Text To Speech Robot
Click Here To Watch The Text To Speech Robot Video On YouTube
Text To Speech Voices
I’d like to chat about the benefits of using text to speech robot
technology and a free tool that will make
that happen for printed text.
Text to speech software
takes written text and
transforms it into speech and offers a ton
of benefits for students with a learning disability.
Not only is the use of text to speech considered
time spent reading, it can enhance literacy
skills, improve reading comprehension,
accuracy and the ability
to recall information.
Text To Speech Software
Text to speech can improve
word recognition skills
and increases a student’s
pronunciation capabilities.
It is an accommodation for those students
who are auditory readers to be able to engage
in the text independently.
We have to keep in mind
that a student’s independent
reading level (or the ability to decode)
is completely different than
their comprehension level.
We can have a student who
is a freshman in high school
who may have a 3rd grade
independent reading level,
but their comprehension level
could be at grade level
and often above with
the use of text to speech.
With that said, I would like
to show you a free
app for iOS devices
called Prizmo Go.
So this app is free,
like I mentioned before,
and it is called Prizmo Go.
It is a quick, easy way to have text,
printed text turned into auditory text.
I love this app and I’m
going to show you why.
So Prizmo to Go. I’m going to open it up,
and I have a printed reading passage
that I would like my students to read.
It uses the camera on any printed
worksheet or document that I need
and while my iPad initially feels
like this is just a picture,
it has no idea what’s on the text.
What’s on the piece of paper.
So what Prizmo does is it scans
the document and is able
to pull out each different
letter on my worksheet.
So all I have to do is take a picture,
and there’s the original image
and then quickly I have
accessible text for my auditory readers.
What I also love about this app
is that it does the tracking.
It’s highlighting each word,
which also improves literacy skills.
Now, some of you may have
heard educators say,
“Well, that is cheating”…and I’d like to actually
argue that it actually quite the opposite.
It’s merely giving students equitable education.
Yes, if we were accessing a student’s ability
to decode and they used text to speech,
I could see that being considered cheating.
However, if what we are accessing is their
ability to just have a discussion about what they
had just read and also used text to speech, then that
is leveling the playing field for those students
with a specific learning disability;
such as dyslexia.
They have means to engage
in the text independently,
just like their peers.
We will always have students who
process information differently.
It shouldn’t matter how they receive the
information; but whether or not they can retain
and have a conversation about
the information that they received.
The end goal is the same but
just getting there will be different.
Keep in mind that every printed
test or assessment that you give a student,
before they can even show you what they know
and get to the content being tested,
there are 2 areas being assessed first.
The first being engagement-
is it accessible to them,
and then next, it’s a
test of reading.
If a student cannot decode the directions
to a math test, how will they ever be able
to show you that they know how to do the math?
If their math skills are what is being tested…how
will they ever be able to fairly express that
if they struggle
with decoding?
Thanks for reading this article.
If you would like more information on
no cost training or further resources
for text to speech, please contact us.
Thank you and bye for now.
P.S. You can get this text to speech robot software by clicking the link in the video description on YouTube.
