Frequently Asked Questions

To use Basics in your browser, you will need:

1. HTML5 compatible browser
2. 1024 x 768 pixel display or greater

To use the iPad Basics app, you will need:

1. iPad 2 or later
2. iPad Air is recommended

Basics is designed for students with a developmental age of 2 to 7 years.

Basics has 6 learning domains: Adaptive Skills, Cognitive Skills, Language Arts, Language Development, Mathematics, and Social and Emotional Skills.

All of the On Computer Lessons and Generalization Lessons fall into one of the six learning domains.

If your student is initially placed too low in the Basics curriculum, the software will recognize that and correct it. Every time your student begins a new lesson in Basics they are given a pretest to determine how well they understand the material in the lesson. If your student passes the pretest they will automatically be given the next lesson in that domain. However, if your student passes numerous pretests in a row, the program will recognize that their placement in the current domain is too low and will advance the student's placement in the domain by a greater degree than normal.

If your student is initially placed too high in the Basics curriculum, the software will recognize this and correct for it. As your student continues to use Basics, the software will give your student easier lessons until your student begins to succeed. At this point, Basics will begin to present more challenging lessons.

Yes, use Facilitator Selected Lessons. If you choose to start a session for your student using Facilitator Selected Lessons the computer will only give your student the lessons you chose. This allows your student to work on specific concepts that you feel they still need to learn.

Follow the steps below to choose lessons for your student:

1. Launch Basics and Log In.
2. Select your student.
3. Click CURRICULUM at the top of the page.
4. Click VIEW FACILITATOR SELECTED LESSONS.
5. Click ADD LESSONS at the bottom of the page.
6. Click the box in the Add column next to the lesson you want to add.
7. Repeat Step 6 to add more lessons.
8. Click DONE.
9. Review the lessons you chose.
10. Click DONE.

To start a computer session using Facilitator selected lessons:

1. Click the START STUDENT SESSION tab at the top of the screen.
2. Click FACILITATOR SELECTED LESSONS.
3. Set the session length by doing one of the following:
   • Select the box next to By Number of Lessons. Use the drop-down menu to set the number of lessons.
   • Choose the number of minutes from the drop-down menu to set the session length. (See Section 13.1 in the Reference Guide for more information about setting the session length.)
4. Click CONTINUE.
5. Once your student is ready to begin, Click START SESSION.
6. The TeachTown map will appear. This is the beginning of the student session.
7. When the student session ends, or if you need to end a session early, hold down the (left) mouse button “T” key to exit the student session.
8. This takes you to a Session Report that summarizes your student’s session.

Yes, each time you start a session for your student, simply choose either Computer Selected lessons or Facilitator Selected Lessons. If you choose to start a session for your student using Facilitator Selected Lessons the computer will only give your student the lessons you choose. This allows your student to work on specific concepts that you feel they still need to learn.

Follow the steps below to choose lessons for your student:

1. Launch Basics and Log In.
2. Select your student.
3. Click CURRICULUM at the top of the page.
4. Click VIEW FACILITATOR SELECTED LESSONS.
5. Click ADD LESSONS at the bottom of the page.
6. Click the box in the Add column next to the lesson you want to add.
7. Repeat Step 6 to add more lessons.
8. Click DONE.
9. Review the lessons you chose.
10. Click DONE.

To start a computer session using Facilitator selected lessons:

1. Click the START STUDENT SESSION tab at the top of the screen.
2. Click FACILITATOR SELECTED LESSONS.
3. Set the session length by doing one of the following:
   • Select the box next to By Number of Lessons. Use the drop-down menu to set the number of lessons.
   • Choose the number of minutes from the drop-down menu to set the session length. (See Section 13.1 in the Reference Guide for more information about setting the session length.)
4. Click CONTINUE.
5. Once your student is ready to begin, Click START SESSION.
6. The TeachTown map will appear. This is the beginning of the student session.
7. When the student session ends, or if you need to end a session early, hold down the (left) mouse button “T” key to exit the student session.
8. This takes you to a Session Report that summarizes your student’s session.

Basics refers to all adults on your student’s educational team as facilitators. To add a new facilitator, you need their email address. Basics sends an email inviting them to be a facilitator on your student’s account. They accept the invitation by clicking on a link in the email. If the new facilitator does not have a Basics account, they must create one before using the program with a student.

Do not share your login information with anyone. This protects the confidentiality of your student’s account.

You can add as many facilitators as are appropriate for your student. There is no cost to become a facilitator in Basics.

Basics recommends that you add all members of the student’s educational team as facilitators. This includes teachers, paraeducators, Speech and Language Pathologists (SLP’s), Occupational Therapists (OT’s), parents, behavior analysts, etc.

