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Read full storyOff2Class ESL content turns one year old!
Not so long ago, we had an idea. Kris and I wanted to make high-quality ESL content for the digitized world.
I had started teaching online and I struggled to find the kind of ESL content I wanted, which looked professional, provided a real learning experience, was teacher-led, and which was made to share on screens. My background in education and Kris’ in the corporate world was a good start. And with Serdar, we found the Technical co-founder we needed to build the product we wanted. …And that we hoped ESL teachers would equally want.
Kris, Serdar and I embarked upon our exciting new project. We created the beta version of Off2Class, which when first launched contained 65 lesson plans organized into a few grammar categories. We released it and immediately started to receive feedback on our ESL content. Lots of it. We understood that there was an opportunity to solve one of the largest pain-points for teachers. In March last year, Off2Class went ‘live’. We had about 180 lessons with homework activities and a nascent student management module.
And like every new-born, Off2Class has demanded our every waking moment since then. Thanks to constant constructive feedback from our community of teachers, we feel very proud of Off2Class today. As we turn one year old, we’d like to share the good feeling.
During the past year, we’ve continued to add ESL content and features… and we think it’s a good time to reflect on what we’ve managed to do with the support of the ESL community. Off2Class now has:
- More than 500 lessons, each with a Homework Activity
- New Categories, from IELTS to Business English, and Listening Activities that contain audio files
- A Student Management Module that records Student Lesson History and allows the teacher to manage Homework Activities
- A Game Show and a Quiz, in which teachers can add their own categories and questions
- A Placement Test, which provides a CEFR proficiency level and a proposed Learning Plan
Of course, we didn’t get everything right… we’ve had to make some adjustments on the fly. We’ve taken all feedback on board (even the negative stuff). We think we’ve developed into pretty good listeners!
This year, it’s all about personalization!
We’re excited about the upcoming year! Many of you will already know about our Teacher Canvas, which allows you to customize our ESL content. We know that customization of our ESL content is important to our teachers and that’s the direction we are taking.
Kris, Serdar and I would like to thank our teachers, and especially those of you who have stayed with us and who continue to provide feedback. You motivate us to do better, to continue with our dream to make ESL teaching a paper-free world of beautiful, inspiring content that values teachers and provides real learning to students.
If you want to wish us Happy Birthday, we’d love you to leave a comment below. And of course, you can leave feedback about what we should be doing for you next!
With best wishes from Serdar, Kris and James
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59 Comments
Sharon Hadlow says:
March 6, 2016 at 7:36 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAYoff2class and well done lads on all your hard work. I have spoken to James and Kris and you have both been fantastic in helping me to get started. I love the materials and so do all my students so I will be with you for many years to come. Thank you guys. Sharon – UK
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 6, 2016 at 7:48 pm
Thank you Sharon.
Kris Jagasia says:
March 7, 2016 at 2:31 am
Thanks for the kind words Sharon, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with you!
Sam Kat says:
March 7, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Wow only a year & yet you’ve achieved so so much! A wonderful place for both students & teachers. Thank you for all your hard work! This is just the beginning of your fabulous journey!
Lynne says:
March 7, 2016 at 10:25 am
Hippy hoppy happy birthday.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:39 pm
Thank you Lynne. IT’s been great to have you with us since it all began!
James
Mordechai Levi says:
March 7, 2016 at 10:47 am
Thats a great idea, i will think about this.
I really love the easy access and fast replies that your team offers, I love the software and hope that you find great success with your one year old venture.
I have a couple ideas now.
In many third world countries including here in beijing, internet is slow and unreliable, is it possible to make some portion of your software available offline? I am sure you can manage to limit it’s usage based upon date and subscription. I was unable to access your service today due to internet outage and this could be a problem if it happens during a lesson.
Is it possible to allow some kind of branding? it can make private teachers look good by having their own brand name displayed to their students.
I want to use the name ‘ My English Teacher ‘. (what do you think?)
I am going to use your software live for the first time this coming saturday and i plan on using it for both private and group lessons.
I have found great success offering exactly the same lesson plan with both private and group lessons, i am sure this will work with your software too.
Please ask me if you have any questions about this.
Happy birthday Off2class*:) happy
Mordechai Levi
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:45 pm
Hi Mordechai,
Thanks for your message.
To your questions:
1. I understand and hear your concern. In time, it is most likely that we will release Off2Class in an online environment. What we have to do is to work our a way to keep the lessons up-to-date and and maintain quality control. As we move towards making lessons available offline, we may have to let go of these ideals a little. Anyway, we are thinking about what you have asked.
