Explode The Code Online FAQ at the Homeschool Buyers Club

Please read this FAQ page carefully before contacting the Club.

PLEASE do NOT contact Educational Publishing Service directly prior to making your purchase. Refer to this page for more information and support. The Club has FULL RESPONSIBILITY for getting your questions answered prior to purchase.

Is Explode the Code Online compatible on mobile (touchscreen) devices?

Yes! Please see the minimum system requirements below.

What are the system requirements?

ETC Online works optimally with high speed Internet connections and uses an HTML5 interface. Browsers should be configured to accept cookies.

Hardware

Windows:

Intel Pentium II 450MHz or faster processor (or equivalent)
256MB of RAM

Mac:

PowerPC G3 500MHz or faster processor
256MB of RAM

If I renew our Explode-The-Code one year membership, will all of my student's lesson records be saved as well?

If you purchased your original subscription through the Club, then yes! You can renew your Explode the Code Online subscription before it expires. Your student's current information will transfer over to your renewal subscription. There is a special renewal link in your MY SUBSCRIPTIONS page that will direct you to the renewal order form.

If you had purchased directly from School Specialty, then we are unable to renew the subscription for you. However, upon participating at the Club, you can manually set your student to where he or she left off.

Why is the ETC Online subscription offered through the Club last less than a year?

In order to get our discount, we have to buy a large volume of subscriptions. Each subscription in each batch ends on the same day, a year from our date of purchase. When we have sold through our subscriptions, we then buy a new batch. If we have any subscriptions left in a batch after 3 months, we'll start discounting them to compensate for the reduced time.

You always have the option of purchasing directly from EPS, and you'll get a full year, but you won't get the Club's discount.

Can a single subscription be used by two students at different levels?

No. A subscription is designed for use by a single student. The program advances or remediates students based on their answers to questions, and tracks progress on the assumption it is working with an individual progress.

If you try to use the same subscription for two different students, neither student will get optimal results and you won't be able to track their progress individually.

You should purchase a separate subscription for each student.

Is this aligned to state standards?

Per our agreement with EPS, and in order to bring our members a discount, the Club is the acting school district and your first layer of support. Since the Club is based in California, the state standards are aligned in California. Licenses are not individually created for each and every homeschool teacher and her student(s). Therefore, we get the usernames and passwords up front, and fulfill orders as they come in. This makes our accounts non-geospecific, and will not be tailored by your current state standards.

Is Explode the Code an Orton-Gillingham based program?

Yes, the structured methodology is how it is best exemplified. More information can be found here: https://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/online-programs/explode-the-code-online/about-the-program

When I click on the links in the MY SUBSCRIPTIONS tab, nothing happens.

If nothing happens when you click the auto log-in links on your MY SUBSCRIPTIONS page, then it sounds like your pop up blockers are turned on. Your subscription is supposed to open up in a new window (if you are using Internet Explorer) or a new tab (if you are using Mozilla Firefox). Make sure your pop-up blockers are turned off and try again.

I am having an issue with the sound (or have no sound) in ETC Online. What should I do?

Although rare (but worth a try), EPS Tech Support recommends to launch a website that contains audio (YouTube for example), play an audio file, and then launch ETC. Sometimes the program needs a 'jump start' for the sound to play.

I use Internet Explorer, and I am having a hard time accessing my ETC Online subscription. What should I do?

Try accessing your subscription using another browser. This usually fixes the problem. Please see the System Requirements above for more information.

When I try to login on my iPad, I get an error message - Not compatible with Ipad. What should I do?

As of 1/17/2020, EPS has responded: "The new update to iOS made a change to the Safari settings so that by default it is set to request the desktop site. To resolve this please go to Settings > Safari > Request Desktop Website > All Websites and slide it off. Refresh the page."

How do I know where to start a student in the program?

Although the program begins with an assessment zone that will place the student accordingly, you can save time at the start of the program by placing students according to their general skill level.

