Learning-activity-is-any | Thomas' Work Space

“"Mira, mamá! Sin manos!". Can speech recognition tools be soundly applied for L2 speaking practice?” FLEAT VI, August 11-15 at Harvard University

2015/08/13 plagwitz Leave a comment

Categories: conferences, presentations Tags: speech-recognition

How speech recognition speaking practice integrates with LRC activities for oral practice, assessment and ePortfolio

2014/09/12 plagwitz Leave a comment

My use of Windows7 Automated Speech recognition in 7 languages integrates with
other LRC activities for oral practice, assessment and ePortfolio.
1. A lower-key and more frequent homework assignment
2. than our Kaltura student presentation webcam recordings NRBFS (using a URL shortener, as in http://goo.gl/NRBFS),
3. and with better feedback than our voice-insert recordings with Sanako mV1DR,
these homework assignments prepare for in-class assessments
1. chapter tests with textbook audio recordings z2KYtk,
2. screencast recordings of student presentations Cmd3gQ, pair conversations l6H12, and question-response midterm/final exams ZL7DG using Sanako digital audio lab.
All except Kaltura (incompatible with Mahara) also produce language learner ePortfolio pieces.

Categories: assessments, assignments, audience-is-teachers, digital-audio-lab, e-languages, Speaking, table-of-contents Tags: 7, kaltura, ms-community-clips, ms-powerpoint, ms-windows, mylanguagelab, sanako-study-1200

Protected: LRC à la carte II: Choose from our start-of-term class inductions

2014/07/15 plagwitz Enter your password to view comments.

Categories: assignments, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, classroom-activities, e-languages, eportfolio, proposals, table-of-contents, training Tags: kaltura, mahara, pilots, sanako-study-1200, speech-recognition

Advanced language learners can test their English, German or Spanish proficiency in 3.5 minutes here using Exhale

2014/05/23 plagwitz 4 comments

Update: A new version of the Spanish vocabulary test is here, and the English vocabulary test has been updated here.

Go here and click English or German, or (also requiring only 3.5 minutes to take, but more for manually grading your test with this answer key) go here for Spanish, if you want to to take a simple quick vocabulary test that has been shown to correlate well with general proficiency. You can find more info here on English and German, and here on Spanish.

Categories: Advanced, assessments, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, e-languages, English, German, Intermediate, Near-Native, Reading, service-is-assessing, Spanish, Vocabulary Tags: placement, testing

Watch how you can train Windows speech-recognition (e.g. in English)

2014/03/07 plagwitz Leave a comment

Categories: assignments, audience-is-students, e-languages, Operating-system, Screencasts, service-is-applying-learning-tools, Speaking, Student-Computers Tags: speech-recognition

Example 5: Watch how you can dictate to Windows speech-recognition (e.g. in English) and correct results in MS-Word

2014/03/07 plagwitz Leave a comment

Important: Listen carefully: I am not a native speaker, but have a reasonably low amount of errors, because it enunciate, speak clearly and slowly, and separate the words.
Consider it part of the exercise that you will have to re-read and re-type some your output – use track changes in MS-Word:
1. Make it a game: How good can you get?
2. If you get really good at it, make a screencast like this one and include it in your Mahara ePortfolio as authentic evidence of your foreign language proficiency.
Overall, it’s like how I refer to cycling: Beats walking. Anytime.

Audio player error message involving “pluginfile.php” in Moodle quiz

2014/02/24 plagwitz Leave a comment

LRC assistants may get called by students with this error regarding pluginfile.php in a Moodle quiz, it appears in the audio player interface itself and looks like this:
1. The error messages flashes only briefly, and afterwards the audio simply will not play.
2. In a Respondus lockdown browser quiz, you can bring up the error message again by clicking “next” and then resuming the attempt. When the quiz page reloads, the error message will briefly flash again.
LRC assistants cannot work around this error, they need to alert permanent staff. Usually it is related to a quiz author needing to update the audio file link, like so:
1. Go into the quiz, on the left, click “edit the quiz”):
2. Find the audio file link, edit the link:
  1. Can you actually load the link? If it says “file not found”, you have the root cause:
  3. Does it say “draft” in there? Not good. Copy the unique identifier from the path:
3. Go to in Moodle course / Files section, locate the offending file (you can use the unique id you put in the clip board to search), i.e. make sure it actually exists:
4. Get the correct URL for the file, puit it int the clipboard:
5. Go back to editing the quiz, update the wrong URL with the correct one.
6. Save the updated quiz.
Now the student can reload the quiz, if in Respondus lockdown browser, like above by clicking “next”and back.

Categories: assignments, audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, lms Tags: audio, moodle, Respondus-lockdown -browser

FAQs for issues with Respondus Lockdown Browser

2014/02/18 plagwitz Leave a comment

New to Respondus Quizzes? Read the CTL’s write-up.
No Photo ID (Niner ID or other state-issued)? Use the reception desk camera to take a photo with sheet, like below, we will forward it to the teacher for verification.
Issues with starting:
1. Respondus won’t open: How to bypass a Moodle Popup Window when using Respondus lockdown browser
2. Test won’t open and you get a warning
  1. in Moodle that this test must be run in Respondus Lockdown Browser? Close your regular web browser and double click on the desktop on the Moodle Lockdown Browser Icon:, then go to Moodle2 from in there.
  2. in Respondus that “No more attempts are allowed”, but the student has not made any attempts yet and the quiz closing date is long in the past: contact the teacher to check whether the quiz needs updating.
Issues with Audio:
1. Students are advised to test the headsets before entering Respondus Lockdown browser assessments:
  1. Start Audacity from the desktop, click record: if you say something, you must see something;
  2. Play back to test the speakers. Hear nothing? Try the volume knob:
  3. (More detail here).
2. Rewind-audio may get you stuck – to fix, next-page, then back (reloads page). More info: How to workaround Moodle quiz audio not playing to the end in Respondus Lockdown Browser
3. How to bypass a Moodle Popup Window when using Respondus lockdown browser
4. If no audio and error “pluginfile” flashes when clicking “Next”and back: notify permanent staff.
Issues with Writing:
1. Lost the ?
  1. Clicking around nearby where it was may bring it back.
  2. Or , quickly cancel (gets you out of lockdown browser), new attempt from desktop shortcut.
  3. Learn to use the installed US-international keyboard shortcuts. .
  4. more info: Problems with accented characters in Respondus Lockdown Browser
2. If your keyboard stops typing in English in a Respondus lockdown browser quiz…
Issues with finishing
1. If the test won’t submit, start Respondus lockdown browser on a different computer to see whether you can resume your attempt there.
More issues? Let us know in the comments here.