I am a current student here at Penn State University Park and am reaching out because I think there needs to be a better way to type accents for online Canvas tests. For my Spanish course this past semester, students were required to press the Alt key plus a 4-digit-code when typing every accent.
I was wondering if a more feasible method of typing accents could be implemented, as I think that it would have a beneficial impact on future students.
From personal experience, typing a 150-word essay (minimum) in addition to 50 multiple choice/fill in the blank questions this past semester has been challenging due to delays in typing accents using the 4-digit-code. Moreover, it doesn’t test the student’s proficiency or knowledge of Spanish. Some of my classmates have not finished the tests due to the current format. Not only does the 4-digit-code format result in drastically lower scores, but it is unreflective a student’s ability. This problem is applicable to countless students taking Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, etc. Changes to a more feasible way to type accents could improve outcomes for students taking Foreign Language courses. In turn, this would improve educators' experiences as well across all of these departments since their students will struggle less with meeting the time limit of exams.
Have boxes/buttons on the screen that could be clicked via your mouse with the option for all accented characters (áéíóú/ÁÉÍÓÚñÑ¡¿). Prioritize on having this option for major essay questions first, then expand to smaller questions (ie. Fill in the blank).
Why?: Increased efficiency, Beneficial for both students and educators, Improved exam scores Clicking one icon versus typing a 4-digit-code will drastically decrease typing time, enabling students to focus more on the content of their writing. Although copying and pasting could be an option, it is not as efficient due to scrolling. For instance, even if accents are provided at the top of the test, the essay question is the last question— making copy and paste time-consuming and inefficient. By contrast, directly including clickable boxes with accents in the essay prompt would greatly minimize time wasted and improve test scores.