2. This year, we will release a Pro version of Off2Class. We will certainly allow teachers and schools to brand Off2Class. We’re all about making teachers look good, so yes, we are certainly moving towards branding.
3. You brand My English Teacher seems fine, but can you buy the url for it?
Best wishes,
James
rob@SharpeEnglish.com says:
March 7, 2016 at 10:56 am
Yes, Happy 1st Year…This is a wonderful resource that has saved me countless hours of prep and homework time. (“time is money, money is time…”) Anyone who doesn’t think OFF2CLASS is worth the investment… needs to either do the math or get more students! 😉 If I look at the number of students I teach a month…OFF2CLASS costs me $.20 cents per class. (USA) That is for the actual 55 minute class, Prep time saved, Homework time saved, and the Assessment tool. (Which has gotten me several students!) My annual renewal is coming up and I won’t hesitate to continue to use OFF2CLASS.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:48 pm
Hi Rob,
I know that you have offered us much feedback along the way, and I thank you for that. And thank you for your endorsement. It makes us feel as though we are doing what we set out to accomplish: save teachers time.
You’ll be pleased to know that we intend to provide a major upgrade to the Placement Test by mid-year, to incorporate the testing of more skills.
Best wishes,
James
Pedro Julião do Nascimento says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:03 am
I have been using this class for a week now, and I am already in love with it. And, believe me, I know almost nothing about it.
Congratulations on the idea and i wish OFF2CLASS a long life providing real material for my students.
Thank you.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:48 pm
Thanks Pedro for your kind words.
James
Raluca says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:03 am
Happy Birthday Off2Class, I am sorry I didn’t get the chance to interact with you this year, but I hope we can do that in the future. Thank you for sharing your materials.
Congratulations for all the hard work and many, many happy years ahead.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:48 pm
Many thanks Raluca!
John Edmond says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:15 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Off2Class!
A year ago I wrote a review of the then beta version on my website. I thought it was a good idea and the content looked interesting but I wasn’t teaching online at the time and there wasn’t enough content that fitted in with what I was teaching. I put it to one side.
Six weeks ago I took another look. By then I’d started teaching online and there was loads more content, so I took the plunge.
Six weeks later, partly because of personal reasons and partly due to Off2Class, I now teach 100% online and use Off2Class with all my students. Generally I am delighted with the overall quality, though there are still a few mistakes a small number of the lessons (these I always feed back and they promptly get corrected).
For the future I’m looking forward to further lessons including more IELTS, listening and business English lessons.
I intend to be teaching for many years yet and see no reason why Off2Class won’t be a central part of my future lessons – students love it, they progress rapidly using it, and, icing on the cake, it makes my job so much easier.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:51 pm
Hi John,
You are a great provider of feedback and I appreciate it. We’re happy to have you with us and look forward to a long relationship. It’s pleasing to hear that you already see using Off2Class into the future!
Best wishes,
James
Tanya Hoover says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:25 am
Happy Birthday and Congratulations! My students, staff, and I all enjoy Off2Class. The Placement Test has been especially useful.
You asked about personalizing Off2Class. I wonder if it would be possible for the system to automatically send a welcome letter inviting prospective students who are taking the placement tests that would include my company’s logo. It would also be nice to be able to send registration forms, policies, and such along with the placement tests all at once. Right now, students contact us, we send a placement test, the login credentials come after that, and then we send our forms, policies, price list, etc.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:53 pm
Hi Tanya,
We know that you’ve been with Off2Class for some time, and again, thank you for your feedback while using the system.
We are most definitely planning additions to the admin section of the site, so Kris, Serdar and I will look into the ideas that you have presented. IT might just take a little time to implement them…
Best wishes to the team at Midwest Language Services
James
Mary says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:35 am
Birthdays are a new start, a fresh beginning, and a time to pursue new endeavors with new goals. Move forward with confidence and courage.Happy birthday dear Off2Class!!!
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:54 pm
Hi Mary,
Many thanks for your kind wishes.
James
Ana Penagos says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:40 am
Happy birthday Off2class, thanks for making our classes so easy to teach!!! Thanks for those wonderful ideas and resources. May it be 100 years. Cheers!!!
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:54 pm
And thank you for your positive feedback!
James
Michael Hume says:
March 7, 2016 at 11:48 am
Dear Off2Class,
Thanks for all the support over the last year!
