Professional Development World Languages User Guide
Powerspeak User Guide World languages provided by The purpose of this Powerspeak guide is to provide information on the unique functions and features of our world language courses. These courses run on Middlebury Interactive Language s proprietary learning management system (PGLMS) but have been integrated into the Virtual Classroom and the Web Administrator to provide a single-sign-on experience. Powerspeak is part of the Middlebury Interactive Languages family of products. If you have any questions about Edgenuity s world language offerings, please feel free to contact us at 877.202.0338. Copyright Edgenuity Inc Professional Professional Development Development Powerspeak Quick Start User Guide edgenuity.com 1
Key Points While students and teachers still use Edgenuity platforms, Powerspeak s courses function differently than traditional Edgenuity courses. Please review the following list of items to gain an understanding of how the world language courses work. Powerspeak courses have their own management console. The Powerspeak management console for a course can be launched from a student s Gradebook by clicking on the Manage Powerspeak link. Powerspeak courses maintain their own Gradebook, so the traditional Edgenuity Gradebook treats the entire course as a single activity. Every session will appear in the Other Attempts section of the Edgenuity Gradebook for the Powerspeak course. The Edgenuity progress report will accurately display the student s completion progress and current grade for the course, but not the scores earned on specific activities. To view the scores for specific activities, please use the Powerspeak Gradebook. Powerspeak courses are customized via the Powerspeak console and not the Customize link in the Course Actions menu. Course Options are restricted. The Edit Options page for a Powerspeak course will have fewer options than a traditional course. Altering the options that appear in the Edit Options page will not have an impact on how the course functions. Edgenuity Platforms Student Virtual Classroom http://student.edgenuity.com Teacher Leaning Management System (LMS) http://teacher.edgenuity.com 2 Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com
Get Started Access the Management Console 1. From the student s course list, click on the appropriate Powerspeak course. 2. In the Selected Assignment section of the Gradebook, click on the Manage Powerspeak link. Confirm Plugins and Settings When working with a Powerspeak course for the first time, it is important to verify that all necessary plugins are installed and configured properly. These can all be found in the Powerspeak course management console. 1. From the Powerspeak management, console click on the Help button. 2. Click on the System Requirements link. In the list of system requirements and plugins, any items that do not meet the minimum requirements will be marked with this symbol. If an item is not installed or working properly, click the item title to display a set of troubleshooting instructions. Copyright Edgenuity Inc Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com 3
The Audio Recording section is an important aspect of the courses, as students are expected to submit recordings of themselves for some assignments. Make sure to click the button in the Audio Recording section. Once allowed, users are able to test their recording capabilities. Users should also check the Font Support in Flash section at the bottom to ensure that the appropriate characters will be displayed. Explore the Curriculum Preview Student Experience The Calendar View is the first view of the Powerspeak console. This provides a dayby-day list of activities for students. Click on the name of any activity to preview the content as students would see it. Course Customization Change Course Name Users are able to change a classroom name within the Powerspeak Management Console. Please note that modifying a classroom name within the Powerspeak management console does not change the course name in the Edgenuity platform. 2. Click on the Classroom Properties button. 3. Enter the new name in the Classroom Name field. 4. Click the Save button. 4 Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com
Change the Number of Lessons Powerspeak courses are organized with the intention of students completing one lesson each day. This organization (assignment list) is not affected by the Edgenuity District Calendar. As such, users may need to change the number of lessons the course has been organized into. 2. Click on the Classroom Properties button. 3. Type the desired number of lessons into the Lessons field. 4. Users are then prompted to specify which lessons will be condensed (fewer lessons) or expanded (more lessons). Specify which lessons are to be adjusted. 5. Click the Save button Delete Activity Users are able to remove activities from a course or change which lesson they appear in. 2. Click on the Assignment List button. 3. Click the Delete button to remove a lesson. Please note that these changes will affect all students enrolled in the course **The activity will be removed from the course. Users are able to undo this action by clicking the Undo link that appears in the confirmation message. Activity Lesson Association Teachers can change the order of lesson activities by setting their Lesson association. 2. Click on the Assignment List button. 3. Click the Edit button. 4. Choose the desired lesson for the activity to appear in from the Lesson Assigned menu. 5. Click the Update button. Please note that if a question has been marked as extra credit, the points associated are no longer considered part of the course total. Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com 5
Add Dates to the Calendar Users are able to specify a start date for Powerspeak courses, which will automatically assign dates for each lesson, as well as provide progress information (if a student is ahead, behind, or on track). **The date specified will affect all students enrolled in the course. The Locking Date is one year after the Start Date. Students are not able to access the course after the Locking Date. Please note that non-school days specified in the Edgenuity District Calendar are not accounted for in Powerspeak courses. 2. Click on the Classroom Properties button. 3. Enter the appropriate date into the Start Date fields. 4. Click the Save button. Password Protect Activities Students will need to enter the set password in order to access password-protected activities. **Password-protecting activities will affect all students enrolled. 2. Click on the Assignment List button. 3. Click the Edit button. 4. Set the desired password for the activity. 5. Click the Update button. Add Assignments Users are able to create their own activities within the course. Users can choose to create an essay question, audio recording assignment, short-answer question, or a general activity. **Added Assignments will appear for all students enrolled. 2. Click on the Assignment List button. 3. Click on the button in the upper-right corner. 4. Provide the Assignment name and Maximum points, specify which lesson the assignment will appear in, choose the question type, and enter the question text. 5. Click the Save button. 6 Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com
