Simple Way to Play a Recording Only 1 Time

Simple Way to Play a Recording Only 1 Time

by Dave Bacherman -
Number of replies: 4

Hi,

I'm creating a listening exam with a link embedded in each for the student to click and hear a question.  I need to set up the exam so the student can only hear the question once.  I searched this forum earlier and found an explanation about how to do this, but it discussed changing or altering codes which is at a much higher level than I have of Moodle.  Does anyone know a fairly straightforward way to limit the playing of a listening item to just once?  Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks again.

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In reply to Dave Bacherman

Re: Simple Way to Play a Recording Only 1 Time

by Matt Bury -
Picture of Plugin developers

Hi Dave,

Unfortunately, neither Moodle 1.9 or 2.1 media players allow for such specific playback controls that are required for some listening tests. I work in EFL/ESL and learners need to do practice tests for official exams where they can listen only once or twice to each recording. I had to develop an MP3 player especially for this. Maybe you've already found this but here it is anyway: http://code.google.com/p/moodle-mp3-player-for-tests/

The instructions do require copying and pasting some code and editing it: http://code.google.com/p/moodle-mp3-player-for-tests/wiki/HowToUse but it's fairly clearly documented and won't take too long to learn.

Moodle's text filters do tend to interfere with Flash player dynamic embed code and stop it from working. The MP3 Player for Tests has a unique work-around feature specifically for this. I've been using it in Moodle 1.8 and 1.9 for years for a lot of practice listening tests without any problems.

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In reply to Matt Bury

Re: Simple Way to Play a Recording Only 1 Time

by Dave Bacherman -

Hi Matt, Thanks for your answer. I do have a couple of questions if you don't mind:

 

1) One of the characteristics of my listening test is that students can move forward and backward. Therefore, if a student listens to the recording in question 1, chooses an answer and then goes onto to complete a few more questions, will she or be able to play or hear the recording again if he decides to go back to question 1?  I guess I'm wondering if after the 1st listening, the player no longer functions (which would be optimal).

2)  If I copy and paste your Moodle player script into the text editor of a multiple choice question that I'm making, should it immediately render the image of the player once I save it and go to "preview"?  I've done this several times but nothing happens other than to show the exact script.  I've tried adding html items like <html> and <lhtml> before and after the script, but it doesn't help.

 

Anyway, thanks again for your time.

Sincerely,

Dave

 

Again, thanks for your help with this.

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In reply to Dave Bacherman

Re: Simple Way to Play a Recording Only 1 Time

by Matt Bury -
Picture of Plugin developers

Hi Dave,

Good questions and thanks for your feedback!

#1 - The MP3 player currently doesn't prevent users from refreshing the embedded page in order to listen to the audio again. It is possible to use a SharedObject (Flash cookie) to test whether an MP3 has been played before. However, it's necessary to define what we mean by played: Started playing? Played through to the end? Played through at least XX%? Continue playing from where it left off? Although SharedObjects are more difficult for users to clear from their browser cache, any use who knows how can do so. More info: http://www.adobe.com/special/products/flashplayer/security/index.html There's also nothing to stop users from viewing the page source and downloading the MP3 file(s).

This is something we could experiment with but ultimately, it won't be a "secure" method for tests.

#2 - Please check here:

Possible problems

Please note that some learning management systems use filtres that strip out certain types of code. If this embed code doesn't work, firstly, check that the code doesn't contain any errors and that the paths to the Flash and audio files are valid (copy and paste them into your browser's address bar), then check that your learning management system allows <object> and <embed> tags, which are necessary to embed Flash applications. You may need administrator priviledges to change these settings.

I hope this helps! smile

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In reply to Matt Bury

Re: Simple Way to Play a Recording Only 1 Time

by Greg Rudl -

I have a need for this (we're a foreign language school). Is it still viable? Our Moodle account is hosted. I'm assuming your application need to be downloaded into the Moodle account. Is your player featured on any demo Moodle account so I can try it out?

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