This content came from E. Curts blog.
Read & Write for Google Chrome Read & Write for Google is the Swiss army knife of extensions with a wide range of tools beyond just text to speech. However, for this blog post we will just focus on that feature (and take a closer look at this extension in its own post in the future). With Read & Write installed, you will access it in two different ways depending on whether you are on a web page or in a Google Doc. If you are on a web page there will be an “RW” icon inside your URL bar on the far right. If you are in a Google Doc, there will be an “RW” icon at the top of the Doc. Either way just click the “RW” icon to open Read & Write. You will now get a toolbar with a wide range of buttons. The text to speech button is the one with the triangular play icon. Simply select your text and click the play button to have it read aloud. Read & Write works inside a Google Doc or on a web page, reading just what you have highlighted. Additionally it highlights each word as it reads it, making it easier for students to follow along. In this extension you also have the option to change voices. Click the gear icon on the right side of the toolbar to open the settings and select the voice and speed you want. Voices include male and female, and a wide range of nationalities. In addition to the free version of Read & Write, there is also a paid premium version that offers many tools beyond text to speech. Teachers, however, can get the premium version for freeby filling out a simple form on the company’s website here: https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/products/read-write/free-for-teachers/ SpeakIt! This extension is a very simple text to speech tool, but still has lots of options if you want them. With the extension installed, just highlight the text you want, then click the extension icon, or right click on the text and choose “SpeakIt!” The text will now be read aloud in whatever voice you have chosen. If you would like a different voice simply right click on the extension and choose “Options”. You can now pick the voice you want, including male or female, and a large selection of nationalities. You can also adjust the voice volume and speed. The only negative I have found with SpeakIt is when reading a Google Document. The extension works great on web pages, but when used in a Google Doc it always starts at the beginning of the document regardless of what text you highlight. Announcify Our final text to speech extension is Announcify. This extension reads web page text aloud, but also does a few other things along with that. When you are on a web page and click the Announcify extension, the web page will reload in a simpler, cleaner format (much like the Readability extension - see here for a blog post with more details). Ads, comments, and such will be removed, leaving just the core content and images. Then Announcify will automatically start reading the web page text. You are not able to highlight the text you want, as it always starts at the top and reads completely to the bottom. You can click on the forward and backward buttons if you want it to skip ahead. Finally the extension also blurs out all of the text except for the paragraph it is currently reading. Just like the other extensions, you can right click on its icon and choose “Options” to adjust the speed, pitch, and voice (male, female, multiple nationalities). The only big drawback is the inability for the student to select text and have Announcify read just the chosen passage. Comments are closed.
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Dawn TushInstructional Facilitator @ Pauline Central, Topeka, KS Archives
December 2020
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