In this video demonstration I show how students can use either the Chrome Speak app or theiSpeech Select and Speak extensions to have questions read aloud in either a Moodle or Edmodo quiz. Both the text-to-speech tools are available for the Chrome browser and Chromebook. Video Link
I've been asked to develop a list of Chrome Apps and Extensions that enable reading and writing supports such as text-to-speech, speech-to text, and dictionary tools for students in my district. Here's my first round picks that I feel address some of these needs. Do you have a Chrome App or Extension that you would recommend? Please feel free to add your suggestions or ideas in the comments section.
For text-to-speech I recommend the Chrome extension - Chrome Speak or Select and Speak. The student highlights the text, right clicks
and selects speak.
The Google Dictionary extension will open a definition and
audio for any word on any web page by double clicking the word.
The Read & Write extension for Google Drive puts a toolbar on
the top of the Google Docs editor that adds text-to-speech, a dictionary tool,
visual dictionary tool, and special highlighting tools with extraction
features.
The Announcify extension takes online articles on sites like CNN or NYT and strips out all adds and distracting visuals, so that only text is
visible, enables text-to-speech, and has easy option for enlarging text.
Voice Recognition is a Chrome app that is equivalent to Dragon
Dictation for doing voice-to-text.
In this video I continue to discuss how to apply the accessibility features on the iPad through the framework of Universal Design for Learning. The video focusses on strategies for supporting all learners in the classroom using the iPad's built in text-to-speech settings.
Over the next few weeks I'll be making a series of videos covering different Universal Design for Learning strategies for the iPad. This first video looks at different features on the iPad that make text more accessible for all students not only by enlarging the font size but also by providing greater focus or by allowing students to add greater detail to handwritten annotations on various note taking apps.
Yesterday I was challenged by one of the elementary schools that I work with to help model iPad integration by using iPads 1:1 with students during direct instruction and then transition into a 1:1 iPad independent activity. I developed four different lessons targeted at K-1, 2-3, 4th and 5th grade. The lessons ranged from reading comprehension and academic vocabulary to comparative adjectives and research skills (at the teachers' request). Needless to say I was pretty pooped by the end :-)
Interestingly enough, one of the most popular strategies I used to facilitate my lessons was not tech related at all. I'm sure this strategy has a real name, but let's call it a modified think, pair, share. Whenever I asked questions, I asked students to whisper their answer into their closed fist first, then whisper share with a partner and then alternated between choral response or picking a random student depending on the nature of the question. The students seemed to really enjoy this and I had nearly 100% participation through out the lesson.
For my mini-lesson I wanted to minimize the number of apps we would use and ensure a high level of engagement during my presentation, so I selected Nearpod as my platform. I was pleased with the way that the app helped hold the student's attention while I moved through the slides and interspersed my presentation with interactive formative tools. The problem is setting up my Nearpod presentations took a bit of tech ninja skills to get the results I wanted. And after talking with several teachers I learned that many were most attracted to the whiteboard feature in Nearpod after seeing my demonstrations.
As luck would have it, later that night I learned about Infuse Learning from the #miched chat that occurs every Wednesday at 8pm. It has many similar features to the classroom response app Socrative, but with the additional feature of a whiteboard responder and (drum roll please!) text-to-speech. I have only had a brief time to test Infuse Learning but my feeling is that it this web app has great potential and a lower learning curve than Nearpod.
I'm still really pleased with what I was able to do with Nearpod especially because I was seeking a way to move seemlessly between the slides I created in Haiku Deck and the formative classroom response tools I wanted.
I loved the challenge of creating these lessons and wish I would have had even more time to develop the underlying lessons. The best part though was working with so many great students. What Fun!
There are several ways to record audio for test accommodations that can then be accessed by students during a test or in other settings where audio would support the learning needs of the student. The procedures described below were specifically designed to support a 1:1 iPad setting but could be modified to meet a variety of classroom settings.
One other note: Offering audio to all students and not just students who require accommodations is great Universal Design for Learning strategy. You may be surprised who chooses to listen to your narrated test when given the option!
Procedures for using Soundcloud app on the iPad for test reading accommodations
iPad steps
Step 1. Download the Soundcloud app from the iTunes app store.
Step 2. Open the Soundcloud app and register for a new account.
Step 3. Make a demo recording, name it, select “private”, and save.
Computer steps
Step 1. Download the Chrome Browser. (You can use Firefox and Internet Explorer, however the steps for adding a “bookmarklet” may differ).
