SpeakIt! and WordTalk: Two more free text to speech resources

Here are two more free text to speech options I have recently learned about:

1) SpeakIt! is an extension for the Google Chrome browser that will read text online in your browser.  It will read from webpages, emails, and most text you can highlight and right mouse click on.  It is free, easy to install through the Chrome Web Store, and offers a pretty good voice for the money (did I mention it's FREE!).   My only complaint is that it doesn't highlight words as it reads, but it still works great for a free tool.  Click here for more info.

2) WordTalk is a free Plug-in for Microsoft Word.  It will read text aloud in a Word document and highlight the text as it goes.  (I have blogged about the Speak tool already built into Microsoft word before, but I like WordTalk better because the Microsoft Speak tool doesn't highlight words as it goes.)  It offers lots of different options to read (by selection, sentence, paragraph, etc.) and even has a nifty talking spell checker and thesaurus.  This is a program you will have to download and install from the website, and you need to make sure to download the version that is compatible with your version of Word.  Once downloaded and installed, it shows up as an extra toolbar option at the to of the program screen.  Click here for more information.

I hope these resources help.  With the scarcity of money nowadays, it is always nice to have access to effective free tools.  Please let me know if the comments if you have a favorite tool we haven't mentioned yet!

Hey! Can I try that? Free Self Determination AT booklet.

Do you ever feel like somebody is trying to shove a new idea at you, or get you to implement a drastic change to how you teach without your consent or input?  Isn't it frustrating to be told, "This is what's best for you, and you're going to do it." without being asked how YOU feel about it?  As I've been thinking about the concept of self determination and assistive technology lately, I've been wondering if this is how some of our students feel when we give them an unfamiliar piece of technology and say, "Here.  This is what's best for you." without ever asking them how they feel about it.  I think that allowing students to give input into the consideration of assistive technology will greatly increase their motivation to use AT, and will produce better outcomes for all concerned.

With that idea in mind, I wanted to share a resource a recently re-discovered called Hey! Can I Try That?  It is a free booklet, designed by two premier AT experts,  that you can use with students to teach them about the purpose of assistive technology and self determination.  It includes:

•  short, easy to read passages, 
• case studies to bring abstract concepts to life for our students, 
• worksheets for the students to complete, that ask for their ideas and opinions about themselves and their assistive technology.

It guides students and teachers through every step of the AT process, from initially gathering information, selecting and trying AT, evaluating its success, and making any changes to the AT implementation plan.  It is available as a free PDF download from the following websites:
http://www.educationtechpoints.org/manuals-materials/hey-can-i-try-that
http://www.wati.org/content/supports/free/pdf/HeyCanITryThat08.pdf

If you'd like your students with reading and writing disabilities to be able to independently read and complete the worksheet using AT supports, I've also converted the document to an accessible Google doc.  Students can type directly into the document, and can also use a "text to speech" computer screen reader to read it aloud without adult help.


 

SoundingBoard-Easy (and free) AAC app for iPad

Sometimes, you don't want an AAC app that comes with thousands of buttons and lots of complex menus to have to learn.  Sometimes, you just want to quickly and easily create a board with a few pictures for your emerging communicators.  And sometimes, you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on an app that you're not even sure will work for your student.  If any of those "Sometimes" applies to you, then you might want to check out a FREE app from Ablenet called SoundingBoard.

SoundingBoard is an easy to use app that lets you quickly make communication pages (or "boards") for students.  These boards can be linked together to make a more complex communication system, or can just be selected as needed based on the setting and task.  The AbleNet website describes the app this way:

SoundingBoard is ONLY available for download at iTunes stores.

SoundingBoard transforms your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch into the latest in communication technology. In just minutes, you can create custom boards using AbleNet symbols or your own photos.

• Create boards with up to 20 message locations
• Virtually unlimited capacity; create boards for any situation
• Use the built-in AbleNet symbol library for instant access to hundreds of symbols
• Record messages of virtually any length for each symbol
• Use your own photo library for even greater flexibility and options
• Take your own photos using your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch and use them in a board immediately*
• Increase the physical size of the boards by using the iPad

If you haven't checked out this free resource yet, you should add it to your AAC toolbox.  It is a great app to have for many different situations.  My only caution about "build your own pages" apps is that, for students who have a lot to say, it may be a very frustrating experience to only be able to say the things my teacher and SLP get around to programming for me.  For those kinds of students, you may want to check out a more fully featured AAC app.

Introducing Students to Text to Speech Accommodations- (That weird computer voice can be your friend!)

