Cram schools often face unfair financial burdens when refunding tuition for absent students, despite prior agreements. This practice leaves schools vulnerable to students' and parent's whims. Ulearn resolves this issue by allowing absent students to join classes online or watch recordings, eliminating this liability for cram schools.
Host Online and Offline classes together!
Host Online and Offline classes together!
With Ulearn's Zoom integration system, teachers and students can join a class online in a matter of seconds. This process eliminates the need for teachers to create Zoom meetings themselves and send invitations or meeting links to each student. Traditionally, this would require administrators to personally send every student via email the correct Zoom link, which is time-consuming, or teachers to, which could raise privacy concerns for the school. Ulearn handles all the setup automatically, making it easier and more secure for both teachers and students to connect online.
Students can watch class recordings to review or make up a missed class
Students can watch class recordings to review or make up a missed class
Ulearn automatically searches the recorded video library in Zoom and adds a link of each recording to its corresponding class session, instead of requiring manual uploads by teachers or administrators. These recordings become accessible to students approximately three hours after each session ends. This feature ensures students who miss classes don't waste tuition, demand a refund, or fall behind. All enrolled students, whether they attended in person or not, can review these recordings multiple times, rewinding as needed to focus on important details. This comprehensive access supports both catch-up and review needs for all students. A complementary benefit is that teachers are less likely to request students' personal information, knowing that all classes are recorded and accessible to school administrators. This transparency promotes professional conduct and safeguards student privacy.
Save money on Zoom licenses
Ulearn eliminates the need to buy more Zoom licenses than you may need.
Save money on Zoom licenses
Ulearn features an integrated Zoom license management system that automatically allocates a Zoom license to a class when it begins and releases it back to the pool when the session ends. This system works similarly to how GoShare manages its electric scooters in a Taiwan. When a class starts in Ulearn, it's like a GoShare user unlocking a scooter for a ride. Once that license is checked out, no other classes can use that license until it is released when the class session ends. This prevents teachers and students of different classes from mistakenly accessing the same meeting. These "class conflicts" are a very common occurrence for schools that rely on manual management of Zoom classes. When the class ends, it's equivalent to the user finishing their ride and parking the scooter. The Zoom license becomes available again for the next class that needs it. This license sharing approach offers significant cost savings by 'juggling' license usage, eliminating the need to purchase a license for every single teacher. For example, a cram school with 20 classes throughout the day, but only 3 happening at the same time, would only need 3 Zoom licenses. These licenses are reused throughout the day, just as shared scooters serve multiple riders. It also simplifies the class joining process, as students and teachers don't need to log into personal Zoom accounts. They simply join the class when it's time, and the system handles the rest.
HOMEWORK FEATURES
Keeping track of the volume of homework, especially recorded homework, is a huge challenge. Teachers are usually paid by the hour and prefer not to spend their time grading homework, so this task typically falls to office managers or assistants. The workload of accepting, grading, and returning homework from different classes to their respective students in a timely manner can be messy and overwhelming, particularly when there are many students and few staff. Often, office managers are responsible for other aspects of the business, such as communicating with parents, promoting classes, and assisting students with their work. They are simply spread too thin, and this pressure often leads to frustration and workplace dissatisfaction.
Swipe for homework features
While parents expect cram schools to drive student performance, teachers lack effective tools to do so without disciplinary options and parental involvement. This challenge is compounded by cram school grades not affecting regular school performance, so many students simply disregard cram school teachers and the homework they assign. Students are simply immune from any consequences, and they know it! An efficient teacher-to-parent grade-reporting system may give kids the 'nudge' they need.
Better homework compliance
Any homework assigned will be the student's obligation to complete. We have tools to encourage timely submission and quality work.
Tools to boost overall assignment submission rates
We have highly effective tools for oversight help to incentivize students to get their homework in on time and put in their best effort. For example, late submissions incur an automatic grade deduction, and this is reflected in the student's personal grade report, which is then reflected in the 90 day average, all of which are visible to guardian accounts. Assignments expire after 3 weeks past the due date, resulting in an automatic zero, giving students who delayed submitting their work additional motivation get in their assignment despite the initial loss of points. Student report cards will include a comprehensive list of all assignment grades and submission statuses, which will be accessible to the student, any guardians of the student, and faculty. Additionally, teachers and admins have permissions to modify due dates or exempt specific students from assignments. Customizable cut-off dates for late submissions and expiration dates along with customizable percentage deductions are planned for future development.
