is not made to be used in a group setting for viewing (projection). But you can certainly use it in a class setting- just have student watch a scene or two and pop out an ear bud! The reason is simple: comprehensible input with authentic media works best when differentiated for the individual and delivered directly with ear buds or headphones. The video is only one part of the project. The rest is created by real professors and teachers. Users also get vocabulary and other help functions along with speed controls for a differentiated experience.
Does EduNovela.com work like YouTube or a streaming service?
Both yes and no. EduNovela.com is not a passive tool. It is not as simple as students logging in to watch video, though if this is what you are looking for in a tool, your students can certainly do that alone without accessing other parts of the learning experience.
Unlike tools like videos, DVDs, La Catrina, YouTube, Netflix, or even Destinos now online, the students do not simply login and view as a passive viewer. Our site is for active learning. Instructors using the optional 5-point end quiz will need to access those grades via our grade book. Teachers will also log in to view just as students do. If teachers want to access the hundreds of printables and classroom or online discussion worksheets and new QUICK GRAMMAR GUIDES, they will also need to go to that resource area of their portal. We recommend that teachers set the dates to release the episodes. If you are not confident with technology such as your school's LMS, you can have a member of your tech team on the account for free.
What if my school is not 1:1?
EduNovela.com products can be used by students in one classroom with multiple devices. Students can be on any combination of desktops, laptops, and iPads or tablets. Students should wear headphones or ear buds while using the programs even from home. Contact us for a consultation. EduNovela.com was originally designed for remote use as a lab component or the main driver of in-class conversation, so consider assigning it for homework.
How do the EduNovela.com programs differ from what is offered on Netflix, Hulu, and other like providers?
First, the total experience of EduNovela.com encompasses far more than video alone. Next, each program is sized just right for the academic year. Most continuing series, super series and telenovelas have between 120 and 150 hours. We trim them down, choosing only the storylines with the most interest to the age group, we make careful linguistic choices, we pair the routine vocabulary from traditional texts with the footage chosen, and we include only age-appropriate footage for the target group. Our choices are quite new TV series and differ greatly from the old school telenovelas of the past. All of our shows have a strong female lead. Our shows are highly edited down to 14-15 hours but still have a beginning, a climax, a desenlace, and the end, so your students get the full stories without sacrificing important details as condensed programs.
In the case of some programs like “Gran hotel” for example, we chose only the best segments most applicable to the age level. Some teachers have asked, what stops a student from going to Netflix and watching all the videos with English subtitles? First, Netflix pulls programs without regard to customers being in the middle of the series. Secondly, if a student wishes to watch 80 hours of “Gran hotel” to find the exact scenes selected and used in our 14-15 hour program, we feel that they are going to be doing a great service to their Spanish learning regardless of subtitles!
How do we fit 42 episodes into our school year?
We completely shifted the way we taught Spanish when we used a continuing series. The series was the real driver of the course, not the textbook. (You may even consider ditching those crazy expensive textbooks and get a simple grammar workbook or check out our new Grammar sections. Check out our blog for more about that by seeing our NEWS..)
Additionally, all of our series follow a typical textbook curriculum for the level. You will notice that our first level stories are always about families. When using storytelling in your classroom, your grammar comes alive. Students are excited to do extra exercises while continuing to watch. It also helps tremendously on assessments to have a continuing storyline as context rather than using random names and sentences that are disconnected.
How do students experience growth with authentic media made comprehensible?
Please see our NEWS.
How can students start speaking right off the bat in Spanish 1 with Authentic media made comprehensible and Storytelling?
Please see our NEWS.
Why is there some English in the Silvana scene summaries? Why are there English questions at the completion of each scene? Why are they not in Spanish?
There is an English summary in Silvana sin lana to let them know what to listen for. (In the college, High school 2/3 and 4/5 and AP version, it is in very simple Spanish.)
There is an optional 5 point quiz at the end of each 15-18 minute episode. The teacher should assign this quiz. It comes up once the user has fully viewed all the scenes. We do quizzing in English to be sure the student is comprehending the materials correctly. All of our choices are research-based best practices for non-heritage learners. Many of you contacting us for materials for heritage learners without English quizzing. We do not currently offer that, however, many schools use our materials for heritage learners. The quizzes are completely optional. You can use our online discussion or classroom worksheets for heritage learners.
