The new Speak Agent version 3.9.4 improves usability and learning scaffolds for several activity types, based on student feedback. Here are the details:
Diagram Typing Mode
Based on student feedback, we made several upgrades to the typing mode of Diagram It!, which is found in many lessons for grades 3-8. The goals of the typing mode are learning reinforcement and spelling practice. Normally, students will have already encountered the same diagram and vocabulary in the review and labeling modes.
- Added new instructional text.
- Added audio buttons. Students may press the audio button to hear the target word or phrase narrated.
- Added visual spacers (boxes) so that students can see the number of characters needed to complete each word or phrase.
- Added letters at the start and/or end of each word to trigger students’ memory of the target word or phrase.
- Added more precise corrective feedback to identify which letters were misspelled and need correcting.
Students now start the activity with letter hints and audio narration supports. Once they have filled all the boxes, they may check their work for accuracy.
When students check their work, the app identifies which letters are misspelled. (Note: The red boxes have dotted-line borders and different shading to make it clearer for students with color blindness.)
Usability Improvements
Low Screen Resolution
For students using a very low screen resolution, certain content, hints, or action buttons were getting blocked by other elements on the computer screen. We think we have solved this across all activities in the Speak Agent app with version 3.9.4. Please contact us if you have a student who still experiences issues at low screen resolutions.
These are the activities that were most affected at a very low resolution:
- Explain Your Work: Level 2 ( Compare Your Answer)
- Level Up
- My Voice
- Scrambled Words/Sentences list view
- Vocab Lab
Please thank your students for appropriately using our bug reporting tool to let us know about these issues so that we could solve them!
What’s Next?
Now that we have cleared out the immediate usability concerns, we are working on a new experimental feature that evaluates Read Along responses against writing rubric(s). We plan to first test this feature on a pilot basis over the winter months before incorporating it into our platform. This pilot will initially be available only to Speak Agent Champions and then expanded in the 3rd quarter on an opt-in basis.
As always, we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to share feedback on the new features or share your wishlist. So please don’t hesitate to contact your support team!
