Enabling the Microphone

When students begin their assignment or benchmark, they will first be taken to a microphone check. This step ensures that their voices can be recorded properly. During the check, students will be prompted to tap the microphone and say, “I am ready.” To help pass the microphone check and successfully record their voice submissions, the microphone must be enabled on their device.

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Chrome

1. When students begin the microphone check, they will be asked "Google.Chrome.app" would like to access the microphone. If a student selects:

• Allow or Allow while visiting the site → Your student will automatically begin their recording once allowing. They will have the option to record 2 more times for a total of 3 attempts.
• Never Allow → If a student selects this, the pop-up will disappear. If they try to select the record button again below, they will receive this same pop-up, and can select Allow to give access. 

2.  Chrome will also ask to use the student's microphone in another pop-up. If the student selects:

• Allow (while visiting this site / this time) → Your student will automatically begin their recording once allowing. They will have the option to record 2 more times for a total of 3 attempts.
  • Note: We recommend choosing "Allow while visiting this site" here.  

• Block → This will prevent your student from recording. We will walk through the steps to resolve this below.

  

3. If access to the microphone is blocked, simply select the microphone icon at the top left of the browser. 

• Then, toggle the microphone on and select "Allow on every visit" or "Always allow http://app.flashlight360.com to access your microphone" to give access. 

• If the problem persists, select "Manage" to further navigate the microphone settings.

• Check to ensure the correct microphone is chosen and https://app.flashlight360.com is listed under "Allowed to use your microphone" (as shown below). 

The student will need to return to their assignment and reload the page so it opens with the correct permissions. Once they do, the microphone check will restart to confirm everything is working properly.

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Safari

1. When students begin the microphone check, they will be asked to Allow "app.flashlight360.com" to use your microphone? If a student selects:

• Allow → Your student will automatically begin their recording once allowing. They will have the option to record 2 more times for a total of 3 attempts.
• Never for This Website → This will prevent your student from recording. We will walk through the steps to resolve this below.
• Don't Allow → If a student selects this, the pop-up will disappear. If they try to select the record button again below, they will receive this same pop-up, and can select Allow to give access. 

2. If Never for This Website is selected, navigate to Safari at the top of the screen, then select Settings. 

3. After selecting settings, the Settings menu will appear. From here, navigate to Websites and Microphone from the left navigation menu.

• Next to app.flashlight360.com, change the permission to Allow or Ask, which will enable Flashlight360 to access the student’s microphone during their assignment or benchmark.

The student will need to return to their assignment and reload the page so it opens with the correct permissions. Once they do, the microphone check will restart to confirm everything is working properly.

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Capturing Student Audio

Once the microphone has been enabled/allowed, the recording will automatically begin. When the recording is in progress, the microphone button will change from purple to dark grey. This indicates that the student must speak for at least 7 seconds before the button fades back to purple, indicating that they may end the recording when they are finished speaking. 

As the student speaks, the decibels will grow wider and wider based on their volume, indicating that the voice is captured. The student has 3 attempts to capture their recording, so if their voice is not being captured, they have 2 more attempts to speak. Students are encouraged to listen to their recording(s) before moving on to the writing portion.

 

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Video Walkthrough