Learning Upgrade's ESL Solution

Our proven and validated solution gives students around the globe a fast track from Beginner ESL to Advanced using a self paced and individualized smartphone app.

Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone

Now Anyone Can Learn English!

Transforming Lives Through Online ESL Learning

The Learning Upgrade App provides a proven and validated ESL solution to education providers around the globe. Six rigorous courses take students from low beginner to advanced ESL standards using a self paced and individualized approach. The Learning Upgrade App uses hundreds of bite-sized lessons packed with songs, video, and games to drive ‘binge learning’ in reading, writing, listening, speaking, phonics, decoding, and more. Teachers and admins can track all student progress in real time using the Learning Upgrade LMS.

 

Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses

From Beginning Literacy to Advanced

We're here for your ESL students, every step of the way.
Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses
Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses
Full Lesson List
Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses
Course Placement
Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses
CCRS Alignment
Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses
CASAS Alignment

More Than Just Language Acquisition

The magic of Learning Upgrade’s online ESL solution is our ability to deliver a rigorous standards-based curriculum in a fun and engaging app-based format. Unlike other ESL programs that only address language acquisition, Learning Upgrade teaches academic English that will prepare students for college level coursework.

Our focus on Academic ESL has helped students around the country earn their high school diploma, pass the GED and HiSET exams, and pass language assessments like TOEFL and IELTS.

In the workplace, our ESL solution has been used to help learners obtain jobs and get a promotions, and has helped companies increase employee retention.

In the community, the Learning Upgrade ESL solution is used by migrants and refugees to foster self reliance for every day life.

Time-on-Task Drives Rapid Progress

Our six rigorous online ESL English Upgrade courses take students from low beginner to advanced ESL standards using a self paced and individualized approach. Each course requires 20-30 hours to complete, allowing students to rapidly progress with enough time on task. 

Our six ESL English Upgrade courses are comprised of hundreds of bite-sized lessons that can each be completed in 10-20 minutes. These engaging lessons are packed with songs, video, and games to drive ‘binge learning’ and rapidly improve your student’s reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.

 

Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses

ESL Skills in
Learning Upgrade

Reading

Students learn alphabet basics, letter sounds, phonics, phonemic awareness, decoding words, sight words, comprehension, comparing passages, and more.

Writing

Students can write effectively to create, revise, and edit articles, essays, emails, research papers, and resumes using correct spelling and grammar.

Listening

Students can listen to and analyze a variety of spoken academic and social content and respond appropriately.

Speaking

Students understand their audience and can speak clearly with the appropriate formal and informal language using academic English where appropriate and a broad vocabulary.

Additional Skills Available

Mathematics

Students understand math vocabulary terms and can solve arithmetic, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, geometry, algebra, and statistics problems.

Digital and Life Skills

Students master a variety of digital literacy skills in communication, devices, data, security, privacy, and digital citizenship. Students understand the life skills and soft skills needed for work, jobs, and employment including communication, teamwork, decision making, problem solving, leadership, social, and interpersonal skills.

Job & Workforce Training

Students are ready for successful careers and employment with work skills including career planning, resume writing, teamwork, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Test Prep

Students are well prepared for success taking the GED, HiSET, TOEFL, and IELTS tests which lead to college, career, immigration, and integration success.

Addressing the Challenges of Traditional ESL

Transforming Lives Through Online Learning

No More Transportation and Scheduling Issues

ESL students face many challenges when accessing traditional education pathways. Childcare, work responsibilities, and transportation being the most common issues that prevent students from attending fixed schedule classes in daytime hours. Learning Upgrade allows students to learn on their own schedules, while teachers track and monitor their progress remotely.

Device Access Provides Equitable Learning

We regularly test the Learning Upgrade app on budget smartphones to ensure equitable access for all learners. This puts the power of a classroom into the hands of every student for synchronous work with a teacher or tutor, or self paced binge learning on their own time.

We Also Work With Low Level Readers

Learning Upgrade has a proven track record with pre-literate learners and beginning literacy students around the globe. Our secret is a self-paced full immersion online ESL lesson path that allows learners to gain confidence and progress at their own pace.

Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone

Tracking Student Progress Is Easy

See individual growth with student reports that track progress by lesson, course, and subject area. We also track when students are logging in, which lessons they're working on, and when they complete a course. Reports can be exported for use in other LMS systems. Our LMS also has admin accounts to allow for tracking of multiple teacher accounts, multiple sites, or multiple districts with one login.

It's Fun, Engaging, and Validated

Learning Upgrade is more than just a fun and engaging ESL solution. We're also grand prize winners of the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE! The Learning Upgrade app produced the greatest gains between pre- and post-test on a standardized, validated reading assessment in a field test of 12,000 adult learners.