What are the “end-of-episode” quizzes like? Why can’t I take one in the sample?
Once in our EduNovela.com Learning Portal, students will notice there is a 5-point English quiz at the end of each lesson, optional depending on the teacher’s desire. It is a holistic quiz covering the reading, what was seen, what was heard, and what was understood. This 5-point quiz is recorded each time the user takes an assigned quiz.
The system tracks time on task and score, and teachers may choose to export that to their larger grade book. The user gets both time on task and score plus a chart showing progress. The quiz score is also helpful for out of class work or a day with a sub. For college users, it is the primary way the user’s work is tracked by the teacher.
This quiz is optional. As teachers, you can always toggle back and forth between the teacher side and the student side. There is no additional login needed to use as if a student. We want you to see the program the way your students do, and experience it as they do. You can also take the quizzes as they do.
Why do you not sell your college and high school programs overlapping?
There are two reasons: Our college-level materials may not be content-appropriate for high schools. We offer multiple programs for high school. They will be age-appropriate.
Next, unlike major publishers who sell texts and resource materials to both levels, we do not feel it is beneficial to students’ growth in Spanish to repeat materials used in high school while in college. We level our materials very carefully so there is no overlap. Rare students will repeat materials but if they are properly placed, they will not.
What if I want to buy a college program for A.P., Spanish 4/5, heritage learners, or dual credit Spanish?
Yes, we will sell college programs for A.P. Spanish and Level 4 or 5, however, we cannot guarantee that the content will be fully appropriate for the classroom. In that case, we always recommend that teachers watch the content before showing it. Please note: we do not sell Gran Hotel for High School Spanish 3 or lower due to the overlap with college sales.
What types of activities do you have available?
In “El salón de profesores” we offer at least one activity for each episode plus many printables for classroom use. Later, this will also be a shared space for teachers to share their own activities. Our intention is to keep the price point as low as possible considering we are offering a top quality, new HD video experience to students. We hope teachers will share activities, coming soon.
May college students purchase access for only one semester at a discount?
The price is the same regardless just as if it were a textbook in which you only use a portion. Because all schools are on different schedules, we do not split our program at the semester. However, if a college student drops a class before or at the semester, you or the student may arrange the transfer of the remaining license to another college student. Please have your Teacher Manager contact us for help in doing so.
When can my students access the episodes? Instantly once they enroll!
If ordering in advance, your school’s logins will be set up approximately August 1 of each year. Your students will have access from August 1 to July 30 of the following year.
All licenses end on July 30. Contact us about summer school set ups.
Will my students be able to watch from home or anywhere?
Yes, anywhere with good internet. This would be similar to what you need to access Netflix.
Please note that some countries may block our TV programming (for example China), thus if you have students returning to another country in the summer and they have not finished the show, we cannot guarantee that they will have summer access.
Does my school need anything special to watch?
Most schools should have sufficient internet. However, you should expect the same experience to be as if you have all of your students on Netflix watching a clip simultaneously. If you have known tech limitations, you may wish to schedule a conversation with your tech team and our tech team. Please contact us.
For small colleges and boarding high schools watching outside of class, you may want to check with your dorms. There is a tendency for college students to watch in the evening the night before it is due. You will want to be sure your dorm's broadband can handle the traffic. Reminding students of this may be helpful. We tracked this issue for 15 years in our prototypes, and rarely did students watch earlier than the night before due. We wondered why, knowing that it might be more difficult in a dorm. We were really surprised by the answer! It was not because of procrastination, rather it was trying to save the best homework for last. That was a great indicator that we were on to something very special.
Does EduNovela.com work on iPads? And Chrome books?
Yes. And yes. We have heard from one of our early user schools that Chromebooks updated to version 67 was optimal. Thank you, Benjamin Logan School!
Do you have tech support?
Yes, we have tech support during traditional business hours for teachers who cannot resolve the problems via their own school Teacher Manager. College students watching in the evenings and into the night may experience a short delay with tech support until the next morning.
If we have any tech issues out of our control such as a weather-related incident, we will contact all schools by email. If you are having another problem and you have not heard from us, assume it is your school, and check with your tech director. If they cannot resolve it, please let us know and we will help. Contact us at
[email protected] to describe your issue.
What if as a school we have problems we cannot resolve with our internet or we do not like the program?
