Teacher GuideSikshana Spoken English · works without internet
Children practise speaking English with the laptop: they listen, speak, and get instant, kind feedback. Everything runs on the laptop. No internet is needed, and nothing is sent anywhere.
1. What children do
| Activity | What happens |
|---|---|
| Words | Hear a word (also its meaning in Kannada), say it, see each word turn green. |
| Sentences | The same with short sentences from the lesson. |
| Role-play | A short conversation: the child speaks one person's lines. |
| Talk with Buddy | A short chat (6 turns) with Buddy about the lesson's topic. Buddy speaks and gives a gentle "You can also say…" tip. Class 6–10. |
| Games | Word Catcher, Say It, Build a Sentence, Read & Shine. |
Every line has three tries. After the third try the child always moves on, so nobody gets stuck. 🐢 Slower plays the line slowly. Lessons: Class 4–5 (4 levels), Class 6–7 (5 levels), Class 8–10 (5 levels), theme "Greetings and Introductions". More themes will follow.
2. Before the first class
- Install (once per laptop): copy the app's folder from the USB stick to the laptop. On Linux Mint: open a terminal in the SikshanaSpokenEnglish-Linux folder and type bash install.sh (as the laptop's usual user, not root). On Windows: double-click Install.bat in the SikshanaSpokenEnglish folder. It adds a Sikshana Spoken English icon to the desktop. On Linux it asks whether the app should open automatically when the laptop starts (answer n unless the laptop is only for spoken English). Needs 8 GB RAM (16 GB is better) and 6 GB free space.
- Start: double-click the desktop icon.
- Linux Mint: the app fills the whole screen, with no browser bars and no question about the microphone. To close it, tap the child's name at the top right and press ✕ Close (or press it on the login page), then Yes, close. Alt+Tab switches to other windows; Alt+F4 also closes the app.
- Windows (or a Linux laptop without Firefox): a black window with the app's messages opens, then the app opens in the browser. Keep that window open while children use the app (minimise it; closing it stops the app). The first time, the browser asks to use the microphone: click Allow.
- Teacher PIN: on the login page, click Teacher and choose a teacher PIN (4 to 8 numbers). Keep it to yourself. The teacher screen shows every child's progress.
- Check each laptop: on the teacher screen open Check this laptop, plug in the headset and press Run all checks, then Test the microphone and say "Good morning, how are you?". Every line should be green or yellow.
- Parents: send home the parent note (last page). Recordings of children's voices are not kept unless you switch that on, and only with the parents' written agreement.
3. Children logging in
- Each child types their name and a 4-digit PIN they choose, then picks their class the first time.
- Write each child's name and PIN in your register. Children forget PINs. The same name and PIN work on every laptop of the lab.
- The first time, each child sees a short screen (English and Kannada) explaining that the app listens only when they press the microphone, and that their voice stays on the laptop. Read it with younger children.
- When a child finishes, they tap their name at the top right and press Log out, so the next child can log in.
4. A 35-minute session
| Time | What to do |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Say the lesson's words and sentences together aloud as a class. |
| 20 min | Children work on one level in order: Words → Sentences → Role-play → Talk with Buddy. |
| 5 min | A game for those who finished. |
| 5 min | Open the teacher screen: see who finished, who needs help next time. |
Tips for children
- Press the microphone (or the Space bar), wait a moment, then speak in a normal voice, close to the laptop. The app stops listening when the child stops speaking; pressing Space again also stops it.
- Say the whole line. The app stops listening after a short silence.
- Yellow words were nearly right; grey ones were missed. Try again, or press 🐢 Slower and listen first.
- Buddy only talks about the lesson's topic. If Buddy is slow, wait a few seconds; the words are always on screen too.
5. The teacher screen
- Children: levels and activities done, stars, score, last active. Click a child to see every level.
- Share progress between lab laptops (do it weekly, or whenever children change laptops): on each laptop press Save progress and copy the file from Downloads to a USB stick; then on each laptop press Add progress and choose all the files. Children are matched by name and PIN and the best result is kept. Adding the same file twice is safe.
- Download for Sikshana (CSV): a spreadsheet of every child's progress for Sikshana, without PINs.
- Delete a child's data: click the child, then "Delete…". It is deleted on the other laptops the next time you share progress.
- Check this laptop: speakers, microphone, speech checking, Buddy, memory and disk, with a green, yellow or orange mark for each.
- Recordings: every word and sentence the children hear, in English and Kannada. Listen and mark each one OK or Problem (with a note); Download the list gives a spreadsheet for Sikshana.
- Help: Report a problem (what happened, where), then Download the support file and send it to your Sikshana coordinator. It holds the laptop's details, settings, recent logs and your reports, never children's names, PINs or voices.