I have produced a short (4 page) document designed to help concerned, yet busy teachers and parents make sense of Text to Speech (or screen reader) technology, when you really don't feel you have time to take on ONE MORE THING!!  It is designed to quickly and easily help you:

1. Better understand what Text to Speech (TTS) technology is and how it can help struggling readers.
2. Find you free and easy tools to get Text to Speech going in your classroom TODAY.
3. Figure out how to build Text to Speech into your already WAY too busy school schedule in small, manageable steps.

To access the document, please click here.
 

Free Apps resource (and lots of other great info too)

I've posted about this before, but I wanted to let everyone know about a GREAT resource for free iOS and Android apps, as well as all the information you could every want about technology in education.  That resource is the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) blog that can be found at http://ucetnews.blogspot.com/.    They regularly post links to free apps, many of which are usually paid apps that have become free for a limited time.  They also have lots of great TED talks, Web 2.0 resources, and other great things for teachers who want to use technology to enhance student learning.  UCET is directed primarily toward the general education population, so everything may not pertain to your classroom, but I think you will find plenty that will.

NOTE: We have put a link to this blog on the main page of our blog in the "Favorite Links" section on the top right hand corner of the blog.

Do YOU have great online resources you go to for information and goodies?  I would love to hear about them in the comments!

Putting Tar Heel Reader books into iBooks with speech! (repost)

I am posting a link to a great blogger by the name of Jane Farrall, about putting Tar Heel Reader books into iBooks on the iPad.  Tar Heel Reader is a great source of simple, user generated books for all ages, and now the ability to use them with the iPad makes it even better.  There are also a few other Tar Heel Reader posts on Jane's Blog that you might want to check out as well.

To read the post, click here.
To simply go to Jane's blog, click here.
To check out Tar Heel Reader, click here.

Simple, yet effective 1 page communication boards

We sometimes have the idea that alternative/agumentative communication (AAC) involves an expensive device or a fancy book with lots of velcro and laminated picture cards.  But, in reality, AAC can be very simple.  Sometimes all a student needs for effective communication is a simple, 1 page, laminated piece of paper.  This cheap and easy 1 page communication board could then be posted in a particular area (fridge, kitchen cabinet, door, window, etc.) or used in a particular setting (restaurant, watching TV, grocery store, etc.) to facilitate communication.

In this post, I have included several examples of simple 1 page communication boards that can be used in a variety of settings.  All of these boards were found online using Boardmaker Share, and then adapted for my purposes using Boardmaker software.  A colleague and I spent less than 5 minutes for each board!!  I hope these ideas will inspire you to create your own boards for your students to use in your classroom, at home, and in the community.

My first example is a simple "snack time" laminated place-mat with symbols to help a student make food/drink choices, request more, and comment about the food. Now your place-mat serves a far greater purpose than simply keeping the table clean!!

The next example is a page that could be taped to the door of the refrigerator.  You could even make various symbols for the different kinds of food that could be in the fridge (even if they aren't at the moment) and attach them to the page with velcro (or remove them) as the contents of the fridge changes every time you go to the store (or your teenager and his friends raid the fridge!)

These next two pages are designed for communicating while watching TV.  One is simply for choosing the type of show to watch (I LOVE the sumo wrestlers!).

This TV board incorporates a lot more communicative intents.  I wish I had made this board!

These next two pages are designed to post by the door.  Now the child can communicate where he/she wants to go when leaving the room.  The communication partners can also use the page to communicate to the child where they are going next.  This would be easy to adapt to a home setting instead of school setting.

 This next picture is actually more of a visual organizer than a communication board, but I just liked it so much I couldn't help but include it!

The last page I've included in this post is designed for use at McDonald's, of course.  A similar page could be made for any other restaurant you frequent.

I hope as you've read through these examples that you have thought of ways you could adapt this concept for use in your classroom, home, etc.  These really take very little time to make, yet could have a PROFOUND impact in the life of a child who struggles to communicate verbally.  I would love to hear in the comments section the other ways you have successfully used the concept of 1 page communication boards.