EduNovela.com offers a full refund to any school not satisfied with their experience within 30 days of ordering and prior to us loading your students. Please check your student wifi and broadband with our full length samples on our products page, and please be sure you like our product before we add your students, and prior to 30 days from ordering.
Do all of my students need an individual subscription/user ID? What if my students want to share a license to save money?
We do not allow subscriptions to be shared. Our system is differentiated for each user. It will track growth, time on task, and progress, plus submit the grade on the quiz to the grade book. We ask that teachers do not allow students to share licenses. Like any other service, we require one license per individual student user. We ask that teachers not accept student quizzes printed out on paper.
Students who drop a class may arrange a transfer of their remaining license to another student. Please contact us via our Contact page for details.
Can my students download the videos?
No, we do not allow students to download video due to agreements with our TV providers. We ask that schools and teachers reinforce this policy.
Can teachers or students repost videos online or on social media?
No, our agreements with our media partners do not allow for this. We ask that teachers clearly convey this to students.
Can teachers or students post summaries of our programs online or on social media? No, for obvious reasons we do not allow this and, secondly, our agreements with our media partners do not allow for this.
For teaching purposes, may I use one particular scene in class to teach a grammar lesson to my students?
YES! Teachers will have access to scenes. More about how to do this will be provided in the Faculty & Curriculum Guide. You will never have so much fun presenting por and para!
If we decide not to use the EduNovela.com Learning Portal for the last video of the year, how do we get the end of the year auditorium or “party version” of the episode?
Please contact us.
Can teachers or administrators set the release/due dates for their schools?
Yes! Admin ("Teacher Manager") or a tech team member can set the release dates for multiple class sections at once or teachers can set them for their own class sections or sections, by group or by single class. Users have until the due date to do their assignment. You may extend the group's assignment if students are absent.
How many times can users watch the video?
Users can watch as many times as needed, but they can only take a 5-point end of lesson viewing comprehension quiz once. Can teachers or administrators reset a quiz if a learner did poorly? They can only take a 5-point end of lesson viewing comprehension quiz once but we offer multiple worksheets for each lesson in El salón de los profesores. Each is linked to the specific lesson and shows not only an understanding of some major grammar points and frequent vocabulary, but also the specific video lesson content.
What are the special features for Christian schools for Silvana sin lana?
We have a bank of scenes that will feature praying to the Virgin de Guadalupe, a grotto set up in the workplace to pray to her, church scenes, praying in a family's back yard patio grotto, etc. These are video clips will be labeled by which of our episodes you might want to add them to or topic. They are cultural-religious scenes of hispanic life. We have 20 of these videos at your disposal.
There are one or two scenes in the entire Silvana sin lana program you may wish to preview in advance. We give you a "head's up" on those in our Teacher & Curriculum Guide to the episodes. If you are a Christian school teacher, please take a look at that in advance or write us. We find the scenes to be very positive, but you may not.
How can I get samples? Go to our Products page and look for the level you want. We post 3 full samples of each tv program.
Do any licenses roll over into the next school year? No, please purchase only what you need. You can always add more licenses once you join. When do licenses end? All school licenses end on July 30 of the academic year in which the program was used. At that time, we clear ALL student, instructor, and school data. This is required by most schools. Once you place your order, you have 30 days to request a refund.
How can I speak to a team member or email you with questions?
Please contact us via our "Contact Form" in the upper menu, or call us at 1-833-U-NOVELA.
We are on Pacific Time. Please note, during "high season, August to November, please email us or you may be on hold for quite a while. We promise to get back to you quickly. To fill out a tech support ticket, describe your issue and send it to [email protected]. A screenshot is always helpful.
What is your student privacy policy? Can I be assured that you are not using student data for other purposes?
Student data will only be used for the purposes of their access to our site. We never sell student information. Teachers and students do not need to register to view samples!
Click here to read our privacy policy and terms of use.
If I am an individual at home or in a business and I want to learn or practice my Spanish, can I use EduNovela.com? Yes! You can register as an individual home user on our portal access page.
Can I use this in place of a pricey textbook or as a supplement? Yes, both! EduNovela.com programs are designed with multiple needs in mind and are compatible with various approaches.. For maximum use and minimum costs, make our shows the driver of your course and use our grammar as the supplement to it. Or, use our shows as the supplement to you existing grammar. You choose. All tv programs also come with a new feature: Auto-correcting GRAMMAR with Vocabulary in context.