Free to Start and Affordable to Grow

Education providers can sign up for a no-cost pilot with Learning Upgrade and continue with affordable licensing options.

Learning Upgrade is More Than Just English

1 App - Countless Possibilities

A one app ESL solution for English, math, life skills, and test prep!

Available Everywhere

Available on the web, smartphones, and tablets. Students self-enroll into engaging courses with full instruction, followed by practice questions that provide instant vocal and visual remediation.

Standard-Based and Engaging

Each account provides access to thousands of standard-based lessons that use songs, video, and games to teach.

Individualized, self paced, and comprehensive.

Learning Upgrade ESL Solution Smartphone Courses

Learning Upgrade for Adult Education ESL Programs

Unlock the Power of ESL Blended Learning with Learning Upgrade

Instructors at traditional adult schools and community colleges can use Learning Upgrade in their blended-learning classes. Students can be onboarded centrally by teachers or remotely via self-enrollment.  Teachers can then track and monitor all standards met and progress achieved using detailed LMS reports.

Learning Upgrade is perfect for adult education ESL classrooms because it works for all levels, from beginning literacy to advanced. Students improve their English with step-by-step lessons packed with interactive voice and visual help for real time feedback and remediation. This gives students an accelerated path towards English proficiency using their own smartphones and devices at home.

Learning Upgrade for Refugee ESL Programs

Rapidly Increase Refugee Self Reliance

Education is the pathway to self reliance and opportunity. Learning Upgrade helps refugees achieve a higher quality of life through ESL, digital skills, life skills, mathematics, and financial literacy.

Learning Upgrade empowers education providers around the globe with the ability to adopt new approaches for delivering learning to refugees. NGOs and education providers are able to train, onboard, and track learners from anywhere in the world. Our app-based solution is self paced with grading, feedback, and remediation built in. This allows organizations to reach thousands of learners with only a small group of volunteers to manage the license.

Learning Upgrade for Library and Literacy Center ESL Programs

Empower Tutors and Address Long Waiting Lists

Tutor-based education providers like literacy centers and libraries can expand their reach and empower their tutors with Learning Upgrade. Students at all ESL levels can onboard into a proven curriculum using their own devices while tutors and site directors track and monitor all progress.

We’ve helped libraries across the nation address their long tutor placement wait lists by enrolling students into our app. By the time students get paired up with a tutor, you’ll have granular data and reports to help target your intervention.

Learning Upgrade for Global Reach NGO ESL Programs

Launch Global English Programs To and From Anywhere in the World
Global Learning ESL App Remote International Cambodia

Learning Upgrade empowers education providers around the globe with the ability to adopt new approaches for delivering learning to refugees. NGOs and education providers are able to train, onboard, and track learners from anywhere in the world. Our app-based solution is self paced with grading, feedback, and remediation built in. This allows organizations to reach thousands of learners with only a small group of volunteers to manage the license.

Learning Upgrade for Workforce ESL Programs

Empower Team Members for Retention and Advancement

Through Learning Upgrade employers can enrich the lives of their associates by moving them up to proficiency in English and math. Each associate can use their own smartphone at home or computers at work to complete a full literacy and numeracy curriculum. The app can move an associate up to the level where traditional workforce training becomes effective.

Get Started Today

Sign Up for a Free Learning Upgrade Pilot - Free to Start, Affordable to Grow

Learning Upgrade pilots provide three months of unlimited access to the Learning Upgrade student app and teacher LMS for tracking and reporting

Learning Upgrade FAQ's

Not finding the answer to your question? Reach us here: Contact

What is Learning Upgrade?

Learning Upgrade empowers education providers around the globe to rapidly upskill their learners in English ESL, math, test prep, and digital skills via an engaging mobile solution.

The Learning Upgrade App and LMS

  • Learning Upgrade student app gives each student their own path to learning success.  The program consists of 25 courses covering 1,000+ lessons that work with students of all ages and abilities. You can learn more about our courses on the Courses Page.
  • The Learning Upgrade LMS enables teachers and admins to track student progress in real-time, onboard learners, target intervention, set goals, and more. 

How does Learning Upgrade work?

Our ESL Philosophy

The magic of Learning Upgrade’s online ESL solution is our ability to deliver a rigorous standards-based curriculum in a fun and engaging app-based format using songs, video, and games.

Unlike other ESL programs that only address language acquisition, Learning Upgrade teaches academic English that will prepare students for college level coursework.

