Frequently Asked Questions...
If you have questions not answered below, don't hesitate to contact us.
What does 'Melissi' mean?
Take a look here: 
Is there an annual licence fee for software?
No. Once you have paid for your Melissi software licence(s), the software is yours to use for as long as you wish. An optional Technical Support Licence is offered after the first 12 months' free support:
Do I need to buy or rent specific hardware from you - like a dedicated server?
No. If you already have networked PCs, Melissi will run fine. We can recommend specific hardware, but we don't require or supply it.
Can my students combine sound, text and video content?
Melissi software can be used to create an audio track and then to link a second track to the first, for listen-and-response recordings, etc. Audio tracks can be locked to video in order to create and edit dub tracks. Melissi also has a powerful subtitling module; text files from this can be exported to RTF files. Text is handled by an on-board word processor using standard text formats. All sound, text, video outputs can be combined by the teacher into an ‘Activity Package’ for easy distribution to the class/group.
How do I get work to my students?
Exercises can be sent directly to individual students, differentiated groups, or entire classes, or they can be collected by the students from various sources. Melissi users have access to files located anywhere on the network that their permissions allow. The central server can be located on the staff machine, so teachers can drop their resources there when a class is not in session. In addition, Melissi has a versatile class management system, which allows teachers to make exercises available to students, groups and classes working in class or in ‘Self-Access’ mode away from the teaching session.
What audio formats can I use?
Melissi plays audio files in all the usual sound formats (wav, mp3, ogg, etc.). The default recording format is mp3.
What if my students lose files?
Response files are automatically pinned to the original and so are not easily lost. These files can be played back together or separately. If an attached audio/video file has been deleted from the student’s computer, the system will automatically search and gather it from the server for playback.
Can my students work in groups?
Melissi offers an automatic group generation mode, enabling the teacher easily to create groups of between 2 and 6. These groups can also be 'tweaked' by the teacher.
it enables teachers to interact with each or all of these groups.
Staff can select and view any student screen from their own computer. They can also speak and listen to any student as well as join conversations between students.
5. Users to communicate with each other and with staff via voice and text.
Staff can speak to and listen to any or all students, or a group of students. Text messages can also be sent by and to students via chat room, internal e-mail, or on-screen prompt. Students can speak to each other using the ‘telephone’ system. All communication modes can be controlled by the teacher; for example, she may limit speech between students within their own working group. Students call the teacher for assistance at any time.
6. Staff to control users’ screens for demonstration purposes, pushing their own or a selected learner’s screen to all displays simultaneously.
In a traditional fixed class setup, the screen and projector at the front of the room is effective for this. However, Melissi can be used across the wireless network, so students could be working on laptops in groups in the library, in another classroom, at the SEN centre, etc. The teacher can then send whatever is on her screen to all student screens; if she is viewing a student’s screen at the time, this will go out to all users. The teacher can speak via headsets to all students during demonstration.
More FAQs...
Technical FAQs... |
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'Open Sessions' FAQs... |
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