Do you offer online discussion/classroom activities & homework sheets? Yes, a multitude, and all highly customizable. For free samples before you order check out the samples posted on our Products page. We offer more than 200 for the first two levels and more than 300 for the advanced level. All fully customizable by you.
What is your pricing for high schools? We offer our high school products at a discount for $19 per student user for Basic or Intermediate and $24 for Advanced and AP,. per academic year, ending on July 30. Teachers are free with a classroom set of licenses. We do not sell single licenses to teachers. There is a minimum of 10 licenses per school. However, each student user must have a unique license. (Please note: we do not sell under 10 licenses per show.) All licenses expire on July 30.
What if my school is small? If less than 10 students, then, you would order the minimum of 10, calculating your own per user cost based on that sum. But please note that you cannot order fewer than 10 licenses per show.
What is your college pricing? Our college price is $32.00 per user with licenses ending on July 30, unless for summer school of course. We set your school up and students pay online for the license. Should your school choose to pay, please contact us to arrange.
Do you sell the same products to both high school and college? Yes, with two differences. Our college products have college authors who are professors. Another difference: we do not overlap the sale of our products. If students are properly placed, they should not repeat materials in college that they had in high school. Why do we do this? Because we are committed to best student outcomes! For this reason, we do level our products. They should not be chosen by choice of TV program, rather by level.
Who are the authors?
We rely on real humans, not AI, "bots" or other technology to create every piece of material we offer.
We are a group of professors and high school teachers from all over the country. We are all real Spanish teachers. A core group of us met at Northwestern University and have at least 15 years experience with this methodology in college, high school, and middle school teaching. For more about our authors, click here. Our authors are from Northwestern, the University of Iowa, the University of Illinois, Purdue University, and the University of Texas San Antonio, plus public and private high schools schools across the country.
What approach does EduNovela.com use?
We use our own unique "1:1 authentic media made comprehensible" with various help functions such as vocabulary, Spanish only subtitles, quick check comprehension questions in English, and pre and post readings with narration. In the classroom, the instructor facilitates conversation via storytelling (by both students and teachers!) to deliver the best whole experience possible to students. Teachers will also receive a robust bank of activities for the classroom or online. To read more about our use of input with authentic media, see our NEWS.
Where and when was this approach developed?
Language teachers have long been using video for their teaching. We have combined input with authentic media to maximize student engagement and motivation. We call our approach 1:1 authentic media made comprehensible. Then, in the classroom or in online discussion, we use student and teacher storytelling to continue the experience. This approach was first used with students in Spanish 1 and 2 at Northwestern University in 2000. It required many years of faculty personal time outside of school to bring this experience to students. We know dedicated teachers do this type of thing at home as we did without compensation...Now, you can save yourself hours of work with our EduNovela.com projects. No more searching through video at home, trying to direct your students to the clips with English only subtitles, and making worksheets! And, of course, we are partnering with the media companies and have legal permission.
Why was this approach so successful with students for 15 years?
Check out what our Senior Editor, Prof. Sue Pechter from Northwestern University, has to say about that by seeing our NEWS here.
Why do you combine reading with video?
Most students need a cue, prompt, or introduction to authentic materials. We let them know who is of importance in the lesson, what to look for, and give them some glimpse into what might happen. We also offer narration of our reading for added fluency. We have female and male narrators with various Spanish accents to expose your students to a broader amount of Spanish than only from the video itself. Then, we offer Spanish only subtitles!
How many episodes do you offer?
We offer 42 episodes for each program. We found this to be the best balance between what students wanted and what was feasible in one academic year. If your students do not finish, they will still have access until July 31 of the following summer. Our last episode can also be ordered in “party format” for showing in an auditorium setting. With the prototypes, we always had a big party and students and teachers came dressed as their favorite characters. Silvana sin lana has 42 episodes of 15 minutes each, El tiempo entre costuras has 42 episodes with approximately 16 minutes of video each, and Gran Hotel has 42 episodes of approximately 20 minutes. All shows have a one-hour Gran Finale that can be shown auditorium style if you wish. We had a lot of fun doing that for many years at Northwestern, having students come to a "pre-party" and then showing the video. We had contests for students who came dressed as their favorite characters!
