The KellynKai Technology Platform

When learning Chinese, the last thing students want to do is to fight with the computer. Indeed, bad software design often causes problems because of the challenge of overcoming a computer’s limitations. However, KellynKai does not suffer from this problem. With KellynKai, I have not experienced any technology glitches while taking lessons, which must be because of how well-designed the service is. For example, scheduling classes is very simple, and since the lessons are synchronized with the tutors, they know which lesson the student is on. Furthermore, because of KellynKai’s organized structure, much of the process is synchronized, such as the flashcard app and student lessons. There are also well-designed supporting systems such as the classroom app and reminder notifications.

1. Scheduling

KellynKai class scheduling is very easy. There are two ways to schedule a class. Once a student logs into their account, they can navigate to the schedules tab, where they will see a calendar week with green shading. When the student selects a class time, they can choose a tutor. Selecting a time is the primary method I use to schedule a class, as it is very easy. I simply highlight the time I can attend a class and choose a tutor to study with. However, using this method means that I do not have complete control over which tutor I will continue to learn with. Students may control which tutor they prefer to work with by picking the tutors tab after they log into their account. Their student sees a list of tutors and can view each tutor’s availability. Selecting a tutor’s availability will show a week with the times that this tutor is available. I only used this method once, and it is very easy to select a tutor for the class.

2. Tutor Synchronization

Sometimes students take a lesson with a different tutor. KellynKai seamlessly synchronizes my progress and class history with every tutor. Thus, whenever I take a class with a new tutor, the lessons are picked up from where I left off. KellynKai keeps this synchronization with other aspects of the course. For example, the flashcard app integration is seamless. Thus, whenever you start a new class with a different tutor, they know where to start teaching. Synchronization allows students like me to have extreme flexibility in scheduling. However, students can continue working with a tutor they prefer via scheduling by tutor availability.

3. Calendar Reminders

After scheduling a class, KellynKai sends an email which reminds the student about the class. There is an option to synchronize with Google calendar reminders for push notifications. This way, KellynKai classes integrate seamlessly with Google calendar. Additionally, KellynKai sends a reminder to your email when the class is coming up. I find these reminders very useful when combined with the Google calendar schedule.

4. Classroom App

When it is time for class, students log into the class app and call the tutor they are working with. The class app is very responsive, and it is also familiar. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I logged in for a class, since the class app is very Zoom-esque. I also found the familiar page to be very responsive and seamless. During the lesson, the tutor utilizes the computer to teach; for example, I would use the chat box to enter Chinese characters using Pinyin to send messages to the tutor. So far, I have not experienced any disruptions during class. The class app’s design has been very instrumental in my learning.

5. Flashcard App

As a good study habit, It is very important to review the lesson content after class. Flashcards are a proven study method. KellynKai’s flashcard app synchronizes content with classes as you take them. This allows me to study immediately after class. Additionally, the flashcard app is very easy to use. For example, testing is simple by clicking the buttons on the bottom to indicate an understanding of the terms. In the app, students can select which lessons to study. Therefore, it is possible to go back and review the lessons I took before.

Technology has a way of getting in the way of many everyday tasks; however a well-designed system tends to be invisible to the user. Thankfully, KellynKai’s language technology platform is very well designed and reliable and allows students like me to just focus on learning Chinese.