 

The Student Journey

  • Onboarding: Students can self enroll using their own mobile device or computer, or teachers can create accounts for their students.
  • Placement: Students can directly enroll into a learning upgrade course or take the in-app assessment for automated course selection.
  • Progress: Students complete asynchronous instruction in the Learning Upgrade app with self paced lessons that include practice questions. All questions provide instant remediation and feedback.
  • Advancing: Each Learning Upgrade English course is made up of 60 lessons. All lessons are bite-sized and can be completed in 10-20 minutes. The 60th lesson in each course is a cumulative Final Challenge to test mastery of the entire course. Once students complete a course, they can move on to the next.
  • Rewards: Students earn bronze medals (75%-89%), silver medals (90%-94%), and gold medals (95%-100) for all completed lessons. Once an entire course has been completed, students will earn a bronze, silver, or gold certificate based on performance.

Who is Learning Upgrade for?

The Learning Upgrade App is a proven ESL solution for learners of all ages and levels. We’ve had millions of students use our proven and validated solution around the globe.

 

Learning Upgrade ESL for Adult Education

  • Instructors at traditional adult schools and community colleges can use Learning Upgrade in their blended-learning classes. Students can be onboarded centrally by teachers or remotely via self-enrollment.  Teachers can then track and monitor all standards met and progress achieved using detailed LMS reports.

    Learning Upgrade is perfect for adult education ESL classrooms because it works for all levels, from beginning literacy to advanced. Students improve their English with step-by-step lessons packed with interactive voice and visual help for real time feedback and remediation. This gives students an accelerated path towards English proficiency using their own smartphones and devices at home.

Learning Upgrade ESL for Refugees

  • Education is the pathway to self reliance and opportunity. Learning Upgrade helps refugees achieve a higher quality of life through ESL, digital skills, life skills, mathematics, and financial literacy.

    Learning Upgrade empowers education providers around the globe with the ability to adopt new approaches for delivering learning to refugees. NGOs and education providers are able to train, onboard, and track learners from anywhere in the world. Our app-based solution is self paced with grading, feedback, and remediation built in. This allows organizations to reach thousands of learners with only a small group of volunteers to manage the license.

Learning Upgrade ESL for Libraries and Literacy Centers

  • Tutor-based education providers like literacy centers and libraries can expand their reach and empower their tutors with Learning Upgrade. Students at all ESL levels can onboard into a proven curriculum using their own devices while tutors and site directors track and monitor all progress.

    We’ve helped libraries across the nation address their long tutor placement wait lists by enrolling students into our app. By the time students get paired up with a tutor, you’ll have granular data and reports to help target your intervention.

Learning Upgrade ESL for Workforce

  • Through Learning Upgrade employers can enrich the lives of their associates by moving them up to proficiency in English and math. Each associate can use their own smartphone at home or computers at work to complete a full literacy and numeracy curriculum. The app can move an associate up to the level where traditional workforce training becomes effective.

Does Learning Upgrade work for ESL and ESOL?

Learning Upgrade is a proven education solution for English learners at all levels. We’ve been in use in K-12 ELL programs, adult school ESL programs, community college ESOL programs, and have partnered with many other types of ESL education providers over the past two decades.

 

Learning Upgrade is more than just a fun and engaging ESL solution, we’re also grand prize winners of the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE. The Learning Upgrade app produced the greatest gains between pre- and post-test on a standardized, validated reading assessment in a field test of 12,000 adult learners.

 

You can read more about or success stories and see user testimonials on our News Page.

Does Learning Upgrade work for refugees and immigrants?

Learning Upgrade is a proven education solution for refugees and immigrants. Our courses are effective with pre-literate beginners and advanced students. Our focus is to help improve the self-reliance of immigrants and refugees while also increasing their employability and mobility.

 

Refugees and immigrants should not have to wait on traditional education pathways to be provided. Our smartphone based courses allow these students to learn anywhere and at any time. We also provide more than just traditional ESL, with courses in math, digital skills, and test prep.

Does Learning Upgrade work for adults in Adult Education?

Learning Upgrade is a proven and validated adult education provider partnering with hundreds of adult schools, community colleges, and literacy centers.

 

What makes Learning Upgrade so popular is our ability to engage learners, provide a wide range of courses, move the needle for students, and fit into any school budget.  We provide measurable growth for CASAS, TABE 11/12, NRS, GED, HiSET, and more. Learning Upgrade is also able to work for in-person synchronous blended instruction or asynchronous remote learning.

 

Students at adult schools can be onboarded centrally by teachers or remotely via self-enrollment.  Teachers can then track and monitor all standards met and progress achieved using detailed LMS reports and analytics.

 

Learning Upgrade is perfect for adult education ESL classrooms because it works for all levels, from beginning literacy to advanced. Students improve their English with step-by-step lessons packed with interactive voice and visual help for real time feedback and remediation. This gives students an accelerated path towards English proficiency using their own smartphones and devices at home.

Can Learning Upgrade help me pass the TOEFL or IELTS test?