What would a typical schedule look like for using one of your products as a stand alone or as a supplement in either college or high school? Our programs are very flexible and can be used on many schedules. Please see scheduling suggestions here or develop your own. You set the release of lessons on your own schedule.
Why are the subtitles only in Spanish?
We do not offer English subtitles because it is contrary to our teaching methodology, however, having them in Spanish contributes to it. We offer integrated vocabulary and short comprehension quizzes.
As a teacher, can I buy only one license and show it to my class?
We do not sell individual licenses to teachers. Our approach is not made to be used in a group setting for viewing (projection). But you can certainly use it in a class setting- just have student watch a scene or two and pop out an ear bud! The reason is simple: comprehensible input with authentic media works best when differentiated for the individual and delivered directly with ear buds or headphones. The video is only one part of the project. The rest is created by real professors and teachers. Users also get vocabulary and other help functions along with speed controls for a differentiated experience.
Does EduNovela.com work like YouTube or a streaming service?
Both yes and no. EduNovela.com is not a passive tool. It is not as simple as students logging in to watch video, though if this is what you are looking for in a tool, your students can certainly do that alone without accessing other parts of the learning experience.
Unlike tools like videos, DVDs, La Catrina, YouTube, Netflix, or even Destinos now online, the students do not simply login and view as a passive viewer. Our site is for active learning. Instructors using the optional 5-point end quiz will need to access those grades via our grade book. Teachers will also log in to view just as students do. If teachers want to access the hundreds of printables and classroom or online discussion worksheets and new QUICK GRAMMAR GUIDES, they will also need to go to that resource area of their portal. We recommend that teachers set the dates to release the episodes. If you are not confident with technology such as your school's LMS, you can have a member of your tech team on the account for free.
What if my school is not 1:1?
EduNovela.com products can be used by students in one classroom with multiple devices. Students can be on any combination of desktops, laptops, and iPads or tablets. Students should wear headphones or ear buds while using the programs even from home. Contact us for a consultation. EduNovela.com was originally designed for remote use as a lab component or the main driver of in-class conversation, so consider assigning it for homework.
How do the EduNovela.com programs differ from what is offered on Netflix, Hulu, and other like providers?
First, the total experience of EduNovela.com encompasses far more than video alone. Next, each program is sized just right for the academic year. Most continuing series, super series and telenovelas have between 120 and 150 hours. We trim them down, choosing only the storylines with the most interest to the age group, we make careful linguistic choices, we pair the routine vocabulary from traditional texts with the footage chosen, and we include only age-appropriate footage for the target group. Our choices are quite new TV series and differ greatly from the old school telenovelas of the past. All of our shows have a strong female lead. Our shows are highly edited down to 14-15 hours but still have a beginning, a climax, a desenlace, and the end, so your students get the full stories without sacrificing important details as condensed programs.
In the case of some programs like “Gran hotel” for example, we chose only the best segments most applicable to the age level. Some teachers have asked, what stops a student from going to Netflix and watching all the videos with English subtitles? First, Netflix pulls programs without regard to customers being in the middle of the series. Secondly, if a student wishes to watch 80 hours of “Gran hotel” to find the exact scenes selected and used in our 14-15 hour program, we feel that they are going to be doing a great service to their Spanish learning regardless of subtitles!
How do we fit 42 episodes into our school year?
We completely shifted the way we taught Spanish when we used a continuing series. The series was the real driver of the course, not the textbook. (You may even consider ditching those crazy expensive textbooks and get a simple grammar workbook or check out our new Grammar sections. Check out our blog for more about that by seeing our NEWS..)
Additionally, all of our series follow a typical textbook curriculum for the level. You will notice that our first level stories are always about families. When using storytelling in your classroom, your grammar comes alive. Students are excited to do extra exercises while continuing to watch. It also helps tremendously on assessments to have a continuing storyline as context rather than using random names and sentences that are disconnected.
How do students experience growth with authentic media made comprehensible?
Please see our NEWS.
How can students start speaking right off the bat in Spanish 1 with Authentic media made comprehensible and Storytelling?
Please see our NEWS.
Why is there some English in the Silvana scene summaries? Why are there English questions at the completion of each scene? Why are they not in Spanish?
There is an English summary in Silvana sin lana to let them know what to listen for. (In the college, High school 2/3 and 4/5 and AP version, it is in very simple Spanish.)
