Resources- Text to Speech

What is text-to speech (TTS)?
Text-to-speech is a type of application that is used to create a spoken sound version of the text in a computer document such as a Word document or a Web page. Our Macbooks have this application built in. If it is not already activated, it can be turned on through system preferences-speech.

Benefits-
Students can listen to the computer "read' their own document to make sure it makes sense.
Students can highlight a word or passage they don't understand and the computer will read it to them.
Students work more independently, thus freeing up teachers. It is important to remember the objective of the lesson. If the objective is to learn the content, then this is serving as a tool to help them achieve that objective. If the objective is to be able to read a passage independently, this would not be an appropriate tool.

Web 2.0 Tools- Text-to-Speech

iSpeech (www.ispeech.org)

"Simply cut and paste the text you wish to convert to speech into our text box and click convert text. Or, upload any supported document, website, blog, etc. and click convert file or the listen button. Sit back and listen. It's that simple. iSpeech does all of the work for you. Now that your file is converted, it will auto-play. You can download it, podcast it or even embed it as an object on any webpage that supports html including: MySpace, Blogger, EBay, etc. "

The added advantage to this application is the TTS audio file can be downloaded into iTunes. Students can then listen to it repeatedly without having to be online. The file could also be uploaded onto an iPod. The possibilities for this tech tool are endless- create audio files for instructions, a story, a portion of a website or students' documents. Download them, save them in an e-portfolio or create audiobooks for students. You could also compare the computer voice to a person reading with inflection.

Dragon Dictation (Speech-toText)

"Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard. With Dragon Dictation, you can text or email your friends, update Facebook status, send notes and reminders to yourself, or tweet to the world… all using your voice."

This is a free app through iTunes and can be leaded onto your iPhone. I believe it can be loaded onto an iPod Touch but needs a headset with a built-in microphone to record the voice.

Benefits

If a student has lot of ideas but can't seem to get them on paper, have the student use dragon dictation. The speech will be instantly transcribed into text and dropped in your email. It can then be copied and pasted into a document for further revision or collaboration. Our school currently owns two iPod Touches.

Text-to-Movie

Xtranormal
Xtranormal is a site where teachers can type a script, personalize it with animated characters, actions, camera angles and emotions, and create an animated movie with the click of a button. Currently, xtranormal recommends only students 13 and up use the site but there is a lot of pressure to get them to create a kid-friendly site.Click on the video below to see an example.