Table of Contents
Interactivity > Interactive Text
This page provides a range of options for text analysis, for example;
- identifying recurring features in a text
- understanding text structure
- locating specific information.
The author marks up the text and links each marked-up section with some text that is either displayed in tabs above the text, or revealed when the learner clicks on the right word or phrase. The mark-up is hidden when the text is presented to the learner, who either explores the text, or is directed to find and click on specific features, or analyse highlighted features of the text. You can use this page type to focus on unique features within a text, or features that have something in common (e.g. “Click on all the Passive verb forms in this text”).
There are 5 different interactivity formats, placing varying levels of cognitive challenge on the learner, and you are advised to try out the different formats before deciding which one meets your needs, for any specific task.
| Interactivity | Description |
| Explore | This format invites learners to explore the text by clicking on various parts of it. When the learner clicks on a piece of marked-up text, that piece of text is highlighted and some feedback is displayed. A Show All button also appears which, on click, highlights all the marked-up sections of text within a group (i.e. that share a common feature). |
| Show Me (By Name) | There are tabs above the text, each relating to a different feature. When the learner clicks on a tab, the tab and all the instances of that feature in the text are highlighted, and some explanatory text can also be displayed. |
| Show Me (In Order) | This format is similar to the previous one; there are no tabs, but there are arrow keys, which reveal, on click, the name of the feature (i.e. the text on the tab) and any explanatory text you have included. This format forces the learner to attend to different features in a specific order. |
| Find | Again, there are tabs above the text, each relating to a different feature. However, after a learner clicks on a tab, only the tab is highlighted. The learner then has to find and click on all instances of that feature of the text. On a correct click, that piece of text is highlighted. You can provide feedback on progress, e.g. “You have found 2 of 5 Passive verb forms”, which updates as learners are working through it. |
| Find (Mark at end) | This format is similar to the previous one, except that after a tab is selected, clicks by the learner on marked-up text are recorded, and feedback on performance is given only when the task has been completed. As an example, if you have 6 pieces of marked-up text, with 4 in the first group and 2 in the second, the learner would have to click on 4 pieces of marked-up text (in either group) in the first tab, and 2 in the second group, before submitting. You can mark up pieces of text as distractors if you want to make things more difficult! |
| MCQ | This presents the names of the groups as options in multiple-choice questions, so the MCQs are generated automatically. The MCQ correct/incorrect feedback is also generated automatically, but you can customise the wording. |
Example demo
This demo has been set up in the Find format. In the text, only the nouns, verb and adjectives have been marked up as different groups (or categories).
or view at Xerte Page Types > Interactivity: Interactive Text (opens in new tab).
Editor Interface
Top Level: Core Properties
| Property | Description | Type | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page Title | Text that appears in header of published page | Text | |
| Instructions | Content that appears at the top of the instructions/explanation panel. This may be the right or left panel, according to choice ( see Align Text below) | Text+ (Toolbar) | Use this to give the context or instructions for the task. Other content (e.g. images, audio, video) can be embedded here. |
| Interactive Text | The text that the learner interacts with; add mark-up here | Text+(Toolbar) | Use, as delimiters, characters which do not feature in the text as it appears to learners. See the Mark-up wiki page for more information |
| Interactivity | Sets the format of the page { Explore / Show Me (by Name / Show Me (In Order / Find / Find (Mark at end / MCQ} | Drop-down | See explanation above. |
| Underline Text | Presents the text to learners with each marked-up section underlined. | Tick box | |
| Panel Width | Dimension of the right panel (gapped text). Choose from {Small/Medium/Large/Full}. Full puts the Introductory Text above the gapped text. | Text |
Top Level: Optional Properties
Page-specific
The first 7 of these relate to Hotspot Appearance.
