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.

Inteligența artificială generativă deschide noi frontiere în educația online, permițând experiențe de învățare mai interactive, personalizate și eficiente. Echipa noastră a colaborat recent cu un important furnizor de pregătire pentru teste de limba engleză ca a doua limbă (ESL) pentru a integra capabilități AI de ultimă generație în platforma lor bazată pe WordPress. Acest articol analizează modul în care am folosit Procesio ca un strat intermediar pentru a orchestra mai multe servicii AI, transformând modul în care studenții se pregătesc pentru examene precum TOEFL și DET de la Duolingo.

Viziunea clientului

Clientul nostru, un jucător important pe piața pregătirii pentru testele ESL, oferă materiale de practică cuprinzătoare și simulări pentru examenele de competență lingvistică de mare importanță. Ei au căutat să valorifice puterea AI generativ pentru a oferi o experiență de învățare mai imersivă și adaptivă, simplificând în același timp procesele de creare și feedback al conținutului.

Obiectivele cheie au inclus:

• Simularea unei game largi de tipuri de întrebări, inclusiv prompt-uri bazate pe vorbire și imagini
• Generarea de conținut de practică de înaltă calitate și diversificat la scară
• Furnizarea de feedback instantaneu și personalizat la răspunsurile studenților
• Optimizarea fluxurilor de lucru ale profesorilor cu notare asistată de AI și informații

Pentru a realiza această viziune ambițioasă, a trebuit să integrăm fără probleme mai multe capabilități AI în sistemul lor existent de management al învățării (LMS) WordPress.

Avantajul Procesio

Am proiectat o soluție folosind Procesio, un strat intermediar API specializat, pentru a conecta LMS-ul WordPress al clientului cu o suită de servicii AI de top:

• Whisper de la OpenAI pentru transcriere vorbire-în-text
• ElevenLabs pentru generare text-în-vorbire
• GPT-4 de la OpenAI pentru generare și evaluare de text
• Claude de la Anthropic pentru asistență contextuală Q&A
• DALL-E de la OpenAI pentru generare de imagini

Procesio a furnizat o interfață unificată pentru gestionarea acreditărilor, orchestrarea fluxurilor de lucru complexe și manipularea transformărilor de date în cadrul acestor diverse servicii AI. Acest strat de abstractizare ne-a permis să ne concentrăm pe proiectarea experienței optime pentru utilizatori, minimizând în același timp complexitatea integrării mai multor API-uri.

Aducerea viziunii la viață

Iată o analiză aprofundată a uneia dintre cele mai inovatoare funcționalități pe care le-am dezvoltat: întrebările “Write about the Photo” alimentate de AI.

1. Generarea de conținut:
   • Folosirea GPT-4 pentru a genera prompt-uri de imagini și descrieri aferente pentru un set de întrebări de practică
   • Încărcarea în vrac a întrebărilor în LMS WordPress folosind importul CSV
2. Generarea de imagini:
   • Pentru fiecare întrebare nouă, apelarea Procesio pentru a genera imagini unice folosind DALL-E
   • Procesio a returnat activele de imagini și descrierile lor, actualizându-le pe site-ul WordPress
3. Experiența studentului:
   • Când un student încearcă o întrebare “Write about the Photo”, el vede o imagine generată de AI și scrie o descriere
   • Răspunsul studentului este trimis la GPT-4 împreună cu imaginea și descrierea pre-generată a acesteia
4. Evaluare AI:
   • GPT-4 evaluează răspunsul studentului folosind prompt-uri fine-tunate și analiză multi-step
   • Procesio validează feedback-ul generat de AI și îl returnează în WordPress
   • Studentul primește feedback instantaneu și personalizat la răspunsul său

Acest flux de lucru end-to-end, alimentat de Procesio și mai multe servicii AI, oferă o experiență de învățare fără egal, care simulează îndeaproape condițiile reale ale testului.

Impact și învățăminte

Funcționalitățile alimentate de AI au avut un impact semnificativ asupra experienței studenților și eficienței operaționale:

• Studenții au considerat conținutul de practică generat de AI ca fiind foarte atractiv și eficient pentru pregătirea examenelor
• Feedback-ul instantaneu și personalizat a stimulat încrederea și motivația studenților
• Profesorii au raportat economii substanțiale de timp și o capacitate îmbunătățită de a se concentra pe sprijinul de nivel superior pentru studenți
• Procesul de creare a conținutului a devenit mai eficient și scalabil cu asistența AI

Concluzii cheie pentru integrarea AI în educația online:

1. AI generativ poate crea experiențe de învățare foarte atractive și personalizate atunci când este integrat în mod atent
2. Un strat intermediar precum Procesio este esențial pentru gestionarea complexității mai multor servicii AI
3. Ingineria prompt-urilor și fine-tuning-ul sunt critice pentru adaptarea AI la cazuri de utilizare educaționale specifice
4. Supravegherea umană și validarea sunt încă necesare pentru aplicații de mare miză, cum ar fi pregătirea pentru teste
5. AI are potențialul de a îmbunătăți foarte mult rezultatele studenților și eficiența operațională în învățarea online

Concluzie

Studiul nostru de caz prezintă impactul transformator al AI generativ în pregătirea testelor ESL atunci când este integrat fără probleme în platforme precum WordPress. Prin valorificarea Procesio pentru a orchestra un set divers de capabilități AI, am reușit să creăm o experiență de învățare cu adevărat adaptivă, imersivă și eficientă.

Pe măsură ce AI generativ continuă să evolueze, credem că va deveni un instrument din ce în ce mai esențial pentru educatorii care doresc să personalizeze învățarea la scară. Cheia succesului constă în proiectarea unor arhitecturi robuste și flexibile de integrare AI și alinierea cu atenție a tehnologiei cu cele mai bune practici pedagogice. Cu abordarea potrivită, posibilitățile sunt nelimitate.

Serenichron is dedicated to proactively identifying the pressing needs of small and medium businesses and offering holistic business analysis and development services. Through our commitment to fairness, transparency, and honesty, we aim to build lasting partnerships and provide scalable, affordable solutions that enhance our clients’ operations and contribute to their success.

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Jaco Fok – CEO @ Equalifai Me SRL

Serenichron

Serenichron is a company that offers a wide range of digital services to help you grow your business, optimize your processes, and enhance your online presence. Whether you need operational support, technical development, web content, copywriting, SEO, analytics, branding, digital content and design, web design, lead acquisition, email marketing, or marketing research, we have the expertise and the experience to deliver high-quality results.

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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.