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1.) Simple to Use. Greenwood software is easy to install. There is minimal administration
for schools and teachers. There is no complicated servers for schools. For the Lite
Edition, there is an added bonus of not requiring log-in or password, so it is easier
in terms of administration for a school.
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2.) Specialized for school. Greenwood is a specialized system, specifically designed for teachers
in a school environment, e.g. web assignments, special browser, bandwidth issue, etc.
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3.) Built-in Web Assignments. Teachers can give out web assignments and track
students' performance using the Greenwood system. Assignments are supported
by lessons that further reinforce concepts and ideas. This helps reduce the pressure
on busy teachers.
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4.) True Multimedia. Greenwood is not just a traditional book in electronic format.
The design takes full advantage of using pictures as much as possible instead of
translations to show meaning. Animation is not used meaninglessly, but purposefully
to show sentence structure and sequence.
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5.) Native-language help. Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese narrations for difficult grammar points.
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6.) Neutral English Accent. Greenwood uses a neutral, Canadian "middle-of-the-road"
voice-over. It is between British and American accents. It conveys a comfortable,
educated tone, and is accepted in many circles around the world.
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7.) Many different native voices. Different native English-speakers are used for the voice-overs to
allow maximum exposure of users to the tones of the English language.
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8.) Content by native English speakers. There could be a lot of problems when
non-English-speaking countries try to develop English-learning software. It is not sufficient
to be just grammatically correct. The higher the level, the more important this point is.
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9.) Different style of presentation, different style of exercises. Based on the nature of the materials,
many of the lessons are presented in different styles for maximum effectiveness.
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10.) Specialized Education Browser. No more "bad" website! Greenwood Browser restricts
kids to go only to the Greenwood website: no more worries from school or parents
at home that kids will wander off to undesirable sites or download viruses or pornography!
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11,) Materials can be revisited and reviewed. Unlike some websites where the focus is on providing
rotating exercises which could change daily, Greenwood's materials are easily revisited and reviewed:
similar to a textbook, with chapters and page numbers, teachers can easily direct students to specific
materials for review and reinforcement. Teachers and students have told us that the worst thing about
some websites is that they can't find previous materials because the information is no longer available
or they get lost within the program.
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12.) Quality. Greenwood materials have been used for years by teachers.
The materials are constantly being upgraded and expanded. All
voice recordings are done in hi-fi, 16-bit, CD-quality standard, not
the lower radio-quality, or MP3 standard.
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13.) Fast Response. Have you seen 40-50 students using a heavy multimedia website in a computer lab?
It can be extremely slow for the students, and your school's Internet bandwidth can take a major hit.
The Greenwood delivery uses a combined DVD and web for fast response, where
heavy-duty graphics, voices and videos are pre-installed onto local hard disks
instead of going over the Internet. This is particularly important in terms of bandwidth issue
in a school environment.
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14.) Low Web Requirement. Because of the combined DVD and web delivery, students at home
can even use an old dial-up 56k modem and still enjoy full multimedia.
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15.) Environmentally friendly. Minimized on printing by using loose-leaf binder so that only
modified pages need to be updated every year. Traditional books are expensive and not environmentally
friend. Using a binder, teachers will never have outdated documentation because of expensive new books.
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16.) Technical Support. Continuous technical development and upgrades ensure you can run Greenwood
on any Windows systems.
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17.) Experienced. A stable leadership with a long history since 1994 with no change of
management or other kinds of disruptions. This ensures minimal risk for schools.
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18.) Seasoned software. Education has very long cycles. Generally speaking, a piece of good
software takes at least 6 or 7 years to mature. New software just don't have the time to go
through the maturing process. Greenwood has been around since 1994.
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19.) Frequent Updates. Contents are updated annually to correct typos, mistakes as well as
to improve and add new materials to existing contents.
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