by Selena Beckman-Harned

COUNTY of CUMBERLAND

Public Library & Information Center

Winner National Medal for Museum and Library Service

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release – November 19, 2014

Contact: Selena Beckman-Harned, (910) 483-7727 x1522

[email protected]

Library to Add Online Resources for eLearning and Language Instruction

Brainfuse and Pronunciator offer free online education tools

Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center is pleased to offer two new online resources free to all library card holders: Brainfuse and Pronunciator. Brainfuse and Pronunciator are replacing Tutor.com and Mango Languages, respectively. Both services can be accessed both within and outside the library on any computer with Internet access and offer apps for Android and iOS users.

Brainfuse

Brainfuse is an anytime, anywhere eLearning solution for students of all ages and levels. Brainfuse is divided into two sections: HelpNow for younger students and the Adult Learning Center. Both HelpNow and the Adult Learning Center offer a variety of options including online homework help from live expert tutors between the hours of 2 p.m. and 12 a.m. daily covering the core subjects (math, reading, writing, science and social studies). Students communicate with live tutors using an interactive whiteboard to chat, write, draw, copy/paste text or images and graph homework problems.

Both HelpNow and the Adult Learning Center assist students in preparing for the SAT/ ACT/AP tests. Additionally, the Adult Learning Center offers help on TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion), GED, HiSET (High School Equivalency Test) and the U.S. Citizenship Test.

Additionally, Brainfuse offers all students a variety of planned lessons and quizzes that are available 24/7 through the Skill Center. Students can send in questions and submit papers to the Writing Lab anytime and expect a response within 24 hours. All live sessions are saved and can be replayed as well as shared with friends and teachers by email. HelpNow also provides tools to empower students to learn at their own pace or collaborate with peers and teachers.

Another important feature of the Adult Learning Center is résumé assistance. Résumés can be submitted to a live tutor for review or to the Writing Lab.

More information is available at home.brainfuse.com.

Pronunciator

With 80 of the world’s most popular languages, and ESL courses for speakers of 50 non-English languages, Pronunciator is focused on quickly building conversational skills through a suite of interactive online drills, scored quizzes, and downloadable audio lessons and phrasebooks.

Pronunciator offers a variety of learning levels and guided courses for each language, covering vocabulary, verbs, sentence creation and conversation. One level, specifically for tourists and business travelers, teaches 1,500 essential phrases covering everyday situations. Each course also has up to 350 hours of audio lessons, which patrons can download to a portable device, or burn to CD.

Full-featured free apps for Android, Apple and Kindle Fire devices let patrons learn on the go. Full-length feature films, streaming music with lyrics and poetry provide additional ways to learn and absorb.

Appropriate for children as well as adults, Pronunciator is designed to meet the language-learning needs of the entire community.

In addition, a free Course Designer lets any educator create and deploy their own language courses using Pronunciator content and technology.

Pronunciator is available now and can be accessed on any library computer or on a personal computer connected to the library’s wireless network or at home with a valid library card number. Pronunciator can be accessed via the library website at www.cumberland.lib.nc.us; click “Databases” and then navigate to the “P”s. If you need more help, call or visit the information desk at any library location.

For more information on Pronunciator, visit www.pronunciator.com.

For more information on these new resources, call 483-7727 or visit www.cumberland.lib.nc.us.

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