Great updates coming to Motif
We are preparing a lot of changes to Motif. Our goal is to improve your experience, and make it easier for you to run and review our digitised tests.
There are a bunch of great changes that are on the way:
RAT CP - new test, The Motif App home, Test homepages, Upgrades to the test log, Preparing, pausing, and resuming test sessions, Preparing multiple test sessions in advance, and new Advanced Testing Tools.
These changes will be live soon after Friday the 5th of July.
We are preparing a lot of changes to Motif. Our goal is to improve your experience, and make it easier for you to run and review our digitised tests.
There are a bunch of great changes that are on the way:
RAT CP - new test!
The Motif App home
Test homepages
Upgrades to the test log
Preparing, pausing, and resuming test sessions
Preparing multiple test sessions in advance
Advanced Testing Tools
These changes will be live soon after Friday the 5th of July.
The Reading Anxiety Test has been a Motif test for many years as a PDF. Recent developments have raised the profile of reading anxiety as a cause of literacy challenges for kids. This test is being digitised to allow parents answer a questionnaire for their child.
The digitised RAT-CP (Child Parent) test will be available for purchase along with all of the changes referenced on this page. You can see it in the App Home screen below!
The Motif App home
When you sign into app.motif.org.au, you will be taken to the Motif App home. This is a place you can always come back to by hitting the home button on the top left. Here, you can see the number of results sheets you have available for each test, and get to each test page. You're able to start purchasing new results sheets from this screen too.
The Motif App Home gives you a simple jumping-off point for all our digitised tests. For tests with an available results sheets balance, you can quickly start a test from under its panel, or you can visit the test homepage to see past test sessions, learn to run the test, and more.
Test homepages
Previously, test homepages were focused on a single test. This created a focused experience, but was limiting for people running lots of tests. Now test homepages have a test log that will display all prepared, in-progress, and completed test sessions for that test. So the LeST test homepage will show only LeST test sessions in the test log.
From this homepage, you can learn to run a test, start a new test session, prepare multiple test-sessions for the test, and see the results sheet balance for the test.
Upgrades to the test log
The test log has been upgraded to provide a more flexible experience for preparing, running, and viewing results of tests.
From the Motif App home screen, you can click the test log in the top nav to view the test log that spans all of your test sessions.
A new date field has been included, so you can see when a test was prepared, vs when it was run. This compliments our new ability to prepare multiple tests in advance.
On this screen you can filter by type of test, filter by session status, and search by the subject ID. Each test session in the table will have relevant actions available for you, whether it's starting or resuming the test session, or viewing results.
This lets you quickly find all test sessions for a subject to see results, or to prepare multiple types of tests in advance for a single subject.
On the right side of this screen, you can also quickly run a test session for any of the tests that you have available results sheet balance. You can also launch a purchase for results sheets.
When viewing test homepages, the improved test log is the main content. Here you can see test sessions for the selected test. You can still search by subject ID, and filter by session status.
Preparing, pausing, and resuming test sessions
With the upgraded Test Log, it’s now possible to prepare a test session in advance of running it. To support this, test sessions now have a status - Ready, In Progress, and Done. A test that’s ready has all the details required to start the test. A license is consumed when preparing a test session.
Once you’ve started a test, you can easily jump out of it part way through if you’re interrupted. This test session will have a status of “in progress” in your test log.
You can complete any number of other test sessions before coming back to resume the test session you had paused. When you finish it, the test will have a status of “Done” in the test log.
Preparing multiple test sessions in advance
On test homepages, you can now prepare multiple test sessions before they happen, putting them in the test log as "ready". This is great for preparing sessions for a whole classroom in advance, so that you don't need to do any data-entry before the test, or have subject details on-hand. You just need to know their subject ID, and away you go.
Using the “Save and prepare another” button allows you to cycle through the same form many times quickly, to get a whole lot of tests prepared with as few clicks as possible.
Advanced Testing Tools
Motif has introduced two features intended for extremely high usage of tests.
