Generative AI is opening up new frontiers in online education, enabling more interactive, personalized, and efficient learning experiences. Our team recently collaborated with a leading provider of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) test preparation to integrate cutting-edge AI capabilities into their WordPress-based platform. This post delves into how we leveraged Procesio as a middleware layer to orchestrate multiple AI services, transforming the way students prepare for exams like TOEFL and Duolingo’s DET.

The Client’s Vision

Our client, a major player in the ESL test prep market, offers comprehensive practice materials and simulations for high-stakes language proficiency exams. They sought to harness the power of generative AI to provide a more immersive and adaptive learning experience, while also streamlining their content creation and feedback processes.

Key goals included:

• Simulating a wide range of question types, including speech and image-based prompts
• Generating high-quality, diverse practice content at scale
• Providing instant, personalized feedback on student responses
• Optimizing teacher workflows with AI-assisted grading and insights

To achieve this ambitious vision, we needed to integrate multiple AI capabilities seamlessly into their existing WordPress learning management system (LMS).

The Procesio Advantage

We architected a solution using Procesio, a specialized API middleware layer, to connect the client’s WordPress LMS with a suite of best-in-class AI services:

• OpenAI’s Whisper for speech-to-text transcription
• ElevenLabs for text-to-speech generation
• OpenAI’s GPT-4 for text generation and evaluation
• Anthropic’s Claude for contextual Q&A assistance
• OpenAI’s DALL-E for image generation

Procesio provided a unified interface to manage credentials, orchestrate complex workflows, and handle data transformations across these diverse AI services. This abstraction layer allowed us to focus on designing the optimal user experience while minimizing the complexity of integrating multiple APIs.

Bringing the Vision to Life

Here’s a deep dive into one of the most innovative features we developed: AI-powered “Write about the Photo” questions.

1. Content Generation:

• Used GPT-4 to generate image prompts and accompanying descriptions for a set of practice questions
• Bulk uploaded questions to WordPress LMS using CSV import

1. Image Generation:

• For each new question, called Procesio to generate unique images using DALL-E
• Procesio returned image assets and their descriptions, updating them on the WordPress site

1. Student Experience:

• When a student attempts a “Write about the Photo” question, they see an AI-generated image and write a description
• Student’s response is sent to GPT-4 along with the image and its pre-generated description

1. AI Evaluation:

• GPT-4 evaluates the student’s response using fine-tuned prompts and multi-step analysis
• Procesio validates the AI-generated feedback and returns it to WordPress
• Student receives instant, personalized feedback on their response

This end-to-end workflow, powered by Procesio and multiple AI services, provides an unparalleled learning experience that closely simulates real test conditions.

Impact and Learnings

The AI-powered features had a significant impact on student experience and operational efficiency:

• Students found the AI-generated practice content to be highly engaging and effective for exam preparation
• Instant, personalized feedback boosted student confidence and motivation
• Teachers reported substantial time savings and improved ability to focus on higher-level student support
• Content creation process became more efficient and scalable with AI assistance

Key takeaways for AI integration in online education:

1. Generative AI can create highly engaging, personalized learning experiences when integrated thoughtfully
2. A middleware layer like Procesio is essential for managing the complexity of multiple AI services
3. Prompt engineering and fine-tuning are critical for adapting AI to specific educational use cases
4. Human oversight and validation are still necessary for high-stakes applications like test prep
5. AI has the potential to greatly enhance student outcomes and operational efficiency in online learning

Conclusion

Our case study showcases the transformative impact of generative AI in ESL test preparation when integrated seamlessly into platforms like WordPress. By leveraging Procesio to orchestrate a diverse set of AI capabilities, we were able to create a truly adaptive, immersive, and efficient learning experience.

As generative AI continues to evolve, we believe it will become an increasingly essential tool for educators looking to personalize learning at scale. The key to success lies in designing robust, flexible AI integration architectures and carefully aligning the technology with pedagogical best practices. With the right approach, the possibilities are endless.

Now, this works on Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS, and I hope I didn’t forget anything, but here we go:

# Let's install GDebi because dependencies
sudo apt install gdebi
# and now VSCode (get the current version from https://code.visualstudio.com/download)
sudo gdebi Downloads/code_1.60.2-1632313585_amd64.deb
# unfortunately, this terminal doesn't seem inclined to remember we installed ZSH
sudo apt install zsh
# we'll need curl for this next one
sudo apt install curl
# and ohmyzsh
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
# now time for some terminal goodness
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting
# it's composer time
clear
# because php, of course
sudo apt install php
php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');"
php -r "if (hash_file('sha384', 'composer-setup.php') === '906a84df04cea2aa72f40b5f787e49f22d4c2f19492ac310e8cba5b96ac8b64115ac402c8cd292b8a03482574915d1a8') { echo 'Installer verified'; } else { echo 'Installer corrupt'; unlink('composer-setup.php'); } echo PHP_EOL;"
php composer-setup.php
php -r "unlink('composer-setup.php');"
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
# you might need this for composer globals to run
export PATH=~/.config/composer/vendor/bin:$PATH >> ~/.zshrc
# wp-cli
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar
php wp-cli.phar --info
chmod +x wp-cli.phar
sudo mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp
wp --info
# let's cleanup
sudo apt autoremove
# it's Homebrew time
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
# and add the shellenv to .zshrc
echo 'eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zshrc
# and enable it for this session
eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
# now the goodies
brew install roots/tap/trellis-cli
brew install python
brew install mariadb
brew install gcc && sudo apt install build-essential
# let's start the MySql server now
mysql.server start
# Valet, baby
# but before that, another dependency
sudo apt install php-curl
# now
composer global require cpriego/valet-linux
# more Valet dependencies
sudo apt-get install network-manager libnss3-tools jq xsel
sudo apt install php-cli php-curl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip
# doing this shit because mcrypt has gone missing
sudo apt install php php-pear php-dev libmcrypt-dev
sudo pecl channel-update pecl.php.net
sudo pecl update-channels
sudo pecl search mcrypt
sudo pecl install mcrypt
sudo echo 'extension=mcrypt' >> /etc/php/7.4/cli/php.ini
sudo apt install php-sqlite3 php-mysql php-pgsql
# almost there, squeeze tight
valet install
# and just a little bit
sudo service apache2 stop
sudo service nginx start
# and finally, Trellis-cli
brew install roots/tap/trellis-cli

Presto! If you’re lucky, you may not even encounter errors along the way. This will probably need a couple of updates.

Now we only need to run valet link domain inside whatever site folder we have running to get domain.test up in the browser, SSL self-sign it with valet secure domain, and start importing databases (or contemplating your .env file, which you’ll need).

Now, about that database. You’ll need to create a user (named according to the username in the .env file), grant it permissions over the database and all that jazz. Basically the following, replace db_user, db_name and db_password as appropriate:

Open up a terminal and run mysql.

CREATE DATABASE dbname;
CREATE USER 'dbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON dbname.* TO 'dbuser'@'localhost';
GRANT FILE ON *.* TO 'dbuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT

Now you should be good to go to either wp db create, wp db reset or wp db import.