If you don't want the student to take the assessment upon starting the program and not sure where a student should start, you can purchase the Explode The Code Placement Test separately by contacting EPS Customer Service or utilize the Explode The Code scope and sequence. Both these tools can help you match your student's skill level to the skills introduced in a particular book so that you can manually set up a student in an online assessment zone at the appropriate level.

Can the teacher/parent set the level at which the student starts?

Yes. However, keep in mind that if the student does not do as well as they should, the system will automatically bounce them back down to an appropriate level. For example, if you have a student that has not completed book 2 and then you start them at book 3 content and she does not do well, the system will bounce her back to book 2 (or wherever necessary). In the same fashion, if you have a student that is excelling, the student will be bounced ahead. The teacher/parent has control over this as well. If for some reason the system advances your student further than you want, you can manually put the student back.

Can a teacher reassign the initial assessment for ETC Online?

Yes. Just log in to your teacher account and enter the Student Settings password (found on your MY SUBSCRIPTIONS page) into the appropriate field. Then go to the Curriculum Delivery Settings tab and reset the student to the very first activity in the program.

The program did not keep my sons earned points from yesterday. Do they go away from day to day?

Students see a "score board" on the left-hand side of their screen. They receive various buttons as they work through the exercises (a bubble bee being the worst and an airplane being the best). This is meant to be a quick reference for the students/parents to monitor their progress during that particular session. After the student closes this session, these buttons will disappear so they'll have a blank slate for the next session.

However, all of the data and scores are logged live (i.e. the system captures the results as the student performs). So if you simply log into the admin page and look at your student's performance graph, you'll see that all the data is there safe and sound.

My student had to stop mid-lesson. Why didn't it record her score, and why does she have to start from the beginning, instead of picking up where she left off?

A unit consists of 8-10 questions. Students must complete an entire exercise (or unit) for the score to be registered. As soon as the student sees "Good Job", then they can hit the stop button and leave the program.

If my student starts ETC Online on a computer/laptop, can he/she pause Explode the Code then switch to the ETC Online App?

It is recommended that the student logs out ETC Online first before switching to the app. However, it is best to begin and complete the lesson on the device it was started, either on the computer/laptop or the app.

The game listings on the Fun page are not links. Are they supposed to be links?

Yes, they are links. If you click them and nothing happens, it's probably because you have a pop-up blocker activated. Try disabling your pop-up blocker.

Is there a way to update my student's name, instead of a random bunch of letters/numbers?

Yes! Visit your Teacher account, and enter the password "tutor" in the Student Settings password field (top right corner of the screen) to configure the student settings. Under the Student Profile tab, you can enter your student's first name and last name.

I need to change the settings for my student but I don't remember the password. Can you help me?

Yes! Parents can update their student settings within the Teacher login link. When you are signed in, enter the password "tutor" in the Student Settings password field (top right corner of the screen) to configure the student settings. You can also locate this information in the "Parents!" section within your Club's My Subscriptions page, under the "Explode The Code Online" subscription heading.

My student has progressed to the next book, but I can't access the certificate for the previous book she worked on.

In order for the teacher/parent to print out the certificate, the student must complete the entire book. When the entire book has been completed, you will see a blue box with a gold button that says: "You earned a certificate!". Until then, this section is grayed out and is not clickable.

If your student has been manually moved, for example, from Book 3 to to Book 4, simply manually adjust the student back to the earliest missed lesson in Book 3. The student will then have to complete and pass that lesson and any other missed lesson. Please note that adjusting her back from Book 4 to Book 3 will likely cause her to repeat some work from Book 4, but when she starts Book 4, she'll start in the assessment zone.

My student has completed all of the books within her subscription, but she still has time left on her subscription. Can I have my other student use it?

Due to the nature of our account set up for Explode the Code Online, another student cannot be added to the subscription, nor can current progress be deleted in order for another student to begin the subscription. The license offered for Explode the Code Online is only for one student.

What do I do if my question is not answered on this page?

You can submit your question at the Contact Us page. We will answer your question and update this page as well.