Easy assignment grading
Grade or pass physically handed in homework instantly
Easy assignment grading
In Ulearn, assignments can be accessed through multiple pathways, catering to various scenarios. Consider a teacher grading homework for a specific date and class. The most logical approach would be to navigate to the class instance and then assess assignments on a comprehensive view displaying all responsible students.
However, imagine a student unexpectedly arriving at school to submit an assignment in person. In this case, the previously mentioned method would prove cumbersome. A more efficient route would involve querying the student's profile and accessing their homework directly. This action reveals a page showcasing all of the student's pending assignments, with the recently submitted work likely appearing near the top.
Upon locating the assignment, administrators and teachers can effortlessly mark physically submitted homework with a single click, automatically assigning a default grade of 100%, or input a specific score. It's worth noting that while Ulearn adeptly handles physical submissions, most students tend to prefer online submission methods.
For a detailed explanation of how online homework submissions are evaluated, please refer to the subsequent slide.
Grading online submissions
An entire section dedicated to grading, presented with as a list of homework that gets shorter as assignments are graded and removed from the list.
An entire section dedicated to grading online submissions
In this area of the program, administrators are presented with a consolidated list of all online submitted assignments across the school, while teachers view submissions only from their own classes. Both admins and teachers can then follow up with submissions by: passing with an automatic 100%, manually inputting a grade, or rejecting for resubmission. Upon rejection, the student will be prompted for resubmission. As assignments are processed, they vanish from the submission manager list, making it shorter and shorter. An empty list indicates all submissions have been handled, requiring no further action until new assignments are submitted.
Either administrators or teachers can grade online submissions or mark physical submissions as complete, removing the task from everyone's list to prevent duplicate efforts. This collaborative "organic delegation" approach contrasts with traditional single-person grading, distributing workload and significantly reducing grading time. This approach is also seen in other parts of the program, further enhancing overall efficiency.
In-class HW tracking drop-down menu
When this menu is displayed in class, each students will see which of their homework is overdue at a glance, and the teacher can immediately check off assignments as students hand them in.
In-class HW tracking drop-down menu for teachers
This one of a kind menu, when displayed in class, offers a consolidated view of all overdue homework for each student in that class, making it more efficient for teachers to check and remind students in that particular class of their obligations, showing students any pending work and allowing immediate checking off of assignments as they are handed in. Completed tasks vanish from the list, then when the page refreshes, remaining outstanding work is shown, and individual student grade reports update automatically.
This list also displays overdue homework from other classes within the same school, for students who are not only enrolled in the current class. This allows for multiple faculty members to nudge students to turn in their assignments.
The perfect report card
The constantly updated report card is loaded with information about student performance.
The perfect report card
Once an assignment is graded, the student's report card is updated. Students can access this report, which displays individual assignment grades, an automatically calculated overall grade, and teacher feedback. Unlike traditional semester-end reports, this remains continuously updated. Students can directly re-upload rejected assignments through this interface, which is also accessible to faculty and linked parent accounts, giving parents an up-to-date view of their child's academic standing.
Access is role-restricted: parents view only their children's grades, teachers see grades for students in their own classes, and administrators only have access to grades for students within their school. Color coding and sorting features enhance clarity and usability. Weighted grades will be implemented in a future update.
Recorded homework can be played in-app, then graded.
Recorded homework can be played in-app, then graded.
For recorded homework assignments, teachers or administrators do not need to download the recording file locally and listen to it using a third party app or software. Recordings can be directly played in-app, then graded. Once a recording has been paused, a few grading functionalities will be activated for that particular recording. The teacher will see a button used to reject the file, a manual grading field to input a grade, a comment field, and a pass fied to give it an automatic 100% and clear it from the follow-up homework list. We will continue to add more useful features to this, such as voice to text conversion, and automatic grading functionalities with the integration of AI so that manually listening to recorded homework may no longer be necessary.
TEACHERS FEATURES
Private Memos
Teachers can jot down private memos that are not visible to students, serving as important reminders for classes.
Private Memos
Ulearn offers a private note-taking system for teachers and administrators. On class detail pages, teachers can create hidden memos invisible to students, ideal for reminders about specific class needs or content differences. This helps teachers manage multiple classes without getting mixed up. The feature extends to student profile pages, allowing teachers to note personal details, similar to healthcare CRM systems. Administrators can also use this feature to communicate important class-specific information to teachers, facilitating communication without meetings or text exchanges.
File upload support
Teachers can upload any materials to their designated class sessions, making them accessible to students prior to the start of their classes.
File upload support
This allows students to review and prepare with the necessary materials before class begins. This also provides flexibility for teachers who prefer not to bring their personal computers to school. By uploading files to Ulearn in advance, teachers can easily access these materials on school computers during class time, effectively using Ulearn as an organized cloud storage solution.