Import test sessions
We have created a tool for importing multiple tests to a group. Because the import occurs at a group level, the import can attribute each test to a different member of the group, allowing a single import for large-scale testing across many group members.
Export results sheets
To complement the ability to import a large number of test sessions, we have provided the ability to export results sheets at a group level. An export includes all itemised results, allowing for in-depth analysis of results. Exports can be filtered by date-range of tests completed, and by group member.
If you plan on running research using Motif tests, or just plan on running many hundreds of tests, reach out to us for a quote for an additional annual subscription.
We hope you are looking forward to these new updates as much as we are, and find them useful! Please provide us any feedback through this service desk if you have any thoughts or ideas for how we could do things better in the future!
New pricing coming soon
We are evolving how Motif pricing will work to better match how customers want to buy results sheets. We are removing packages, allowing exact numbers of results sheets to be purchased, reducing our entry-level price to $4.99, and introducing a subscription that unlocks discounted pricing.
These changes are based on feedback we have received from a few of our high volume customers in particular. Two things stood out in particular:
Customers doing high numbers of tests often employ multiple tests, but at different volumes. For example a high number of CC2’s, and a smaller number of TERCs. Our package based price structure meant the lower-usage tests felt unreasonably expensive compared to the higher usage tests. It didn’t feel very fair.
Customers doing high numbers of tests often budget annually, and do an annual test volume plan. They want one or two transactions that are annual, predictable, and prices that align tightly to their plan. Our per-test package based pricing meant these customers would have a transaction per test, would buy more sheets that required to get the best discount, or complete multiple sporadic transactions throughout the year. All that made for lots of transactions, and unpredictable annual pricing.
Our new pricing structure resolves those problems. Here’s what we’ve done:
Removed: pre-defined packages, with different per-test prices based on package size.
Added: A lower casual per-test price for people who run tests infrequently of $4.99 per test.
Added: An annual subscription for $300 that unlocks discounted $1.50 per-test pricing for high volume customers.
Added: An ability to specify exact numbers of results sheets with multiple types of tests, and checkout in a single transaction.
We believe these changes stay true to our roots of the volunteer-run service, making Motif accessible, cost effective, and a useful tool for literacy experts and educators. Casual pricing is even more accessible at $5, while high volume testing is cost effective, and of course PDF downloads for manual testing is free forever.
This also paves the way for us to digitise more of the tests we house on Motif. The one subscription will provide access to low-cost options for a wider and wider array of literacy tests for Australian kids.
All existing results sheet balances will be unaffected.
For now, iOS in-app purchases will stay the legacy packages, while we bed-down this new structure and pricing on our web experience.
Introducing groups for organisations
We know it’s common to have a group of people working together in an organisation to run tests on Motif. Until now, the solution we have provided is to share the credentials for a single account to create a simple way of having multiple people working with a single test balance.
Groups are available today
From today, we are providing the ability to create a group to achieve this same result. Groups provide the ability to share results sheets across accounts.
To get started creating a group, go to your My Account page, and look for the Organisational group panel.
Creating a group transfers your current balance of results sheets to the group, and all group members draw from the same balance. It’s easy to shift from the previous advice of having a single shared account – use this account to create your group, and tada!, you’ve got a group with your remaining test balance, and other individuals can use their own account to access the balance.
For more info on how groups work, read the help articles in our knowledge base.
As always, we are keen to hear your feedback, and want to make Motif better and better. We can’t do that without your help! Tell us if this is useful for you, or how it could be better. I promise we are listening.
Thanks,
Team Scipilot
Price-drop for individual and five-pack for all tests
As part of celebrating the release of the remaining Motif volunteer site tests onto the new system, we have decided to reduce the cost for entry-level tests. A single test session across all of the Motif tests is now $8.99, making it more affordable to do a one-off test when you need to.
We have also reduced the number of tests in the higher packages to bring down the total cost of purchase, making wide-scale adoption more affordable.
Our revenue share with the test authors remains unchanged - we share 50% of the final revenue we receive from these tests with the authors of the tests, who can put that towards new research, or increasing the norms ranges of the existing tests. And of course, the tests are always available for free to download and run using paper. It remains our commitment to both build a sustainable business, and maximise access to these important tests for kids.
