Companion Sites

A Companion Site contains the learning and teaching resources for a book or series. Most resources are organized by volume and lesson. Resources that are relevant to the whole book or series, such as lesson plans, are filed under a general section. You can browse all the resources available for a title using the links in the sidebar.

How do I post a new resource?

Contributing to PeerSource is easy!

1. On a companion site, use the links in the right sidebar to find an appropriate category for your resource (for more help, see Where should I post my resource?).

2. Click on a Post new resource button in that category.

3. On the submission page, type in a Name (e.g., "Vocabulary Game, Level 1 Part 1, Lesson 5"), Description and Tags for your resource.

4. If your resource is in a file saved on your computer, select it using the Browse button, and click Attach.

5. At the bottom of the page, click Preview to check that everything looks fine.

6. When you're ready to submit, click Save — and you're done!

Where should I post my resource?

To make it easier for other users to find your contribution, you should select the most specific category for your resource. For example, if you have a crossword puzzle that uses vocabulary only found in Volume 1, Lesson 1, you should post it on the Volume 1, Lesson 1 page, instead of the Volume 1 page.

However, if you have a more general resource, such as a lesson plan for all the lessons in Volume 1, you should post it on the Volume 1 page.

Notes:

  • By default, your new resource will be posted to the current page you were viewing when you clicked on the Post new resource button.
  • If you can't find a suitable category, please post a description of the problem in the support forum so that a staff member can assist you.

What types of files are allowed?

The following file extensions are currently enabled for attachment:

jpg jpeg gif png txt doc xls pdf ppt pps odt ods odp zip dmg mp3 wma

Each file can be up to 4mb, and you are limited to 50mb total for your account.

Note: Currently, PeerSource does not support Word 2007 (.docx) files.

How do I edit or delete a resource that I posted?

You are free to edit or delete any of the resources that you have posted on PeerSource.

Both actions can be performed using the Edit form — just click on the Edit tab when viewing your resource. To remove your resource from the site, scroll to the bottom of the form and choose Delete.

You will be prompted to confirm this action. Remember, once your resource has been deleted, there will be no way to recover it!

How do I rate, tag or comment on a resource?

You're encouraged to leave comments and discuss any of the resources on PeerSource: just click the Comments tab at the top of a specific resource page.

You can also rate and tag posts to help yourself and others find and evaluate content in the future.

How does the rating system work?

Most content on PeerSource can be rated using a five-star rating system.

To rate the content on any allowable page, simply locate the row of stars at the bottom of the page, and "vote" by clicking on one through five stars based on your opinion of the content's quality and usefulness. One star is the poorest rating you can give content, and five stars is the highest rating. You can change your rating later, or cancel your rating at any time by clicking on the 'x' icon.

All ratings are anonymous, and users are encouraged to rate content honestly. Look to the row of stars at the top of a page to find that content's average rating.

Additionally, while searching for content, you can sort your results by their average ratings, to help you better find and evaluate new content.

What are tags and why should I use them?

A tag works like a simple label. Tags provide additional information about a post, and are helpful in grouping similar posts together into flexible classifications. They don't have to adhere to any predefined categories—they are uniquely applied by users. Because an individual's tags are shared across the entire community, adding tags to content helps to build an informal but effective classification system (sometimes called a "Folksonomy").

While browsing PeerSource, you'll see that tags are displayed in a "tag cloud," in which the font size of a tag reflects the number of posts to which that tag has been applied. This helps users to visualize the distribution of content across the site. If you're reading a discussion thread or accessing a resource and you'd like to find related content, try clicking on tags that other users have applied to the page you're on, and see what turns up!

You might tag a post, simply as a reminder to yourself, or as a helpful way to group posts together later. When your tags are combined with those from the rest of the community, they make content easier to browse, and add helpful keywords to improve search results.

It is a good practice to add a few relevant tags when making a new post. This will make your post more visible to other users browsing related content.

How can I tell the difference between content posted by Cheng & Tsui and content posted by other users?

The red Cheng & Tsui fan logo will appear next to any content that is considered part of Cheng & Tsui’s publications or products. The same red fan will appear on the user images of Cheng & Tsui staff members, and their user names will appear in red, which cannot be duplicated by other members.

You can also choose to view only a certain type of content (either Cheng & Tsui or user-contributed). Just click the drop-down menu next to the "post new resource" button to switch between viewing options.

What is teachers-only content?

We welcome all users to take part in PeerSource. However, there are some areas that are restricted to teachers only. To facilitate this, we offer special registration to teachers, which allows them to post and view this kind of "teachers-only" content, such as quizzes, test banks, and answer keys. All requests for teacher access are verified against our records or through the requestor's school or institution.

How can I register as a teacher?

 During the course of registering at PeerSource, you will have the option to complete the verification process. If you're already a registered user, please follow this link for the teacher verification form.