This can be advantageous for teachers managing multiple classes. Rather than relying on email to send and re-download files for different classes — a process that can quickly become confusing — teachers can upload files directly to their designated class sessions within Ulearn. This is the same page everything else related to the class is found, including the roster of student names and homework. This keeps all materials neatly categorized and separated into their own classes.
An additional feature is the ability for teachers to control file visibility. They can choose to hide certain files from students, making them visible only to themselves or school administrators. This option is particularly valuable for sensitive content such as answer keys or upcoming quiz materials, allowing teachers to maintain these resources within the same location for themselves to access while ensuring they remain inaccessible to students.
Another benefit is that teachers can have office assistants print materials for students before class, as office assistants with administrative privileges are granted access to files in all classes.
Student and Attendance Tracking
Modify attendance records for each student in class rosters. Students joining online are automatically logged as present.
Student and Attendance Tracking
Within each class session, a roster of all enrolled students is displayed, serving as a quick reference for teachers to track attendance and recall names. Each student's name is a hyperlink to their profile page, allowing teachers and administrators to access more detailed information, such as private memos, with a single click.
At the start of class, both administrators and teachers can mark attendance, which instantly updates for the other. Students joining online are marked automatically as present and attending remotely. As attendance is updated incrementally for each class session, attendance records will be compiled in each student's personal file, showing the exact dates they were present or absent, which the school can then use for book-keeping and billing purposes.
NAVIGATION FEATURES
A structured library to stay organized
Stay organized
Ulearn provides a well-organized digital library for all users. Its structure enables teachers to pre-prep classes efficiently and store all necessary files and notes in dedicated, easily accessible locations. This organization helps students quickly find and access learning materials. Ulearn's intuitive UI is also serves as a visual reminder for classes that need updating or preparing. This encourages timely preparation of course content and reduces last-minute rushes to complete lesson plans or upload content for students
A view of all classes for the day on one single page
A single page view of the most essential class info for the day
The default login page serves as a daily overview, displaying all scheduled classes and their essential information. Students can immediately view any owed homework, access lesson plans, view teacher notes, access join buttons for ongoing classes, and click links to detailed information. For teachers, an outstanding homework panel is available for each class. This panel drops down without obscuring other class information, allowing for efficient management of multiple classes at once. This design ensures quick access to crucial data while maintaining a comprehensive view of the day's schedule.
Quick and easy navigation between classes
Quick and easy navigation between classes
Users can effortlessly browse their schedule using day and week intervals, moving backwards or forwards in time with simple button clicks. This time-based navigation allows for precise navigation to desired classes on specified dates.
For those preferring a different approach, Ulearn provides direct access to classes through a comprehensive course library. Upon selecting a course, users see a complete list of associated class sessions. Students can view all class sessions they've participated in, while teachers may view a more extensive class history, including sessions predating current student enrollments. This means that if a course has run for two years, but a student joined two weeks ago, the teacher can see two years of class history, while that student sees only the past two weeks. Other students enrolled longer may see a class history starting from their own enrollment date.
A dedicated space for each class
A dedicated space for each class
Within every class session, users have access to a comprehensive, detailed view of all class-related information. This page allows students to view the lesson plan, join in-session online classes, download attachments, upload homework, and access class video recordings. Teachers have additional features, including viewing student names, marking attendance, accessing comments hidden from student accounts, accessing class homework and their corresponding student submissions, and also links to other relevant information, such as student profiles.
All class sessions are kept in Ulearn - intact for future reference
All class sessions are kept in Ulearn - intact for future reference
Ulearn maintains a complete archive of all past classes, with their associated data. This historical record is fully accessible to students and teachers, allowing them to easily revisit and review any previous course material. The system's user-friendly interface makes sure that accessing specific content from earlier classes is straightforward. This feature helps students reinforce their understanding or refresh their memory on previously learned material at any given time.
ADMIN FEATURES
Data Privacy
ULearn's architecture, powered by Microsoft's Identity framework, ensures data privacy and prevents unauthorized access, even by Ulearn's developers.
Data Privacy
ULearn is an ASP.NET Core Identity web application. Data for a single school is isolated and consolidated so that no school data exists in any other databases or locations other than their own. This includes all user names, log-in, and user data stored on the school's private database. The Microsoft framework that ensures privacy of all database data is called Identity framework. With this framework, no one, not even the developer, can access the user data of an Identity web built application of a school, unless the school gives the developer those access privileges by setting them up as an administrator. This means that nobody has access to a school unless their registration was approved by an administrator of that school. Neither the developer nor any external parties will have access to any of your school's data, ensuring the privacy of your valued students and teachers.