There is an optional 5 point quiz at the end of each 15-18 minute episode. The teacher should assign this quiz. It comes up once the user has fully viewed all the scenes. We do quizzing in English to be sure the student is comprehending the materials correctly. All of our choices are research-based best practices for non-heritage learners. Many of you contacting us for materials for heritage learners without English quizzing. We do not currently offer that, however, many schools use our materials for heritage learners. The quizzes are completely optional. You can use our online discussion or classroom worksheets for heritage learners.
What are the “end-of-episode” quizzes like? Why can’t I take one in the sample?
Once in our EduNovela.com Learning Portal, students will notice there is a 5-point English quiz at the end of each lesson, optional depending on the teacher’s desire. It is a holistic quiz covering the reading, what was seen, what was heard, and what was understood. This 5-point quiz is recorded each time the user takes an assigned quiz.
The system tracks time on task and score, and teachers may choose to export that to their larger grade book. The user gets both time on task and score plus a chart showing progress. The quiz score is also helpful for out of class work or a day with a sub. For college users, it is the primary way the user’s work is tracked by the teacher.
This quiz is optional. As teachers, you can always toggle back and forth between the teacher side and the student side. There is no additional login needed to use as if a student. We want you to see the program the way your students do, and experience it as they do. You can also take the quizzes as they do.
Why do you not sell your college and high school programs overlapping?
There are two reasons: Our college-level materials may not be content-appropriate for high schools. We offer multiple programs for high school. They will be age-appropriate.
Next, unlike major publishers who sell texts and resource materials to both levels, we do not feel it is beneficial to students’ growth in Spanish to repeat materials used in high school while in college. We level our materials very carefully so there is no overlap. Rare students will repeat materials but if they are properly placed, they will not.
What if I want to buy a college program for A.P., Spanish 4/5, heritage learners, or dual credit Spanish?
Yes, we will sell college programs for A.P. Spanish and Level 4 or 5, however, we cannot guarantee that the content will be fully appropriate for the classroom. In that case, we always recommend that teachers watch the content before showing it. Please note: we do not sell Gran Hotel for High School Spanish 3 or lower due to the overlap with college sales.
What types of activities do you have available?
In “El salón de profesores” we offer at least one activity for each episode plus many printables for classroom use. Later, this will also be a shared space for teachers to share their own activities. Our intention is to keep the price point as low as possible considering we are offering a top quality, new HD video experience to students. We hope teachers will share activities, coming soon.
May college students purchase access for only one semester at a discount?
The price is the same regardless just as if it were a textbook in which you only use a portion. Because all schools are on different schedules, we do not split our program at the semester. However, if a college student drops a class before or at the semester, you or the student may arrange the transfer of the remaining license to another college student. Please have your Teacher Manager contact us for help in doing so.
When can my students access the episodes? Instantly once they enroll!
If ordering in advance, your school’s logins will be set up approximately August 1 of each year. Your students will have access from August 1 to July 30 of the following year.
All licenses end on July 30. Contact us about summer school set ups.
Will my students be able to watch from home or anywhere?
Yes, anywhere with good internet. This would be similar to what you need to access Netflix.
Please note that some countries may block our TV programming (for example China), thus if you have students returning to another country in the summer and they have not finished the show, we cannot guarantee that they will have summer access.
Does my school need anything special to watch?
Most schools should have sufficient internet. However, you should expect the same experience to be as if you have all of your students on Netflix watching a clip simultaneously. If you have known tech limitations, you may wish to schedule a conversation with your tech team and our tech team. Please contact us.
For small colleges and boarding high schools watching outside of class, you may want to check with your dorms. There is a tendency for college students to watch in the evening the night before it is due. You will want to be sure your dorm's broadband can handle the traffic. Reminding students of this may be helpful. We tracked this issue for 15 years in our prototypes, and rarely did students watch earlier than the night before due. We wondered why, knowing that it might be more difficult in a dorm. We were really surprised by the answer! It was not because of procrastination, rather it was trying to save the best homework for last. That was a great indicator that we were on to something very special.
Does EduNovela.com work on iPads? And Chrome books?
Yes. And yes. We have heard from one of our early user schools that Chromebooks updated to version 67 was optimal. Thank you, Benjamin Logan School!
Do you have tech support?
