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

[Bill Stewart]

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>
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
503-805-8680 - cell
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