User-specific privileges
Users see and can do only what they need, simplifying things and protecting sensitive data.
User-specific privileges
While administrators have a range of privileges, such as being able to create accounts, manage user profiles, create and delete courses, access all homework assignments, and view comprehensive student data, teachers are more restricted, and can only manage their assigned classes and create homework assignments for those classes, but can't alter courses time and duration or access other teachers' classes. They can view student profiles but with limited information. Guardians can only see data associated with their linked student accounts and not the data from any other student. This layered approach maintains security and privacy while preventing information overload.
Zoom Meeting Control
Teachers and admins can control Zoom meetings outside of the Zoom meeting interface through Ulearn.
Zoom Meeting Control
By default, Zoom sessions start and end according to the class schedule set through Ulearn. When a class is scheduled to end, the Zoom meeting will shut down for all attendees, and the Zoom license it was using is instantly released back into the Zoom license library for another class to use. If a class needs more time beyond the scheduled release of the license, Administrators or teachers can click on the "extend class 15 minutes" button in Ulearn's interface. Every click will give that class an extra 15 minutes before releasing the license for another class to use, providing flexible control over Zoom meeting durations. If a teacher or administrator wishes to end a class earlier than the scheduled ending time to free up a license for another class, then clicking the end class button in Ulearn will prompt that Zoom session to end.
Never forget a student's name
Students are prompted to upload profile pictures, which gives admins and teachers a reference for remembering faces and names
Never forget a student's name
When students log in, they're prompted to upload a profile picture and fill out personal info. This prompt keeps popping up until they complete the tasks. Why the fuss about a photo? It's a big help for teachers and staff to match names with faces, avoiding those awkward moments when they forget who's who – pretty common in big schools. We're planning to add auto-compression for these pics later on. This way, we can show tiny versions of the photos next to student names wherever they appear in the program without slowing down page loading times. With this feature, teachers and admins alike will never get students mixed up.
Bookkeeping and billing made easier
Schools can bill parents based on the attendance history Ulearn builds for each student
Bookkeeping and billing made easier
Each class session's attendance records are not only recorded for the class, but are also added to each individual student's own historical attendance record, showing when they attended in person, joined online, or were absent. We're planning to use this data for automatic tuition calculations in an upcoming billing feature. This will automate the whole payment and billing process, drastically reducing the workload of staff.
No more cheating!
Ulearn's cheating safeguards help prevent cheating before it happens
No more cheating!
Students cheat and find ways to get around homework. This is a well known fact. To address this, Ulearn has built-in safeguards. The system automatically rejects duplicate file submissions, preventing students from uploading the same file twice. But we've gone a step further – if a student tries to outsmart the system by slightly altering a file, Ulearn can detect this too. In such cases, it alerts the grader to potential cheating, helping maintain academic integrity.
Smart workaround for unregistered students
Students who have delayed registering a Ulearn account can still be accounted for from day-one. Please toggle "more" for explanation..
Smart workaround for unregistered students
Students often delay registering on Ulearn even after beginning their classes, a common result of procrastination. However, schools still need to track important aspects of a student's academic progress during this interim period, such as attendance, homework completion, and quiz grades. To address this, we've introduced a feature allowing administrators to create preliminary student accounts. These accounts enable data tracking from the moment a student enrolls in a class. When the student eventually registers, their new account automatically merges with the preliminary one. This system allows schools to record academic data from day one, ensuring that students have access to all pre-existing data and a complete academic history — dating back to their first paid class session — as soon as they register.
Pull up student data instantly
The student search feature pulls up all student-specific information in an instant.
Pull up student data instantly
Ulearn's student library features a quick student search function. Once a particular student's profile is found, an admin can access current courses, a complete class history, all class sessions they've been enrolled in, attendance records, grade reports, and other essential details. This tool is particularly useful for administrators when handling phone calls or parent inquiries. Often, they'll pull up a student's profile as soon as they answer a call, giving them a comprehensive overview of a student before the parent even asks a question. It's helps provide informed, quick, on-the-spot responses, improving the quality of support.
powerful sorting and filtering tools
Admins can sort students based on various criteria
powerful sorting and filtering tools
Ulearn's filtering system offers administrators precise control over student list views. Admins can display:
- former students only
- students sorted based on performance
- unregistered students
- registered students
- registered students who still must be enrolled in classes
- all enrolled students
- enrolled students who haven't registered
- enrolled students who haven't been linked to a guardian account
- Students currently in class (giving a real-time snapshot of on-campus presence.)
- and more...
