Read aloud

Why this shape

Given text read aloud tests fluency, accuracy and pace: reading development, language learning, presentation.

An example. Read the paragraph aloud.

What it is

Voice questions ask the student to speak: pronounce a phrase, give a spoken answer, read aloud, present, perform. The recording is made in the browser and kept with the attempt for assessment.

Why it is needed

Speaking cannot be faked by a chatbot in the room, and much of what education leads to is spoken: a language, a presentation, a defence, a consultation. A recorded answer in the student's own voice is evidence of the person and of the skill at once.

When to use it

Use it for languages, oral exams, presentations, music, medicine and law where the spoken form is the skill. Use it as the integrity shape when written work has become unreliable: a two-minute spoken answer on the material.

How to write one well

Give the prompt in full before recording starts, and say how long the answer should be. Put the target text or the assessment criteria in the rubric so the reader marks consistently. Allow a second take where the skill is the content, and not where it is fluency.

For read aloud in particular. Mark against the text in the rubric: errors, pace, expression.

Mistakes to avoid

A recording task with no criteria. Background noise that the student cannot control. A time limit so short that the answer is a fragment. Marking accent instead of the criterion.

How EdProcto marks it

Recordings are stored with the attempt on the server and wait for you: you listen to each one and grade it against your rubric. No score is released until you release it.