If you want to see a particular Motif test digitised, please reach out and let us know, as we are keen to find more ways to deliver value.
Thanks,
Team Scipilot
TERC, DiSTs, and DiSTi are on the new system!
Our final digital tests have been migrated from the volunteer system to the new Motif system.
We are very excited to announce that the TERC, DiSTi, and DiSTs have now launched on the new Motif system. From today, you’ll be able to run these tests on our new system.
This means that from today, the TERC, DiSTi, and DiSTs are now paid tests, in a similar way to the CC2 and LeST. These tests are available on the web app, with your Motif account.
This also means that we can say a big farewell and thank you to the volunteer site that was running for over a decade, making Motif the amazing community and service that you can depend on today. We are so privileged to be able to offer this service to you today, and into the future.
As we have done in the past, we will leave 1 week overlap between the release of these tests on the new system, and the closing down of the volunteer Motif system.
This brings us close to stage 3 of our transition plan for rebuilding Motif.
You can now edit the results of a test session
We are happy to announce that we have reintroduced the ability to edit the results of a test session. This is useful for making corrections to any marking errors that might have happened during a test. Sometimes a child provides an incorrect answer, then just as you mark it as incorrect, the correct answer pops out of their mouth! Other times, you slip and accidentally tap the wrong key when marking the child.
We recommend making a small note while the test is under way so that you can step back into the itemised results and edit the outcome of the item.
To edit a test result, go to the test session from your test log, and click on “Itemised” to see the full itemised set of results.
To edit the results, hit the edit button. This will reveal buttons next to each item in the list.
Click on the pencil next to each item to correct the scoring of that item.
When you’re all done editing, you hit “Done Editing” to go back to viewing the list. You can update as many scores as you need to on the test.
LeST + Test Log now available
We have two major updates to the new Motif platform today!
The LeST is now available online, in the new Motif platform
You’ll be able to run LeST tests similarly to the CC2 experience, and purchase LeST results sheets online too. We have submitted the LeST iOS app to Apple, so hope to have this available for everyone soon, mimicking the CC2.
We will provide a 14-day crossover period in which we will allow the free test to continue to be used along-side the newly available paid test. March 3rd will be the last day you’ll be able to run free LeST tests on the volunteer site.
LeST iOS app
Shortly after releasing the updated web app, we hope to release the LeST iOS app. It will be similar to the CC2 iOS app in it’s functionality. You’ll be able to purchase test sessions through the app, and run test sessions on the app. Like the CC2, tests will now be saved to the Motif servers, and available in the Test Log on the web app.
The test log is back
The test log stores results, without storing Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
With the test log, you’ll be able to look back at past tests, once you update your CC2 app, or refresh the web app. This mimics the test log you’d be familiar with in the volunteer system. All test types appear in the one list, and you can see results sheets chronologically.
We take privacy very seriously, and don’t want to store as little as possible. So we have implemented a new “Subject Code” field when entering subject details. This allows you to include a reference to a system you already use to track your subjects, for future use in mapping a past test to a subject.
We collect “Subject Name” and Tester Name” to be able to print a nice report at the end of the test session, but we do not store those fields on the Motif servers, so they are cleared once you move onto another test session.
We aim to have “Subject Code” appear on Mobile and Web from the same date, and any time you see it, you know this test will be stored, and be accessible when we release the Test Log shortly.
To achieve consistency across platforms, we have had to update the CC2 mobile app to talk to the internet and store results in the cloud. This means you can run a test on your desktop, then run a test on your iPad, and still have the results sheets in one Test Log. The test log will not be available in the iOS app.
Note: you’ll need to maintain device connectivity during the test, now that they’re stored online. We are very keen to hear feedback about whether this introduces challenges, and whether we should look at allowing an offline-mode for running a test.
This brings us very close to completing Stage 2 of our transition plan.
CC2 is fully transitioned onto the new platform
We are excited to announce that we have the CC2 test fully transitioned onto the new platform!
