I just came across a video I made a couple of years ago about CLiCk,Speak. I’d forgotten all about it. That has prompted me to repeat a post I wrote aboutCLiCk,Speak in June of 2008. The resolution isn’t great, but I think the video does a pretty good job of demonstrating CLiCk,Speak in action and of showing how to install it. I’ve embedded the video at the conclusion of the post.
CLiCk,Speak is a FREE tool that I believe needs to be available to ALL learners who have any reason to go online. It is a powerful tool, and one that is extremely easy to use for anyone who can use a mouse. The CLiCk,Speak toolbar installs with three buttons, as shown here.
In order to have text from a web page read aloud, simply place the cursor where you want to begin reading and click the green button. To stop reading aloud, click the red button. If you wish to read a selection of text, click the white button after selecting the desired text.
Under the Firefox‘Tools’ Menu is an item called ‘CliCk,Speak Options’. You are able to adjust the reading rate and the pitch of the voice here.
As I repeat frequently, if schools are truly interested in supporting all learners, there is no excuse for continuing to insist on using Internet Explorer. If schools are really interested in trying to facilitate universal access, Firefox is a far superior browser because it is so much more accessible for countless learners. There is absolutely no monetary cost for using Firefox, but the potential to help learners with reading challenges is priceless!
When he set it up, I doubt if Gary Bishop could have foreseen the phenomenal growth that Tar Heel Reader would achieve. This amazing online collection of accessible “books for beginning readers of all ages” has grown to 5805 titles! Beautifully illustrated with images from Flickr, these books are truly engaging for a wide range of readers.
In the context of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Tar Heel Reader books are accessible to ALL learners. Almost all of the titles are ‘age-appropriate’ for learners of any age. The books can be read and/or listened to online. They can be accessed with a mouse, with up to three switches, or via overlays on Intellikeys. As well, the books can be downloaded quickly and easily for use offline. Here’s a video that shows how a switch user might read a Tar Heel book either online or offline.
PowerTalk is a free add-on that provides text-to-speech for PowerPoint files, and it works brilliantly with Tar Heel Reader books when downloaded as PowerPoint files. The experience of reading a Tar Heel Reader book is enhanced tremendously when viewed as a full screen slide show and when narrated with PowerTalk. It’s even better if a quality voice has been installed on your computer for text-to-speech.
Excellent voices can be purchased and downloaded from NextUp, and elsewhere, for about $30. If you already have a good voice because it has come with another program, this voice can be set as the default for all text-to-speech on your computer. For example, VW Paul is the default voice on my computer because I have Kurzweil 3000. The default is set in ‘Speech’ at the Control Panel.
I have downloaded a sampling of about 70 Tar Heel Reader books as PowerPoint files. If you would like to have these, you can download them in a zipped file HERE. Also included in the folder is an executable file for installing PowerTalk. I hope you find this helpful.
I have made and embedded a short video below, that demonstrates opening and reading a downloaded Tar Heel Reader story with PowerTalk. This is exactly as it looks and sounds for me when I use PowerTalk with a downloaded Tar Heel Reader book. Narration begins automatically on the title page, but the reader chooses to move through the pages of the book at his or her own pace. I used the right-arrow key to move through the pages.
I wrote about PhotoPeach last month. Since then, I’ve very much enjoyed “playing” with PhotoPeach as I’ve created several “stories” with my own photos. I especially like PhotoPeach for multimedia creativity because it is so easy to learn and use and because text captions are such a straightfoward option. These two factors make PhotoPeach an especially attractive multimedia option for the classroom.
Now I have a new reason to be enthusiastic about PhotoPeach. I’ve discovered the PhotoPeach Quiz–and figured out how to create quizzes. Although the quizzes are easy to create and to use, it wasn’t quick and easy for me to figure out where to go to create them. There is nothing on the start page to direct you to a quiz option. You only discover the quiz feature in the process of editing a PhotoPeach story that you’ve already created. I’ll include some ‘how-to’ screen shots at the bottom of this post.
I’ve embedded below a short quiz that I put together with Creative Commons photos from Flickr. Rather than trying to describe how it works, you can see for yourself.
After registering for a free account, here’s what you do to create a quiz in PhotoPeach.
1. Upload your photos from your computer, or import them from elsewhere on the Internet.
2. Arrange your photos as you want them.
3. Give your quiz a title, add a description, and select musical accompaniment if you want it. Then click the Finish button.
4. Your “finished” story will begin playing, but you must scroll down below it. If you wish your quiz to be public, you must select “public” under ‘Edit (owner options). Since you are creating a quiz, you must click on the link ‘Arrange Photos & Edit Caption’.
4. You will now be given the opportunity to create your quiz with the ‘Quiz’ button. There process is straightforward after you click on this button.
Schools across the province where I live reopen this morning after the long summer break. This should be a time of great excitement and eager anticipation for every child who is beginning a new school year. Sadly, the reality is that far too many children are facing this day with a sense of dread and foreboding. They may be looking forward to seeing friends again, but they are NOT at all optimistic about what is going to happen in their new classrooms.
Too many children have already had enough experience with school to be convinced that they will never succeed. They may not have learned to read or to write or to do arithmetic effectively, but they have learned that no matter how hard they try, their efforts will never be good enough–to please their teachers, to make their parents proud, or to satisfy themselves.
In many instances, bright and capable children are going to do poorly and feel like failures again this year simply because they learn differently or face significant learning challenges. Teachers and parents need to be wary of telling any learner that he or she only needs to try harder in order to succeed.
The good news is that we can offer curricular supports and tools to help more children learn effectively than ever before. I write this blog because so many wonderful free tools and resources are now readily available. Not even a lack of money needs to be a barrier to effective learning for any learner, at least not in the North American schools where I work!
Here are a few more thought provoking videos that I’d really like you to watch and think about. Then let’s each do our part to support EVERY learner! Every learner is gifted, and every learner has special needs. Each learner is unique.
Mind mapping is an essential component in any approach that attempts to meet the learning needs of every learner (see UDL). Mind mapping offers countless effective ways for learners to build understanding, to express what they know, and to share their creativity. For teachers, mind maps can be an engaging way of presenting information. Many, if not all, benefit tremendously from the visual representation of connections.
Many of us who are teachers, however, are relatively good with words; so the potential of mind mapping probably doesn’t spring readily to mind as often as it might. That’s why I’m delighted by Paul Foreman’s helpful list of 100 Reasons to Mind Map. I encourage you to explore Paul’s entire list, but here are the first 10 reasons that he has listed:
1. Explore a subject
2. Study & learn a new topic, culture or country
3. Plan your schedules
4. Innovate & invent
5. Create new ideas
6. Expand existing ideas
7. Tap your unique talents
8. Increase your brain power
9. Consolidate your existing knowledge
10. Summarise your skills
I’ve written here in the past about several effective free mind mapping programs as well as some excellent online applications. If you want to explore some of the many options that are available, please check out Jane Hart’s list of 34 free and commercial ‘Mind Mapping and Brainstorming Tools‘.