IELTS and TOEFL are standardized tests for non-native English speakers needing to prove their English proficiency.  Learning Upgrade is a proven ESL solution that will help students master the reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills needed to pass these exams.

 

Unlike other programs, we’re much more than just language acquisition. Learning Upgrade helps prepare learners for the academic reading and writing portions of the test with rigorous standards-based instruction.

 

For students ready to take the IELTS and TOEFL exams soon, we have 60-lesson IELTS and TOEFL prep courses. For students needing review or just beginning their ESL journey, we have  six 60-lesson English courses with everything a student will need to know to demonstrate their proficiency.

Is Learning Upgrade for schools or for home use?

Learning Upgrade is available for family home use and for school use.

 

For education providers, we provide a Learning Upgrade school license. Schools can get started with a free pilot and then purchase a site license from there. We also have licensing for districts, regions, and states. A school license provides access to our LMS for teachers and admins, and access to all of our courses for students.

 

For home use families and students, our app has a membership subscription. To get started, launch our app and click the buttons to ‘Sign Up’ with a ‘Personal Account’.

What courses are available with a Learning Upgrade account?

Learning Upgrade is a one app solution for English, math, test prep, and digital skills. Students get access to all of our courses with each license.

 

English Upgrade B to 5 (6 Courses – 300 Lessons)

The English Upgrade courses move students from early reading and grammar to advanced comprehension and writing through a sequence of 360 engaging lessons. Students start at their level and rapidly grow to become proficient readers comfortable using academic language.

 

Reading Upgrade and Comprehension Upgrade (2 Courses – 120 Lessons)

The Reading Upgrade course provides rapid intervention for students struggling to read proficiency. This includes students with reading difficulties including dyslexia, English learners, and older students who need to learn reading fundamentals. The Comprehension Upgrade course helps student to master the understanding of complex passages including literature, social studies, and science texts. Students learn key concepts like main idea and point of view through videos, examples, and practice questions.

 

Math Upgrade B to 8 (9 Courses – 540 Lessons)

The Math Upgrade courses help students overcome math struggles and become confident problem solvers ready for success in math classes and tests. Students start at their level and quickly fill in gaps to reach proficiency through interactive lessons filled with video, practice, and help.

 

Algebra Upgrade and Pre-Algebra Upgrade (2 Courses – 120 Lessons)

The Algebra and Pre-Algebra Upgrade courses prepare students for success in math classes and passing difficult tests. These courses go beyond simple practice to help students learn difficult concepts through video and interactive games. Students gain the confidence to solve a variety of problems step-by-step on their own.

 

GEDⓇ Math and HiSETⓇ Math (2 Courses – 120 Lessons)

The GEDⓇ Math and HiSETⓇ Math courses prepare learners for success on these challenging tests with engaging lessons that teach the key math topics and valuable problem solving activities. The courses go far beyond simple practice tests to actually teach learners the math they need and give learners confidence to pass the test. Learners move through 60 sequenced lessons that build up their math skills and then master a final challenge to prepare them for test success.

Digital Literacy (1 Course – 60 Lessons)

The highly anticipated new Digital Literacy course in the Learning Upgrade program teaches digital literacy standards.  The 60 engaging lessons use video, music, games, and rewards to help learners understand difficult tech topics. Learners get experience with content creation, messaging, data, privacy, security, and digital citizenship.

Can I use Learning Upgrade with Chromebooks, iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and Fire tablets?

The Learning Upgrade app is available using the Chrome browser on Chromebooks and can be accessed using any browser on a laptop or desktop computer.

 

Students with iPhones, iPads, or Android mobile devices can download the Learning Upgrade app to access their courses. Learning Upgrade is not currently available on Amazon Fire tablets.

Is Learning Upgrade Available on the web using a browser?

The Learning Upgrade app is available using the Chrome browser on Chromebooks and can be accessed using any browser on a laptop or desktop computer.

Is Learning Upgrade available in Spanish?

Learning Upgrade provides onboarding instructions in Spanish and other languages, but utilizes a ‘full immersion’ English approach in our English courses for rapid ESL improvement.

Does Learning Upgrade have a Learning Management System (LMS) for teachers and admins?

Each Learning Upgrade school accounts provides access to the Learning Upgrade LMS for teachers, tutors, and admins.

 

With the Learning Upgrade LMS, you can:

  • Track and monitor all student activity in real time
  • Access a real-time view of every student’s progress on every lesson and standard
  • Create web-based reports for individual students, classes, and entire sites with interactive features
  • Track session data, device usage, time-on-task by date range, and more
  • Monitor multiple sites, states, regions, teacher groups, classes, schools, and more

How do I get a Learning Upgrade license?

Learning Upgrade is free to start and affordable to grow. We provide free pilots with unlimited access to the Learning Upgrade student app and teacher LMS. Request a pilot.