We are excited to announce that we have the CC2 test fully transitioned onto the new platform! We missed November by a day or three, but we’re largely on track.
The CC2 test on the web is now on our new infrastructure, leveraging the same account you would use for the iOS app. We missed the transition by a day or two, but we’re really happy to be at this important milestone for Motif.
Important – print + save each test result: For now, the new platform does not store a history of tests, so it’s important to print + save as PDF for test results. This matches the behaviour in the iOS app. We hope to bring stored tests back in the new year some time.
From today, you can purchase results sheets on the iOS app, or on the web app to run CC2 tests. The balance of available results sheets is shared across web, mobile, and tablet, and you' can sign in across a few devices if required.
You can provide feedback from our help centre and knowledge base, and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.
Our next milestone is to release the Android app for the CC2, which expands the possible platforms for the CC2. After that, we will be introducing the LeST. It’s unlikely we will be complete in January, but some time before the end of Feb is likely.
Motif has a new website!
Motif has launched a new website at motif.org.au, as part of our plans to modernise the Motif offering. We hope you like it!
We’re excited to launch the new Motif website today. This marks another milestone in our journey to refresh Motif and the digital tests at motif.org.au. There are a few changes to how Motif is providing access to the tests on this new site.
Download PDFs without creating an account
It’s our commitment to provide all of the tests at Motif.org.au for free, forever, in the form of downloadable assets. For many tests, this is PDFs, but for some it includes audio files, or other stimulus.
With our new website, these assets are now available by completing a short form which gives us a sense of the kind of people that are accessing the test assets. There’s no longer a need to register and obtain approval before accessing the test assets.
Online “apps” for running tests
The tests that have online testing available – the CC2, LeST, TERC, and DiSTi – will open a new tab with an app-like experience from the old Motif site. For example, the webpage for the LeST will link you to volunteer.motif.org.au/home/test/lest, where you’ll need to sign in with your old Motif account to run the LeST.
This is where relevant features remain in place for running the free tests from the old volunteer Motif system.
As new online tests become available, the link on the page will point to the new app, which will require a new Motif account, with no approval step required.
Looking for your test log?
The test-log is still available in the online App. To get to it, simply visit on of the online tests, and click the “Run Online button” which will take you to login, and then click on Test Log in the main nav once you’re logged in.
This new site provides us a more modern toolkit, with more flexibility into the future. For any questions about the transition, visit the Motif service desk to find articles in the knowledge centre, or ask us a question.
CC2 test pricing change - $12.99 starting price
We have been listening to early feedback from customers, and we have decided to reduce the price of the single test from $17.99 to $12.99.
We are really excited about the new journey Motif is embarking on. The launch of the CC2 iOS app marked the beginning of a set of changes that are coming to Motif.
We have been listening to early feedback from customers, and we have decided to reduce the price of the single test from $17.99 to $12.99.
What does that mean for other prices?
All other pack pricing has had a corresponding drop in price, down to the minimum per-test price of $1.56. For example, the 5 pack has gone from $75, to $49.
Why was the price high initially?
As a scientifically developed test, made for qualified professionals, we were worried about whether a low price-point encouraging some untrained customers to purchase and use the CC2 to misdiagnose children. We set the price of a single test higher than we would have otherwise, as an artificial barrier to discourage non-professionals from using the test.
Why has the price been reduced?
We have been hearing from professionals that the entry-level price of the CC2 is too high for them to continue using the test. We now think customers are more comfortable buying one test at a time, rather than in packs, so we want the single test price to feel more reasonable, but still provide that slight barrier to non-professionals.
We absolutely don't want to see the price of the tests reduce the usage of the CC2. We want to strike a balance between providing the value of a digitised test, and being able to collect revenue.
We feel confident that with the upcoming evolution of Motif, and our clear new mission to "provide a trusted set of tests that help education professionals trouble-shoot literacy difficulties in children" that we will be able to avoid the misuse of tests through clear messaging.
Thanks for your patience and understanding as we transition. We really appreciate open and honest feedback at this point, as it will help us get through the change quickly, with as little friction as possible.
