Explode The Code Online FAQ at the Homeschool Buyers Co-op

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Explode The Code^®

Please read this FAQ page carefully before contacting the Co-op.

PLEASE do NOT contact Educational Publishing Service directly prior to making your purchase. Refer to this page for more information and support. The Co-op has FULL RESPONSIBILITY for getting your questions answered prior to purchase.

What are the system requirements?

ETC Online works optimally with high speed Internet connections.

Windows Computers:

Intel Pentium II 450MHz or faster processor (or equivalent)
128MB of RAM
Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater, OR Netscape 7.0 or greater OR Firebox 2.0 or greater
Flash 8 or later browser plug-in
Latest Shockwave Player
Windows configured to accept Flash cookies
Browser configured to accept cookies.

Macintosh Computers:

PowerPC G3 500MHz or faster processor
128MB of RAM
Mac OS X
Safari 1.x or greater, Firefox 2.x or greater, Camino 1.5.x or greater
Flash 8 or later browser plug-in
Latest Shockwave Player
Windows configured to accept Flash cookies
Browser configured to accept cookies.

For optimal performance, be sure you are using Flash 8 or later. Click here to get the latest Flash For the latest Flash Player.

If I renew our Explode-The-Code one year membership, will all of my student's lesson records be saved as well?

If you purchased your original subscription through the Co-op, then yes! You can renew your Explode the Code Online subscription before it expires. Your student's current information will transfer over to your renewal subscription. There is a special renewal link in your MY SUBSCRIPTIONS page that will direct you to the renewal order form.

If you had purchased directly from School Specialty, then we are unable to renew the subscription for you. However, upon participating at the Co-op, you can manually set your student to where he or she left off.

Why is the ETC Online subscription offered through the Co-op last less than a year?

In order to get our discount, we have to buy a large volume of subscriptions. Each subscription in each batch ends on the same day, a year from our date of purchase. When we have sold through our subscriptions, we then buy a new batch. If we have any subscriptions left in a batch after 3 months, we'll start discounting them to compensate for the reduced time.

You always have the option of purchasing directly from EPS, and you'll get a full year, but you won't get the Co-op's discount.

Can the teacher/parent set the level at which the student starts?

Yes. However, keep in mind that if the student does not do as well as they should, the system will automatically bounce them back down to an appropriate level. For example, if you have a student that has not completed book 2 and then you start them at book 3 content and she does not do well, the system will bounce her back to book 2 (or wherever necessary). In the same fashion, if you have a student that is excelling, the student will be bounced ahead. The teacher/parent has control over this as well. If for some reason the system advances your student further than you want, you can manually put the student back.

Can a single subscription be used by two students at different levels?

No. A subscription is designed for use by a single student. The program advances or remediates students based on their answers to questions, and tracks progress on the assumption it is working with an individual progress.

If you try to use the same subscription for two different students, neither student will get optimal results and you won't be able to track their progress individually.

You should purchase a separate subscription for each student.

The program did not keep my sons earned points from yesterday. Do they go away from day to day?

Students see a "score board" on the left-hand side of their screen. They receive various buttons as they work through the exercises (a bubble bee being the worst and an airplane being the best). This is meant to be a quick reference for the students/parents to monitor their progress during that particular session. After the student closes this session, these buttons will disappear so they'll have a blank slate for the next session.

However, all of the data and scores are logged live (i.e. the system captures the results as the student performs). So if you simply log into the admin page and look at your student's performance graph, you'll see that all the data is there safe and sound.

My student had to stop mid-lesson. Why didn't it record her score, and why does she have to start from the beginning, instead of picking up where she left off?

A unit consists of 8-10 questions. Students must complete an entire exercise (or unit) for the score to be registered. As soon as the student sees "Good Job", then they can hit the stop button and leave the program.

The game listings on the Fun page are not links. Are they supposed to be links?

Yes, they are links. If you click them and nothing happens, it's probably because you have a pop--up blocker activated. Try disabling your pop-up blocker.

How do I know where to start a student in the program?

Although the program is capable of using performance data from assessment lessons to place students, you can save time at the start of the program by placing students according to their general skill level. If you're not sure where a student should start, you can purchase the Explode The Code Placement Test or utilize the Explode The Code scope and sequence.

Both these tools can help you match your student's skill level to the skills introduced in a particular book so that you can manually set up a student in an online assessment zone at the appropriate level.

What do I do if my question is not answered on this page?

You can submit your question at the Contact Us page. We will answer your question and update this page as well.