6. Privacy
- Everything stays on the laptop. Nothing is sent over the internet. The app does not need or use the internet.
- Stored for each child: name, PIN, class, stars and points, and the text of what the app heard (not the sound).
- Voice recordings are off. They can be switched on in the teacher screen only after confirming that every child's parents agreed in writing. They can be deleted any time ("Delete all recordings").
7. If something goes wrong
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The app does not open | Double-click the desktop icon again and wait up to a minute. If the app's window shows an error, restart the laptop and try again. |
| "The app server is not running" | The app's window was closed. Double-click the desktop icon. |
| The microphone does nothing | Check that a headset is plugged in fully. On Windows, check the browser allowed the microphone (the 🎤 or 🔒 sign in the address bar → Allow), then reload the page. On Linux, close the app and start it again. |
| Correct answers marked wrong | Too much noise nearby, or speaking too softly or too far away. Use a headset or a quieter corner. |
| A child forgot their PIN | Look it up in your register. A new name + PIN starts a new, empty account. |
| Buddy does not reply or is very slow | Wait a little; older laptops need a few seconds. Buddy's words always appear on screen. |
Updating the app
Close the app (✕ Close on Linux, its black window on Windows), copy the new folder from the USB stick to the laptop and install it the same way as the first time (bash install.sh on Linux Mint, Install.bat on Windows). Children's progress, the teacher PIN and the laptop's settings are kept. The version is shown under Help.
For help: press 🐞 Report a problem (on the sign-in screen, and on every other screen under the child's name at the top right) and say what happened. The report is sent to the Sikshana team automatically the next time the laptop is online.
Note for parentsಪೋಷಕರಿಗೆ ಸೂಚನೆ
Dear parent,
Your child will practise speaking English at school with the Sikshana Spoken English app on a school laptop. Your child listens to English words and sentences, says them aloud, and the laptop checks them and helps. Your child can also have a short practice chat with "Buddy", a computer helper that talks only about the lesson.
- The app works without internet. Your child's voice is checked on the laptop and is never sent anywhere.
- The laptop keeps your child's name, a 4-digit PIN, class, progress (stars and points) and the text of what the app heard. It does not keep recordings of your child's voice, unless you agree below.
- You can ask the teacher at any time to delete your child's data.
ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮಗು ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಲ್ಯಾಪ್ಟಾಪ್ನಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಸ್ಪೋಕನ್ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಆಪ್ ಮೂಲಕ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಮಾತನಾಡುವುದನ್ನು ಅಭ್ಯಾಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಆಪ್ ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮಗುವಿನ ಧ್ವನಿಯನ್ನು ಲ್ಯಾಪ್ಟಾಪ್ನಲ್ಲೇ ಪರಿಶೀಲಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ, ಎಲ್ಲಿಗೂ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಲ್ಯಾಪ್ಟಾಪ್ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮಗುವಿನ ಹೆಸರು, 4 ಅಂಕಿಯ ಪಿನ್, ತರಗತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಮಾತ್ರ ಉಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ನೀವು ಕೆಳಗೆ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ನೀಡದ ಹೊರತು ಧ್ವನಿಮುದ್ರಣಗಳನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮಗುವಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಅಳಿಸಲು ಯಾವಾಗ ಬೇಕಾದರೂ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಕೇಳಬಹುದು.
Please return this part to the teacher · ಈ ಭಾಗವನ್ನು ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ಹಿಂತಿರುಗಿಸಿ
Child's name · ಮಗುವಿನ ಹೆಸರು: Class · ತರಗತಿ:
☐ I agree that my child uses the Sikshana Spoken English app at school.
☐ ನನ್ನ ಮಗು ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಆಪ್ ಬಳಸಲು ನಾನು ಒಪ್ಪುತ್ತೇನೆ.
☐ (optional) I also agree that some recordings of my child's voice are kept on the school laptop to help improve the app. They are never shared outside Sikshana Foundation and are deleted when no longer needed.
☐ (ಐಚ್ಛಿಕ) ಆಪ್ ಅನ್ನು ಉತ್ತಮಗೊಳಿಸಲು ನನ್ನ ಮಗುವಿನ ಧ್ವನಿಯ ಕೆಲವು ಧ್ವನಿಮುದ್ರಣಗಳನ್ನು ಶಾಲೆಯ ಲ್ಯಾಪ್ಟಾಪ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಉಳಿಸಲು ನಾನು ಒಪ್ಪುತ್ತೇನೆ.
Parent's name and signature · ಪೋಷಕರ ಹೆಸರು ಮತ್ತು ಸಹಿ:
Date · ದಿನಾಂಕ:
Draft for Sikshana Foundation to review: the Kannada text needs checking by a native speaker, and the consent wording by Sikshana before use in schools.