- Motif Product Team
Motif is getting a new lease of life
You might have noticed that Motif hasn't changed much over the years. That's because the technology is getting old and creaky, and it's becoming hard to maintain. It's also just not sustainable for us to keep supporting all those people for free. It's time to rebuild.
The Motif site and online tests are over a decade old. They have been an amazing and free resource for over a hundred thousand people helping children with their learning.
You might have noticed that it hasn't changed much over the years. That's because the technology is getting old and creaky, and it's becoming hard to maintain. It's also just not sustainable for us to keep supporting all those people for free. It's time to rebuild.
So we are giving Motif a new lease of life. We are re-releasing the popular CC2 and LeST tests as digital versions across 3 platforms: web, iOS, and Android. We will charge a fee for running a digital test, and will contribute 50% of the revenue back to the scientists who created the tests. The other 50% will go to the people who build and maintain Motif, Scipilot.
So let’s recap on what Motif is:
Access for anyone, with PDF versions always free.
Every test we put on this site can be administered for free with a downloadable PDF. Gain the benefits at zero cost, by printing and administering manually.
Digitised test versions for our popular tests.
Our most popular tests will be digitised, eliminating hours of manual work, and providing instant, accurate results and reporting. These are easy to use, and suited to large-scale adoption.
Tests you can trust to be useful and reputable.
With test authors and advisors from some of the most respected scientific institutions in the field, Motif only includes evidence-based tests, meaning you can trust what we offer.
Tests for a widening range of needs.
The wide variety of tests available at Motif will suit most children and situations. Screening style tests help initial assessment, while niche trouble-shooting tests can accurately pinpoint slippery problems. New tests for even broader situations will be added over time.
We are really excited to embark on this journey.
There will be a transition period of a few months while we get the new systems and tests completed, and shut down the old systems. Take a look here for details.
Don't forget, we will always provide the full set of tests as downloadable and printable PDFs.
If you have any questions, check out our new knowledge centre. You can ask us any questions that aren't answered there, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
2020 New Year Holiday
The volunteer administrators of MOTIf will be on holiday from 23rd December 2020 until the week of 11th Jan 2021.
You may continue testing and using the site but we will not be answering any support messages.
New registrations can be made but they may not be approved until mid January.
Macquarie Oxford Reading Anxiety Test (MoRAT) – Now Available!
The first questionnaire measuring reading anxiety is now available! There are four different versions of the test depending on a person’s age. Go to the “Test” page and click on the RAT icon for more information about the test and to download the different versions.
MAAST Audio Files Now Available
You can now download the original audio files for the MAAST.
Go to the MAAST home page after and complete the download process to receive a zip file comprising 72 mp3 files.
CC2 font change and presentation gaps
Today we made two minor tweaks to the online test presentations.
The CC2 words now use "Arial" font face to more closely match the printed tests. Previously it was using a default "sans" font which could be different in different browsers or operating systems, (e.g. Helvetica is preferred by Mac as the default "sans serif").
The CC2 and all other online test stimuli now disappear briefly between presentations to help separate them. It was noticed that when some of the stimuli were swapped to the next one, the presentation moment was difficult to notice especially in cases where the words are similar.
CC2 Percentiles online
We have now included percentiles with the raw scores and z score in the CC2 results page.
The percentiles for this test have always been available in the PDF downloads but until now were not displayed in the online test results. The percentiles are available for historical online test results too.
Pencil and Paper Tests?
Dear MOTIf users,
We need your help. We have been asked to turn some of our online MOTIf tests into “pencil and paper” tests that can be administered without a computer.
This will support teachers and clinicians who are unable to run our tests online because of connectivity problems – whether these are due to remoteness, school firewalls, or (let’s face it) the NBN. T
Turning the MOTIf tests into “offline” versions will be a lot of work for us, and it will cost people money to buy them. So we need to know if anyone will find this useful.
Could you help us decide by filling out this questionnaire? It will take less than 5 minutes to complete.
https://mqedu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9MIVKT8re5Y6NsF
With many thanks,
The MOTIf Team