Level Up Village (LUV) has introduced some exciting new features to its global communication platform in recent months. Two additions, in particular, are proving to be extremely popular: LUV Live Video Chat and Teacher-to-Teacher chat.
Live Video Chat
Last spring, LUV announced the launch of its LUV Live Video Chat technology, which enables students to connect in real-time. Seamlessly integrated into LUV’s global communication platform, LUV Live Video Chat further enhances communication between students. These live exchanges, scheduled by teachers on either end of the collaboration, also serve as an opportunity for students to further build rapport and understanding with their global partner student across the world.
“With only a six-hour time difference, we were able to participate in the video chat at the start of our day, just as our partners were finishing up their school day. Since the partners already knew each other via the video messaging, the conversations were a natural extension of their friendship and of the course,” said Bridget Suvansri, Teacher of the Year for Greenwich Public Schools and a LUV Global Educator. (Read more about Bridget’s experience here.)
Teacher to Teacher Chat
LUV also recently added a brand-new Teacher-to-Teacher chat function to the platform – similar to texting – with great success. The chat feature is being used by teachers around the world as a convenient way to communicate and coordinate with their global partner teacher.
”It is really amazing to see how some of the teachers are communicating with one another and keeping each other abreast of their developments, coaxing one another along, and reinforcing the need to get things done. This is groundbreaking for my team, and we are working on ways to encourage more of this!” said Teresa Fellows, Vice President of Operations for Level Up Village.
The feedback from teachers about this new feature has been overwhelmingly positive. In a recent conversation in the LUV Teachers Lounge Facebook group, one teacher commented, “I’m also happy with the new instant chat platform feature on the teacher portal. It makes communication so easy. Well Done LUV team.”
“Thanks for adding the Teacher chat to the Teacher portal. I was able to send a message to my partner teacher to let her know what kind of progress we made in our first class. I think this is a great addition to the LUV classes,” said Lynn Koresh, Teacher at Edgewood Campus School in Wisconsin and LUV’s 2016 Teacher of the Year.
Patrick Munguti, Teacher at Kenya Connect in Wamunyu, Kenya, one of the most active users of this new feature said, “The LUV teacher chat has really helped me to communicate with my partner teacher to let him or her know more about my students’ background. It has also helped with scheduling the live video chat.”
Nicki Brill, Head Global Teacher Trainer for Level Up Village says that the new Teacher-to-Teacher chat has propelled LUV to a new level of communication.
“Not only are students building global friendships and understanding, but teachers are given the opportunity to connect and learn about each other through their own exchanges. These spontaneous conversations are giving us a glimpse of where we’re headed as a company as we continue to innovate and find new ways to improve the global classroom experience,” said Nicki.
In addition, Level Up Village has also added live support to the global communication platform. Similar to the Teacher-to-Teacher chat function, live support allows teachers to reach out during their school day and receive a prompt response from the LUV operations team.
Ready to try out all the new features of Level Up Village’s new and improved global communication platform for yourself? Fill out our contact form as a first step towards offering LUV courses at your school. You can also check out our global STEAM course offerings here.
