The University of Geneva faced a major challenge: optimizing and digitizing the placement of participants in the Maison des Langues courses, making the process fast, standardized, and autonomous. Thanks to an innovative solution designed by ELAO, the Maison des Langues transformed its approach, facilitating diagnostic language assessments while gaining in efficiency.
The context: the need for modernizing language assessments
In January 2023, the management of the Maison des Langues embarked on an ambitious mission. The goal? To introduce diagnostic assessments of participants' language skills, which had previously been conducted by teachers during the first class. To create homogeneous groups that align with CEFR standards in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German, a digital and automated solution was needed.
Why the University of Geneva chose ELAO
The University of Geneva had several key objectives:
- Standardization and speed: Automate the diagnostic assessment process to provide reliable and comparable results, optimizing the participant placement procedure.
- Autonomy: Allow participants to take the tests whenever they wish and receive their results instantly.
- Practical organization: Create language groups based on standardized assessments for more effective teaching.
ELAO proved to be the ideal choice to meet these needs with its flexible and customizable platform.
The ELAO solution: automation and customization
To meet the specific needs of the University of Geneva, ELAO developed a tailor-made solution:
- Customized ELAO environment: We created a dedicated space allowing the Maison des Langues and teachers to manage assessments in a centralized and intuitive way.
- Automated test distribution: In addition to our ELAO platform, we implemented a distribution platform. This platform allows participants to access tests online without teacher intervention. Participants use a link to access this platform, where they can self-generate a test code. This system further simplifies the distribution of tests to participants.
- Instant evaluation reports: After each test, participants immediately receive a report via email, providing them with a clear overview of their language skills on the CEFR scale and areas for improvement.
The results: a significant positive impact
Since the implementation of this solution, the results have been overwhelmingly positive:
- Time saved for the teaching team: Freed from manual evaluation tasks, they can dedicate more time to teaching and supporting participants, especially during the start of the school year.
- Objective and standardized evaluation: A single standardized test for all languages has led to precise and comparable assessments of participants' language skills.
- Homogeneous groups: Forming language groups has become easier thanks to accurate assessments of participants' skills.
Conclusion: a win-win partnership
ELAO is proud of its collaboration with the University of Geneva. By providing an automated and personalized language assessment platform, we have modernized the Maison des Langues' approach. This project demonstrates our ability to innovate to meet the specific needs of our partners and support them in continuously improving their educational processes. The University of Geneva now benefits from more efficient, autonomous, and objective language assessments, in line with modern education standards.
Interested in using an automated language test distribution system at your institution? Contact us to schedule a demonstration.