Step 3. Click on the Chrome settings icon, hover over the “bookmarks” and select “show bookmarks bar”. You can also use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-shift-B to reveal and hide the bookmarks bar.
Step 4. Drag the red “QR Coder” bookmarklet into the bookmarks bar.
Croak.it is a super simple audio recorder that works on multiple devices including iOS (iPad, iTouch, iPhone), Android phones, or via your computer browser. It is similar in many ways to vocaroo.com with the added benefit of having a mobile app. The advantage of using a cross-platform program like croak.it is the ability to use every computing device available whether these be student or school owned.
Another advantage of the Croak.it recorder is that it does not require any account sign up. This means students can quickly create and share their recordings without the hassel of logging in. One suggestion that I have for saving recordings is to create a simple Google Form that students can use to submit their recording links. (see video below) This allows you to collect student recordings with out having to use an e-mail account.
(Use Google Forms to collect screenchomp, glogster and youtube links)
The recordings are limited to 30 seconds or less which could be both an advantage or disadvantage. I often warn teachers to be careful when assigning video or audio projects to students due to the time it takes to listen to each recording depending on the length. Because of the 30 second time limit you may want to encourage students to rehearse (never a bad idea) before they record.
Hat tip to my colleague, Kristin Day, for sharing this great new accessibility tip for mobile devices. Now you can skip the keyboard when you want to do Google searches and use handwriting instead. Enabling this feature is pretty straightforward.
Open your mobile device web browser and go to http://google.com.
Locate the gear icon on the top right hand corner.
Tap on the "search settings" link.
Select "enable" under the Handwrite section and then tap save at the bottom of the screen.
To begin using handwriting tap on the "g" at the bottom right hand of your Google search screen.
This could be a great feature for younger students who are unfamiliar with the QWERTY keyboard, practicing letter formation, and students who struggle with selecting individual keys on the virtual keyboard. This can also be a time saving tool when you are searching on the go.
For as a video demonstration and more information about this feature follow the link at the top.
I wanted to share a brief video overview of the assistive touch features for the iPad. This feature could be useful for anyone with limited mobility or fine motor control such as a student with Cerebral palsy.
In particular, I created this screencast to help support a high school student with CP. He was able to control the iPad quite well using one finger in most cases but had difficulty accessing any of the physical button. He also could not perform any of the multi-touch gestures.
On a personal note I found this feature useful after I broke my hand this winter and lost some control over my right ring finger. I had difficulty performing 4 and 5 finger swipes on the ipad for several months and used the assistive touch as an alternative means of accessing these features.
Just before the end of the school year I was able to check out an iPad from our RESA Assistive Technology lending library and test a few different apps with students. One of the apps I felt had great potential in the classroom was Qwiki. Qwiki compiles reference information from sites like wikipedia, images, videos, and maps to create an immersive information experience. But the most unique feature is the text-to-speech narration that accompanies every Qwiki. Captioning at the bottom of the screen is read by the text-to-speech engine giving the user the option to listen or read along. In essence, Qwiki turns your searches into movies.
In the short video clip above, students used Qwiki to research elements from the periodic table for a science project. I was impressed by the engagement level I saw, but also noted that the students using the Qwiki app were jotting down notes for their projects and reviewed their Qwiki search multiple times before moving on to the related searches presented at the end of the presentation. Because we were testing in an open environment without headphones other students paused to watch as well and even started discussing some of the qualities of the element being shown. This was vastly different from the disinterested search process that I had witnessed before I introduced the app.
It is worth noting that Qwiki is not just an iPad app. Their website http://www.qwiki.com offers an identical experience minus the intuitive touch screen interface. I'd love to see Qwiki develop some editing features that would allow students to curate their own resources and create dynamic presentations that could be shared.
Have you used Qwiki in your classroom? Please share your thoughts on how you think this website and app might support struggling learners or help increase engagement.
In my recent post on using audio and podcasting in the classroom I discussed phone recording options such as Google Voice and ipadio.com. In this post I am looking more specifically at phone services which record audio and transcribe voice-to-text, but are designed primarily as reminder and to do applications.
What are the benefits in education?
First, phones are one of the most ubiquitous technologies in schools. Land line phones as well as cell phones are available to almost everyone both in school and at home.