You can invite a facilitator to join a student's team when using the program by following these steps:

1. Click the CURRENT STUDENT tab at the top of the screen.
2. Click MANAGE TEAM.
3. Click ADD FACILITATOR.
4. Fill in the new facilitator’s information.
5. Click SEND INVITATION.
6. Click OK.
7. Click the HOME tab to return to the Home screen.

An email will be sent to the new facilitator asking if they want to accept or decline working with your student. You will receive an email notifying you whether the new facilitator accepted or declined your invitation.

Each building in the TeachTown Map represents a subset of lessons from the curriculum.

When your student is at a point where no lessons are currently available for a particular building, that building fades out to eliminate that choice. For example, if you are using Facilitator Selected Lessons you might not have chosen a lesson from each building. Therefore when your student begins their session, the building with no lessons will be faded.

If your student chooses a building far more often that the other buildings, that building will be faded (and not available as a choice) until your student has chosen more lessons in the other buildings.

Basics automatically recommends Generalization Lessons for your student based on lessons your student is taking and has already completed on the computer.

Generalization Lessons can be found inside the program. You can print Generalization Lessons from Basics.

Follow these steps to locate generalization lessons in Basics:

1. Login to Basics with your username and password.
2. Select the student that you wish to do the Generalization Lesson with.
3. Click CURRICULUM at the top of the page.
4. Click VIEW GENERALIZATION LESSONS.
5. Click the RECOMMENDED radio button to display only the Generalization Lessons associated with the Computer Lessons that the current student is working on.
6. Use the Scroll Bar or the Search Bar to search for lessons.
7. Click the PDF icon next to the Generalization Lesson you want to view.
8. The Generalization Lesson you chose will appear.

From the Home screen, click the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page and describe the problem that you are encountering.

Some types of lessons, such as Sorting, Sequencing and Counting lessons, only work properly if the browser is left in Full Screen Mode. If you or the student hits the ESC key on the keyboard it will cause the browser to exit Full Screen and may interfere with the correct functioning of lessons. Please try re-starting the session and leave the browser in Full Screen mode. Sometimes teachers will remove the keyboard, leaving only the mouse, so that students cannot hit keys.

No. Basics stores your student’s data on our secure server at all times. Even if you suspend (deactivate) your student’s account the data will not be deleted. This allows you to reactivate your student at any time and still have all their data.

Deactivated students can’t use Basics. The student’s facilitators can’t view the student’s data or reports. However, a deactivated student’s data is not deleted. Basics stores your student’s data on our secure server at all times. This allows you to reactivate your student at any time.

A deactivated student will still appear on your screen if you’re viewing All Students. However, a deactivated student will have an exclamation mark in a triangle next to their name, indicating they are inactive. You can also view just your inactive students by choosing that option from the My Students tab.

Credit Card Customers:

1. Click CURRENT STUDENT at the top of the page.
2. Click STUDENT PROFILE.
3. Click EDIT STUDENT ACCOUNT.
4. Click DEACTIVATE MONTH TO MONTH SUBSCRIPTION or DEACTIVATE TEACHTOWN.
5. Click DEACTIVATE.
6. Click OK.

Organizational Customers (school districts, clinics):

If your student is moving to another organization that is currently using Basics or would like to consider using Basics for this student, the data and payment options can be transferred to the accepting student's organization. Contact TeachTown for additional information by emailing us at clientservices@teachtown.com or by calling us at 1-800-644-7811.

Steps:

1. Click CURRENT STUDENT at the top of the page.
2. Click STUDENT PROFILE.
3. Click EDIT BILLING.
4. Click DEACTIVATE.
5. Click OK.
6. This takes you back to the Student Profile Page.
7. Click CANCEL to go back to the previous page or click Close in the orange bar to go to the Home Page.

All sensitive student data is transmitted between the client application and our server via a secure encrypted connection over the HTTPS protocol. This is the same technology that is used from on line credit card processing and financial institutions.

Our back end database is a robust commercial Relational Database Management System that is located behind a secure firewall located in a high security data center. All data is backed up regularly to multiple geographic locations for safety and redundancy.

Our client application communicates with www.teachtown.com, svc.teachtown.com and web.teachtown.com over standard HTTP and HTTPS ports. Nothing else is required.

It must be possible for the client application to reach www.teachtown.com, svc.teachtown.com and web.teachtown.com over standard ports.

Information is transmitted between client and server via web services over encrypted HTTPS. Typically the format is HTML or JSON.

Only authorized TeachTown subscribers have access to student data via reports that are available behind a secure login. If data is used for purposes of research it is fully anonymized.