I was a new ESL teacher in September 2015 and was provided with neither books nor syllabus. If it had not been for Off2Class I would have had no chance of surviving hat first year. I still use the website to this day and hope to get more out of it in the years to come.
My one request is (and I know this may raise a few hackles) that you remember that some of us work in countries where representations of pigs and the mention of alcohol can be a little tricky!
I apologise if anyone finds this controversial but it just happens to be a reality for some of us,
Once again, thanks for all the hard work and long may it continue!
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Hi Michael,
You’re one of our long-term users so I really appreciate your message.
I don’t think you’ll raise any eyebrows with your suggestion – as teachers we have to be culturally sensitive. As someone who spent 7 years in the Middle East, I suppose that I should have thought a little smarter before including some references to our lessons. I take your suggestion seriously, and I promise to be more thoughtful with the upcoming releases.
Best wishes,
James
Jelena Ladjevac says:
March 7, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Happy Birthday:-)! Hope this year will bring you more of everything-success,great work,enjoyment.:-)
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Thank you Jelena!
Jesus says:
March 7, 2016 at 2:51 pm
Happy birthday. Your work and this helpful web is helping me in starting a new life in teaching. Thank you very much.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 9:00 pm
It really makes us happy when people say that Off2Class helped them to start anew, afresh and a teaching career!
Glenda Moyer says:
March 7, 2016 at 3:57 pm
Feliz Cumpleanos from an ESL teacher in Colombia!! Off2class makes me feel and look professional to my students! The way you keep growing and improving is a vital sign of good health….may you continue to inspire and support teachers like me who are just beginning as ESL instructors.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 9:02 pm
Y muchas gracias a usted Glenda!
We know that the work you do helps many people and we are really pleased that you choose Off2Class for your students.
Best wishes,
James
Tina says:
March 7, 2016 at 3:59 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!
It’s been a great year for me and, of course, I couldn’t have done it without YOU!!
Your platform and lessons have streamlined my very ‘different’ students from around the world and kept them happy with the wonderful lessons from beginners, business people to IELTS candidates!
Again, well done and cheers! to many more productive years!
Tina.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 9:03 pm
Tina,
You’ve always been a huge supporter of Off2Class and I thank you for sticking with us. We wish that you continue to grow as we do, and here’s to another year together!
Best wishes,
James
Dulce Marines says:
March 7, 2016 at 4:42 pm
I have been using off2class for one year. It has all that I need 🙂 all the activities are so much fun and interesting for my students of all levels.
Dulce.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 9:04 pm
Hi Dulce,
Thank you for stopping by. You started with Off2Class a long time ago too and we’ve pleased that you’ve stayed for the journey. We plan to get better and better this year!
James
Pip says:
March 7, 2016 at 5:49 pm
Hello Guys
Wow, one year already and you have accomplished so much. A fantastic program, well done.. and
I hope you all celebrate with a glass of vino
Pip
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 9:05 pm
Hi Pip,
Lovely to hear from you and thank you for your wishes.
James
Andrew Owen says:
March 7, 2016 at 6:27 pm
Congratulations on your first year. Thanks for all your help with what has also been my first year as a TEFL teacher. My students and I find your resources really useful. The format works perfectly for my Skype students. The introduction of the Placement Test and Gap analysis has been a great help. I look forward to many more years working with you.
regards, Andrew
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 7, 2016 at 9:07 pm
Hi Andrew,
Again, thank you for sticking with us the entire year. It’s great to see that Off2Class does become a part a teacher’s resources, and that makes us feel very proud. We’re glad to hear that we do make a difference!
Best wishes,
James
Jullanar says:
March 8, 2016 at 6:38 am
Well done and happy birthday.
I wish you another delightful and successful year.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 8, 2016 at 4:38 pm
Thank you for stopping by to wish us Happy Birthday!
Esli Ligays says:
March 8, 2016 at 9:10 am
Happy birthday Off2Class! In addition to the super awesome features of Off2Class, you guys have been good listeners and your customer service is really good. Thank you so much, James.
A few features I would like to see in the future:
– speaking homework
– a speaking feedback report for errors and corrections, audio, etc.
– speaking activities that are integrated with the recommended lessons after taking the placement test (we talked about this recently. :-))
– a preview lesson worksheet/summary to send a student a week before we meet
Thank you guys so much!
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 8, 2016 at 4:41 pm
Thank you for your positive feedback.