Monitor Student Acheivement In The Powerspeak Console View and Manage a Student s Gradebook Users can access the gradebook at any time by clicking on the Grades Icon in the upper left corner of Powerspeak Console. Users can also access the gradebook from the Classroom view. 1. Click on the Home Icon. 2. Then click on the icon. Each student row will show the number of points earned on each gradable assignment. The number of points possible for that assignment is displayed in the header column. Assignment details can be accessed by clicking on the student s actual score. The Gradebook can be displayed in various ways by using the Filter menu in the upper-right corner. Ungraded Activities can be viewed by clicking on the icon. Click on the icon in the upper right will list out all ungraded activities. *Please note that the Past Due filter view is only functional if a Start Date has been defined in the Powerspeak course. Grade Student s Written/Audio Assignments Any subjective assignments (written/audio) are given a score of 0. The educator will review the student s work and provide an appropriate score. Students responses can be viewed at the bottom of the page. To change a student s grade, click on the grade dropdown and select the score to issue the student. Click the button to listen to student s recorded responses. Leave feedback by typing in the Feedback or record an Audio response. Click the Save button. Copyright Edgenuity Inc Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com 7
Allow Retakes There are two ways to allow students to retake items on their assessments. 1. Allow students to retake specific questions. a. Click on the assignment in the student grade book to view their responses. b. Select questions and click Save to allow students to retake those questions. 2. Allow students to retake the entire assessment. a. While viewing student responses, click on the icon in the upper right corner to allow the student to retake the entire assessment. b. From the individual student assignment list, click on the icon. c. The icon will turn green and will allow students to retake that assessment. Students receive the following icon next to any assessments they have been allowed to retake. Add Avatar Money Powerspeak offers students the option to create avatars that can be customized using virtual money earned in the course. Teachers can also grant students additional avatar money as a form of encouragement or reward. 2. Click on the Number Value in the Students column for the appropriate course. 3. Click on the Student s Name. 4. Type in the number of dollars to be granted. 5. Click the Add button. 8 Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com
Monitor Student Progress in the Edgenuity LMS Edgenuity s LMS offers a number of helpful tools, reports, and features to monitor student progress. Several are listed below. Additional information is available in your Edgenuity Quick Start Guide, is searchable on our ecommunity Portal, or can be provided from Customer Support. User Groups help teachers filter students when using Edgenuity s Dashboard, Group Progress, and Attendance Log tools. For more information, refer to the Edgenuity Quick Start Guide. The Edgenuity Dashboard is a powerful tool to monitor student progress. Start and Target Dates should be set in order to maximize use. For more information, refer to the Edgenuity Quick Start Guide. Powerspeak courses will sync data regarding the completion percentage when students click on the green Save/Exit button at the bottom of the Virtual Classroom screen. If students do not click this button, the completion percentage displayed in Powerspeak will not match the Edgenuity Progress Report. While the Progress Report will not provide assignment and assessment grades by weight, it does give a snapshot of completion percentage and overall grade which can be printed or emailed to parents and guardians. For more information, refer to the Edgenuity Quick Start Guide. The Attendance Log will show when students were logged in to their online classroom and when they were accessing their courses. Copyright Edgenuity Inc Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com 9
Investigate Resources Frequently Asked Questions Q: Do I have to grade assignments for students? A: Yes. Although most Powerspeak assignments are objective and automatically graded by the system, the speaking and writing activities must be graded by a teacher who speaks the target language. Edgenuity is able to provide grading services for these assignments. Please contact your local representative to inquire about this service. Q: How do I view the Course Structure and content for Powerspeak courses? A: Please visit the Course Structure page in the Web Administrator as you would to view the structure of any other course. This will take you to a link in the Powerspeak Console that shows the entire course structure by week and lesson Q: How do I enroll a student in a course? A: Students are enrolled in Powerspeak courses the same way as they would be enrolled in any other Edgenuity courses. Q: Do students need headsets (or microphones and speakers) to use Powerspeak? A: Yes. Many activities in Powerspeak courses require the use of a headset (or microphone and speakers) for students to listen to and record audio. Q: What is the difference between high-school and middle-school language courses? A: Middle School 1 and 2 courses cover the same content as the High School I course but more slowly and with additional activities. For example, Spanish 1 and 2 (middle school) cover the same concepts and skills as Spanish I (high school), but over two years instead of one. Q: Will Secure Station (limited access) work? A: No. The Edgenuity platform cannot distinguish Powerspeak assessments from other activities. As such, students are not prevented from accessing assessments from non-authorized computers. Q: Does the Edgenuity Toolbar work on Powerspeak courses? A: No. Since the Edgenuity Toolbar has the ability to perform basic translation functions, it would not be appropriate to include this type of resource in a world language course. Q: Can pretesting be used in Powerspeak courses? A: No. Pretesting is not supported for world languages courses. 10 Professional Development Powerspeak User Guide edgenuity.com