Accuracy settings for text entry (strict / relaxed)

Until now (6th November 2024) SentenceBuilders activities requiring text entry (typing with a keyboard) have always required students to type out the target sentence 100% accurately, matching the target sentence in all aspects, including:

  • Accents
  • Case-sensitivity
  • Punctuation

And that system has worked great for the last 3 years or so.

Except that I have heard on numerous occasions that students can find it frustrating when they are penalised for not typing a capital letter, or for neglecting to type a comma (often arbitrary) into a sentence.

I also considered the text entry requirements for my other web projects (TextActivities, TeachVid, Textivate), where students simply have to type in the missing letters -- punctuation, accents, upper or lower case are not a factor in determining student scores -- and wanted to offer something on SentenceBuilders that brought it more into line with those other sites.

Having consulted users of SentenceBuilders I decided to add the ability for teachers to relax the text entry requirements, should they wish to do so.