Your requests are similar to those of other users, so we very much hope to incorporate these soon. Please be patient with us, but we will eventually deliver the best ESL product available on the Net 🙂
James
Martee says:
March 8, 2016 at 5:50 pm
Congratulations!
When I realized that this is your first birthday, I was very surprised! You have so much content on this site 🙂
So after it I am more and more optimistic considering my quite new online teaching experience because I can be sure that you are providing more and more teaching materials and trying to make all your site even better! And it’s so good to hear that 🙂
Best wishes
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 8, 2016 at 6:13 pm
Hi Martee,
Thank you for your positive feedback. We are trying hard to add new content as fast as we can.
And yes, you can be optimistic about teaching online. It’s easy, it’s rewarding, and more and more students want to do it!
Best wishes,
James
Alicia Ruth Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen says:
March 9, 2016 at 8:42 am
Happy Birthday! I’m so glad I found Off2Class.
I was surprised to get an email saying it was your 1st birthday. Off2Class is so well thought out and put together with so many lessons that I assumed that you have been around for a while. I was struggling to find good ESL resources and I really want to thank you for helping a busy teacher out. I feel like I am getting the best resources available for my students. I’m really looking forward to the teacher canvas. Thank you guys!
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 9, 2016 at 4:44 pm
Thank you for stopping by and wishing us well.
Actually, we’ve been around a little longer than a year, but we were in Beta for some months until the site went live a year ago. We have worked hard so it makes us happy to know that we are providing good content for you. It’s what we set out to do, so it’s pleasing to know that in some ways we are reaching our first goal.
Hope to see you with us for our 2nd birthday and beyond.
James
Roy says:
March 11, 2016 at 5:47 am
Much love to you guys. Happy Birthday!
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 11, 2016 at 4:40 pm
Thanks Roy!
John says:
March 12, 2016 at 3:25 am
Hi James,
2 suggestions
1) I’d like the ability to type answers on the lesson slides. I cannot write using my mouse so at present I only use the marker for highlighting and matching. If there were a facility to type, students could complete the answers on the page and things like spelling could be easily checked. In addition the short writing activities would be easier to assess.
2) In a similar vein, in the short writing exercises in the homework for some lessons, there is no mark-up so I cannot indicate to students where there are errors for them to review. An ability to highlight errors so students could review them would be useful. At present there is only a tick or a cross so I use the comments, but it’s not ideal.
Kris Jagasia says:
March 13, 2016 at 6:46 pm
Hi John,
Kris jumping in for James (I work a bit more on the product side of things).
These are both great ideas and have been prototyping similar concepts.
Question on #1, when you write on slides, would you want the writing saved by default (similar to our canvas) or are you more interested in the writing for the live / real-time teaching experience?
John Edmond says:
March 14, 2016 at 2:13 am
I’m more interested in the live, real-time experience. I don’t think it’s necessary to save the writing, certainly not beyond closing the lesson as that could effect subsequent uses of the slide.
Monica says:
March 17, 2016 at 6:55 am
Happy birthday Off2Class team.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to discover this exciting and innovative way of teaching which is proving very popular among our students and clients.
Thanks for your help, support and rapid replies to all my questions.
All the best!!
Monica.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 18, 2016 at 6:30 pm
Hi Monica,
We’re happy to have you with us, and thank for your wishes and your regular feedback.
Best wishes,
James
Anna Marsden says:
March 24, 2016 at 4:21 pm
Hi Kris, James and Serdar!
Happy anniversary (although a bit belated)!! I love this site. I don’t get to use it as often as I would like, but every time I use it, I have an effective class and impressed students. 🙂 I appreciate all the work you are putting into it and the large variety of class styles. I continue to tell fellow teachers about it. Keep up the awesome work!
Anna in Bolivia
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 24, 2016 at 6:03 pm
Thanks Anna for stopping by. We’re really pleased that you and your students enjoy the site.
Best wishes,
James
Elizabeth Sardinha says:
March 25, 2016 at 12:43 am
Happy birthday! Thanks for making the lesson planning task less time-consuming. All the best.
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
March 25, 2016 at 5:34 pm
Thanks Elizabeth!
carlos says:
June 17, 2016 at 7:20 am
Congratulations about yor first year! I know you from a short time but i’ve had a look several times and all the stuff seems great, entertaining and professional at the same time, very useful.
I encourage you to keep working in this way.
Best wishes,
Carlos
James Heywood (Off2Class) says:
June 17, 2016 at 7:47 am
Thanks Carlos for your positive feedback!
Best wishes,
James