Yes, we have tech support during traditional business hours for teachers who cannot resolve the problems via their own school Teacher Manager. College students watching in the evenings and into the night may experience a short delay with tech support until the next morning.
If we have any tech issues out of our control such as a weather-related incident, we will contact all schools by email. If you are having another problem and you have not heard from us, assume it is your school, and check with your tech director. If they cannot resolve it, please let us know and we will help. Contact us at
[email protected] to describe your issue.
What if as a school we have problems we cannot resolve with our internet or we do not like the program?
EduNovela.com offers a full refund to any school not satisfied with their experience within 30 days of ordering and prior to us loading your students. Please check your student wifi and broadband with our full length samples on our products page, and please be sure you like our product before we add your students, and prior to 30 days from ordering.
Do all of my students need an individual subscription/user ID? What if my students want to share a license to save money?
We do not allow subscriptions to be shared. Our system is differentiated for each user. It will track growth, time on task, and progress, plus submit the grade on the quiz to the grade book. We ask that teachers do not allow students to share licenses. Like any other service, we require one license per individual student user. We ask that teachers not accept student quizzes printed out on paper.
Students who drop a class may arrange a transfer of their remaining license to another student. Please contact us via our Contact page for details.
Can my students download the videos?
No, we do not allow students to download video due to agreements with our TV providers. We ask that schools and teachers reinforce this policy.
Can teachers or students repost videos online or on social media?
No, our agreements with our media partners do not allow for this. We ask that teachers clearly convey this to students.
Can teachers or students post summaries of our programs online or on social media? No, for obvious reasons we do not allow this and, secondly, our agreements with our media partners do not allow for this.
For teaching purposes, may I use one particular scene in class to teach a grammar lesson to my students?
YES! Teachers will have access to scenes. More about how to do this will be provided in the Faculty & Curriculum Guide. You will never have so much fun presenting por and para!
If we decide not to use the EduNovela.com Learning Portal for the last video of the year, how do we get the end of the year auditorium or “party version” of the episode?
Please contact us.
Can teachers or administrators set the release/due dates for their schools?
Yes! Admin ("Teacher Manager") or a tech team member can set the release dates for multiple class sections at once or teachers can set them for their own class sections or sections, by group or by single class. Users have until the due date to do their assignment. You may extend the group's assignment if students are absent.
How many times can users watch the video?
Users can watch as many times as needed, but they can only take a 5-point end of lesson viewing comprehension quiz once. Can teachers or administrators reset a quiz if a learner did poorly? They can only take a 5-point end of lesson viewing comprehension quiz once but we offer multiple worksheets for each lesson in El salón de los profesores. Each is linked to the specific lesson and shows not only an understanding of some major grammar points and frequent vocabulary, but also the specific video lesson content.
What are the special features for Christian schools for Silvana sin lana?
We have a bank of scenes that will feature praying to the Virgin de Guadalupe, a grotto set up in the workplace to pray to her, church scenes, praying in a family's back yard patio grotto, etc. These are video clips will be labeled by which of our episodes you might want to add them to or topic. They are cultural-religious scenes of hispanic life. We have 20 of these videos at your disposal.
There are one or two scenes in the entire Silvana sin lana program you may wish to preview in advance. We give you a "head's up" on those in our Teacher & Curriculum Guide to the episodes. If you are a Christian school teacher, please take a look at that in advance or write us. We find the scenes to be very positive, but you may not.
How can I get samples? Go to our Products page and look for the level you want. We post 3 full samples of each tv program.
Do any licenses roll over into the next school year? No, please purchase only what you need. You can always add more licenses once you join. When do licenses end? All school licenses end on July 30 of the academic year in which the program was used. At that time, we clear ALL student, instructor, and school data. This is required by most schools. Once you place your order, you have 30 days to request a refund.
How can I speak to a team member or email you with questions?
Please contact us via our "Contact Form" in the upper menu, or call us at 1-833-U-NOVELA.
We are on Pacific Time. Please note, during "high season, August to November, please email us or you may be on hold for quite a while. We promise to get back to you quickly. To fill out a tech support ticket, describe your issue and send it to [email protected]. A screenshot is always helpful.
What is your student privacy policy? Can I be assured that you are not using student data for other purposes?
Student data will only be used for the purposes of their access to our site. We never sell student information. Teachers and students do not need to register to view samples!
Click here to read our privacy policy and terms of use.