[Assessment_Advisory_Committee] Text-to-Speech on Tablets and Chromebooks

[Joseph Suggs]

I agree as well. I definitely support making this a recommendation rather than an impropriety when the interface allows it to be accessed when less appropriate.

As long as we’re on the technology topic, I’d recommend a communication push out some time in the near future that re-caps current expectations for upcoming technology needs including whether a stylus will still be required in 2016-17 and perhaps even a technology recommendation or at least pros and cons list by type of device related to assessment use. That may already exist somewhere and I just need to catch up on my reading.
Joe



From: Assessment_Advisory_Committee [mailto:assessment_advisory_committee-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Catherine Carlson
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 12:18 PM
To: Bill Stewart; HEIDE Jordan
Cc: assessment_advisory_committee at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: Re: [Assessment_Advisory_Committee] Text-to-Speech on Tablets and Chromebooks

I agree with Bill’s suggestions.

Catherine Carlson
Coordinator
Testing & Evaluation/Student Records Department
Salem-Keizer School District
503-399-5590
FAX 503-391-4088
Supporting student achievement through information, professional development, and assessment services



From: Assessment_Advisory_Committee [mailto:assessment_advisory_committee-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Bill Stewart
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 8:24 AM
To: HEIDE Jordan
Cc: assessment_advisory_committee at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<mailto:assessment_advisory_committee at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Assessment_Advisory_Committee] Text-to-Speech on Tablets and Chromebooks

Jordan,
Interesting situation!  Since the 'problem' can't be fixed and the function can't be blocked, it leaves ODE and DTCs caught in the middle.
The proposed workaround seems reasonable, with a few caveats.

1) I'd suggest changing 'support' to 'allow' under the bold header "Proposed Workaround"
2) Include a STRONGLY worded disclaimer that this is a workaround of an unfixable technical issue and that districts should use it with caution. Sort of a 'buyer beware' statement...
3) Include, if possible, the likelihood of future fixes that would align the function of tablets with the existing (or future) function of laptops and desktops.  This could inform districts that are considering further investment in tablets for assessment.
I hope this helps!
Bill

On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 3:13 PM, HEIDE Jordan <jordan.heide at state.or.us<mailto:jordan.heide at state.or.us>> wrote:
Dear Assessment Advisory Committee members,

ODE is requesting your feedback on whether to change its policy regarding allowing districts to use text-to-speech on tablets and Chromebooks.

Issue: For technical reasons, the pause feature is not available for text-to-speech (TTS) on tablets and Chromebooks. Students can stop TTS reading in the middle of an item or passage, but there is no way to have TTS resume reading where it was stopped. If the student activates TTS again for the same item or passages it will start again at the beginning. The pause feature, which allows TTS to resume reading where it was paused, is available on desktops and laptops.

Current Policy: ODE has disallowed the use of TTS on tablets and Chromebooks on the basis that the inability to pause TTS and then resume again at the place it was paused would disadvantage students testing on tablets and Chromebooks when they encountered a long passage or item.  It’s important to note that while this restriction is noted in all documentation and user guides, AIR is not able to actually block TTS on tablets or Chromebooks. AIR and ODE received a lot of calls from districts that were testing students on tablets and Chromebooks and wanted to be able to use TTS. They questioned why it was not available and stated that it was a great inconvenience to not be able to use it.

Proposed Workaround: AIR has proposed some workarounds as an alternative to the pause feature if ODE decides to support TTS on tablets and Chromebooks in 2015-2016:

•         Students can select the text they want read aloud and TTS will read only the selected text. Therefore, if a student pauses a passage in the middle and wants the TTS to resume where the passage was paused, the student can highlight the remainder of the passage.

•         We can include in the documentation the recommendation that if a student will use TTS a desktop or laptop computer should be used for the ELA performance task test, which is the test that has the longest passages.

To inform ODE’s decision-making on whether to allow TTS use on tablets and Chromebooks with the proposed workarounds, please respond with your feedback by Wednesday, September 30.

Thank you as always for your input!


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Bill Stewart
Special Projects
Gladstone SD
stewartw at gladstone.k12.or.us<mailto:stewartw at gladstone.k12.or.us>
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