National exams in NO and SO with Trelson Assessment

Trelson Assessment is an application for your computer or iPad that locks your students’ devices so they can’t access the internet. You can use Trelson in your regular teaching to help your students stay focused and, for example, to use both text-to-speech and speech-to-text so that your students with reading and writing difficulties get the help they deserve.

If you have never used Trelson, it is advisable to first watch the instructional video: How Trelson works (video 14 minutes)

If you don’t know Trelson at all, you can try it for free here: Create a free account for a period of time.

In NO and SO, students have a question booklet for the national exam and the idea is that students should actually write with paper and pencil, but it works to do digitally in Trelson even if it requires some fix in advance.

1. Create your test/assignment and choose your settings for e.g. spell checking, text to speech and speech to text and whether the test/assignment should be anonymous or not. Please note that all tests written digitally must be done anonymously. (Here’s how to make anonymous samples: Anonymising and de-anonymising samples in Trelson

2. Go to MODULES and click on the small gear wheel. There you choose to view one question at a time.

3. Edit what your form should be called e.g. NP NO 9B -22 and click on SAVE

4. Click on Add and select Question and under TYPE scroll down and select Long text.

As you cannot open the test until the same morning and do not know how many questions will be asked or if some questions require students to tick, draw or do calculations in the answer booklet, you can continue to do about 30 questions in the same way as above.

Instruct students that when they are required to tick, draw or do calculations, they do so in pencil in the answer booklet and longer answers that require written text are done by students in Trelson. The student alternates between writing in the answer booklet and in Trelson when necessary.

Of course, if you’re quick and know how Trelson works, you can go to work early on the day of the test, open it up and put in questions and multiple-choice options with crosses that morning and mimic how the test is constructed.

However, please note that you are not allowed to photograph the test or transfer the questions in their entirety to Trelson.

5. For students with e.g. dyslexia who are entitled to oral tests, HELP will be activated when you create the test/assignment. The student can use both text to speech (the computer reads what the student has written) and speech to text (the student speaks his/her answers and the computer converts it into text)

Enable both spell check, text to speech and speech to text for all students when you create your test/assignment.

If you only want to activate tools for individual pupils, you can do so after adding the pupil’s name by clicking on the three dots in the right-hand corner.

6. Pupils who need support when writing can use text to speech even in forms.The student selects their text, clicks on the icon that looks like a little man in the top right corner. At the bottom of the screen you will see a play icon. The student clicks play and can listen and correct. It is a very good writing aid for the student and it will be easier for you to correct when the text is more comprehensible.

7. Some pupils have so much difficulty that they cannot write for themselves. They then need to be given the opportunity to dictate and speak their answers. In order to dictate and speak their answers, students need to write their answers in the regular writing space and not in forms. At the top right of the student’s screen is the speech-to-text icon in the form of a microphone. The student clicks on Start speech to text and starts to speak his answer. To use this function, the student needs to be quiet and think about speaking clearly. When the student has finished their answer, they click on the Stop Speech to Text button at the bottom of the screen.

Ask the pupil to edit his/her text regularly, e.g. using punctuation marks.

If you have students who are newcomers and who need a dictionary, you can add a dictionary as a resource. Go to RESOURCES and select Add web resource. There you paste the link to the dictionary you want. On the student’s screen, the dictionary now appears at the top of the screen. If the student wishes, they can click on the small icon to the left of their name and the screen will split into two parts. The student can have the dictionary on the right and the writing surface/form on the left and does not have to switch between tabs.

You can use the above approaches with your students in regular classroom activities. Have students complete all of their writing assignments via Trelson and add text to speech and split view for accessibility!

Good luck!