 

Text to Speech Roundup - Pros and cons of 3 Free computer text reader options

In the last few months, I have blogged about some great computer text reader options available for teachers of struggling readers.  The main idea behind all of these options is to have a computer program read text to students who are unable to read it themselves.  This makes them more independent, confident, and successful.  This blog post today is a round-up of some of the free options available.  Each option I will discuss is free, and each has particular advantages and disadvantages.  Here is the list:

1) Free Natural Reader 11.  This is a free computer program that you download from the internet and install on your computer.  It provides 2 ways to read text: 1) a window that you can copy and paste text into from another document or application, or 2) a floating toolbar that  "floats" over any open doc or application.
-Pros: 

• When using the copy and paste window option, text is highlighted as it is read. (multi-modal learning!) 
•  Floating toolbar is convenient
• Can adjust the rate and pitch of the voices

-Cons:

• You may have to put in a tech request to get this installed, as it is an actual software program
• You can only use the digital voices that come pre-installed on your computer, which may be lower quality voices
• It can be a little tricky to change voices or adjust the speed of the voice

2) Read&Write for Google Docs.  This is a free study skills toolbar that is available as an extension to the Google Chrome browser.  It works very nicely, but ONLY works with text in the Google format.  Click this link to see about converting existing docs to Google docs format.
-Pros:

• Highlights words as it reads (multi-modal learning!)
• Better quality voices
• Since it is an extension to a browser and not software, you don't need a password to install it.
• Other study skills options, such as highlighting, dictionary, and collect highlights

-Cons:

• ONLY works with Google docs format
• ONLY works on Google Chrome browser
• MUST be connected to the internet for it to work

3) Speak tool in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc.).  Most folks are unaware that Microsoft office 2010 and 2003 come with pre-installed text reader tools. You just have to know where to find them. (NOTE: Office 2007 offers the Speak command in Excel, but not in Word)   To see a tutorial for Office 2003 click here.  To see a tutorial for Office 2010, click here.  To see a video for office 2010, click here. or click here for an alternate video (in case the first one didn't work).
-Pros:

• Don't need to convert your documents to another format
• Students can be trained to do this with any computer they use.  No special software is needed.
• Don't need to access any other program to hear your text read aloud.

-Cons:

• You can't choose your voice or the voice rate
• It does NOT highlight the words as it reads.  This makes it harder for students to follow along.
• Different processes to learn depending on which version of Microsoft Office you have.  Not available in Word 2007.

So there you have it.  I hope seeing these three options head to head will give you some ideas of what would work with your students and situations.  Each tool has advantages, and a savvy user would have more than one option depending on the setting and task.  As always, please provide feedback in the comments section.  


 

Read&Write for Google Docs: Free screen reader and study skills toolbar

I was so excited to learn today about a free tool called Read&Write for Google Docs. Read&Write for Google docs is a free extension that can be added to your Google Chrome browser. It
reads and highlights any text in a Google document, along with providing textual and visual definitions, highlight collection, and a nice feature to make a vocabulary list from highlighted words in the doc.

NOTE: It will ONLY work with documents that are in the Google docs format, but it is a fairly easy process to convert existing Word documents and PDFs into Google docs format. To learn more about that process, click here.

To see some good images and videos about Read&Write for Google docs, click here

The second video will how you how to install the toolbar, the first one will go over features in detail.

Speak Selection in iOS- Make the iPad read to you!

We know that the iPad can fling angry birds against the wall, take notes, play videos, and even speak for you, but one of my absolute favorite features built into the iPad is called Speak Selection.  When this feature is activated, the iPad will read aloud any text that you can select.  I have found it especially useful in Notes, Safari, Email, and Dropbox, but it is limited only to what text you can select.  It is especially useful when paired with the Reader function built into Safari.  (for more info, see my post entitled "A Cleaner and Easier Online Reading Experience...").

To enable the feature, tap the Settings app, and then tap General > Accessibility > Speak Selection.  Turn On the slider bar, and adjust the voice rate.  You only get one voice right now, but it is a good quality voice.  In iOS 6, you also get the option to have the iPad highlight words as it reads.  You also can choose different dialects, just in case you watched Finding Nemo the night before and just couldn't get enough of the Australian accent.

I have included two links to great YouTube videos explaining the feature.  The first video features the ipad, and includes info about the languages and dialects options.  The second video features the iPhone, but it works the same on the iPod touch.





I hope you and your students enjoy this amazing feature.  If you have success stories or creative implementation ideas, please share in the comments section!

Free iOS apps available today/ A shout-out to the UCET blog.

I have been a fan for a while of a great blog put out by the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET).  It is located at http://ucetnews.blogspot.com .  The UCET is an educational technology organization that consists mainly of regular education teachers, but has been expanding more into special education as well as technology continues to bridge the gaps between them.

One of my favorite features of the blog is that they will periodically list iOS apps (apps for iPads and iPods) that normally cost money to purchase, but are available for a limited time for free.  I will try to update this blog with links to the UCET blog when they post that info.  To see today's list, go to the UCET blog, or click the following link.  Two that caught my eye were a Cookie Monster app, and a great figural analogy app.

Check them out and bookmark the UCET blog if you like to keep up to date on the latest in educational technology.