| Property | Description | Type | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find options…: Automatic distractors | Automatically sets up all the remaining words in the text (i.e, all text which is not marked-up) as distractors | Check box | This is only relevant to Find and Find (Mark at End) |
| Find options…: Custom distractors | Allows you to choose which pieces of text are distractors | Check box | You will need to mark these up in the Interactive Text editor, and enter the delimiter in the next Optional Property (see below). |
| Find options…: Distractor delimiter | The character you have chosen to mark up custom distractors. | Text | Just one character |
| MCQ: Type | Allows you to relate the MCQ to one specific piece of marked up text, or to all the items in that group {Highlight One From Group / Highlight Whole group} | Drop down | Choose the default option if you want more MCQs and if it is not obviously clear to the learner what all the items in a group have in common. |
| MCQ Feedback | The text displayed as feedback at the end of the MCQs, together with the score. | Text+ | |
| MCQ: Number of Questions (*=All) | Sets the number of MCQs presented to learners. These are selected and ordered at random. | Text | Default - “ * ”, sets all the questions |
| MCQ: Number of Answer Options (*=All) | Sets the number of answer options for each MCQ presented to learners. These are selected and ordered at random. | Text | Default - “ * ”, sets all the answer options |
| Tracking Score Weight (0=Off) | Allows the task on the page to be weighted relative to other scored pages in the project. | Number | See the Tracking and Weighting page for more information on weighting. |
General
Top Level: Language Options
| Property | Description | Type | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explore Instructions | Default instructions for Explore. | Text | Default - “Explore the text. Click on the various parts to learn more” |
| Show Me Instructions | Default instructions for Show Me (By Name). | Text | Default - “Click a group to learn more” |
| Show Me (Button) Instructions | Default instructions for Show Me (In Order). | Text | Default - “Click the arrow buttons to learn more” |
| Show Button Label | Text on button that appears in Explore after one item in a group has been clicked. | Text | Default - “Show All” |
| Next Button Label | Tooltip that appears on mouseover of > button in Show Me (in Order) | Text | Default - “Next” |
| Previous Button Label | Tooltip that appears on mouseover of < button in Show Me (in Order) | Text | Default - “Previous” |
| Find Instructions | Find instructions if you have more than one group | Text | Default - “Click a group to begin, then click the text to find all examples.” |
| Find Instructions: Single Group | Find instructions if you have only one group | Text | Default - “Can you find all of the examples?” |
| Find Feedback | Feedback for Find format | Text | Default - “Well done! You have completed this activity.” |
| You have found {i} of {n} | Real-time feedback while learner is working through a Find task. | Text | Default - “You have found {i} of {n}” |
| MCQ Instructions | Default instructions for MCQ. | Text | Default - “What is highlighted in the text? Choose from the following options:” |
| Question {i} of {n} | In MCQ, indicates which question the learner is viewing. | Text | Default - “Question {i} of {n}” |
| MCQ Correct | Indicates an MCQ answer is correct | Text | Default - “That's right.” |
| MCQ Incorrect | Indicates an MCQ answer is incorrect | Text | Default - “No, the correct answer is {i}.” |
| MCQ Feedback | Indicates the end of the MCQs | Text | Default - “You have completed the quiz.” |
| MCQ More information | The tooltip that appears on mouseover of the information icon when checking an MCQ | Text | Default - “More information” |
| You scored {i} / {n} | Provides score for MCQs | Default - “You scored {i} / {n} | |
| MCQ Check Button | Text displayed on Check button in MCQ | Default - “Check” | |
| MCQ Next Button | Text displayed on Next button in MCQ | Default - “Next” | |
| MCQ Restart Button | Text displayed on Restart button in MCQ | Default - “Restart” |
After you have added the marked-up text (see above), you need to associate each delimiter with a group name and any additional text you want to be displayed when an item in the group is highlighted. You can also give the highlighting of each group a different colour. Click on New Group.
Group: Core Properties
| Property | Description | Type | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | The name of the group, which appears either as a tab in Find and Show Me (by Name), or in the left-hand panel in Explore, or as an option in an MCQ. | Text | |
| Delimiter | The delimiter you have chosen for the items in a group | Text | This is just one character |
| Description | Any further explanation or information that you want to be displayed when an item in the group is highlighted | Text+ | |
| Highlight colour | The highlight colour of a piece of text which has been clicked on. | Colour picker | Use HTML colour codes for consistency. Don't use a shade of red, because that colour is assigned to incorrect clicks in Find. Don't use different colours for different groups in Find (Mark at end), because that reveals the answer to learners before submission. |
There are no Optional Properties or Language Options for groups.