http://heartofthematteronline.com/spanish-language-programs-a-review/ A daily blog, quarterly magazine, and online conference host, meeting the needs of homeschooling families Sat, 26 May 2012 07:13:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://heartofthematteronline.com/spanish-language-programs-a-review/comment-page-1/#comment-209324 Sally Reeve Thu, 24 May 2012 17:29:30 +0000 http://heartofthematteronline.com/?p=8868#comment-209324 My daughter has used both BYU and Powerspeak. BYU is not as robust on the curriculum but also not as expensive and much more user friendly. If you use Powerspeak it is important to note that unless you pay for the instructor (not just credit fee) most of the assignments will not be graded until the course has been completed and final submitted. Powerspeak says it is because it has no $ for them to pay instructors. Yet their base program plus credit is already priced higher than BYU's. Whatever growth a student could have from graded assignments is negated by their policy to make a profit. And recently my daughter has had substantial technical difficulties with the program such as taking an hour to load a lesson and screens simply freezing or not allowing input from the student. Powerspeak's response is unless there is an error message they will not process questions or concerns onto their tech department. Yet the problems she is encountering certainly point towards a server issue at Powerspeak as this is happening regardless of whether she is accessing the program from home, school or the public library. I should look into the corporate organization behind Powerspeak. I had assumed it was developed as a non-profit educational service (Middlebury). But now I think it is mainly to be a cash cow. So if you want to use this program to obtain school credit, beware that it will cost you a lot of $ to do so. My daughter has used both BYU and Powerspeak. BYU is not as robust on the curriculum but also not as expensive and much more user friendly. If you use Powerspeak it is important to note that unless you pay for the instructor (not just credit fee) most of the assignments will not be graded until the course has been completed and final submitted. Powerspeak says it is because it has no $ for them to pay instructors. Yet their base program plus credit is already priced higher than BYU’s. Whatever growth a student could have from graded assignments is negated by their policy to make a profit. And recently my daughter has had substantial technical difficulties with the program such as taking an hour to load a lesson and screens simply freezing or not allowing input from the student. Powerspeak’s response is unless there is an error message they will not process questions or concerns onto their tech department. Yet the problems she is encountering certainly point towards a server issue at Powerspeak as this is happening regardless of whether she is accessing the program from home, school or the public library. I should look into the corporate organization behind Powerspeak. I had assumed it was developed as a non-profit educational service (Middlebury). But now I think it is mainly to be a cash cow. So if you want to use this program to obtain school credit, beware that it will cost you a lot of $ to do so.

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