Secondly, reminders and to do lists are an important organizational strategy. Services such as Dial2do.com and Reqall.com add features which traditional to do lists lack such as access on multiple internet connected devices and integration with other online services such as calendars, social media, and blogging. And unlike traditional lists and reminders the audio recordings provide another means of accessing and remembering important information.
Teachers could use these services to broadcast classroom notes and alerts or for personal organization and reminders. Students can use these services to become more organized but may also benefit from their voice-to-text transcriptions. This may particularly beneficial for students requiring assistive technology such as struggling writers or students who have difficulty using a writing device or keyboard.
Dial2Do
"Today I've been looking at a couple of different phone services which I might promote for students who are having difficulty writing things down. Dial2do is a phone service that converts voice to text and transcribes those messages-" Powered by
Dial2do appears to be moving toward a two tiered pay model and no longer offers a free account. Dial2do integrates nicely with services like Twitter and Blogger. The recordings are limited to aproximately 20 seconds, but the transcriptions are very good. The recordings are in Mp3 format and can be downloaded or listened to directly using the web based audio player.
Reqall
Here's another test I made today using reqall.com -
"Imagine using your cellphone to write your next persuasive essay. There's a student sitting at a table. He's looking at the assignment. He needs to write an essay. He pulls out his cellphone. In the future essays may be written by students who call in their paragraphs and have them dictated by a phone." Link to audio
Unlike Dial2do, reqall.com does offer a free and paid account model. It also has an iOS app which integrates nicely with the service and allows voice messages to be recorded and transcribed using an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. The time limit appears to be slightly longer, about 30 seconds, however the transcription did not pick up punctuation at the end of sentences and a few words required correction. One feature which I feel is missing is an embeddable Mp3 player for listening to audio online. Reqall Pro offers integration with services such as calendars, social networking, and Evernote.
I've been fielding some questions today about the best solution for students who would like to listen to books read aloud using an iPod touch. I'm reposting my response below with a few additions and links. Please comment if you have suggestions or ideas to share.
The Vbookz app would be a great
option for students who want to read and listen to books like Huck Finn,
Dracula, Pride and Predjudice etc. The app is a full ebook reader plus text-to-speech engine. It even magnifies the words as they are being read to help the reader track words as they are read aloud. The app gives you access to over
30,000 books for free download once installed ($1.99 for the app). Here’s
a Youtube video explaining the app.
I also recommend checking out Lit2go which has hundreds
of books read by actors in Mp3 format. Like Vbookz these are public
domain books which are no longer covered by copyright law. These Mp3
files and the text can be viewed on a computer or downloaded and added to an
ipod touch.
But if your students wanted to
read the book Hatchet, which is still under copyright, you would need to
purchase an audiobook copy through iTunes or from a service like Audible or
Amazon.
Finally, I highly recommend checking with your local library online services to see if they are using a service like Overdrive.com which allows you to check out ebooks and audio books using your library card. You can check for libraries using Overdrive.com by entering your area code I used my local library card to check out the audio book version of The Giver by Lois Lowry which students in 10th Grade ELA have been reading at my school.
Today Google Labs released a new product called Scribe which incorporates their autocomplete technology into a stand alone word prediction text editor. My first thought was how does this compare to similar word prediction software found in products such as Kurzweil 3000 and Premier AT?
Screenshot from Premier AT talking word processor
In many ways the word prediction features are very different. The example above from Premier AT is primarily assisting with spelling with some emphasis on word selection. Google scribe on the other hand is more whole language (not sure what the proper term would be here) in that it predicts phrases in addition to spelling.
Obviously Google Scribe is pulling from the endless well of search queries that underpin Google's search technology, and that makes it incredibly efficient at guessing what you might want to say next. I think the implications for classroom use with students who struggle with writing are significant. At the same time I have not had a chance to try this with any students yet to see what limitations exist.
Sentences composed using Google Scribe.
Many Google Labs projects never see the light of day but I could easily imagine this feature becoming integrated into the Google Docs suite. If this were the case I think that Google might possibly have enabled a fantastic Word Prediction tool for the masses.
Google has created a bookmarklet that opens the Google Scribe feature in any text editing field including those found in Google Docs. I actually enabled it to finish out this post. For more information on how to use bookmarklets check out this post by Steve Dembo.
I have a feeling this won't be the last time I'll be blogging about the uses of Google Scribe.
Update: I just tried to enable the Scribe bookmarklet in Google Docs and it causes several problems. Hopefully this will be integrated sooner rather than later.
