Keyboard shortcut for text-to-speech

You can have any text spoken on a Mac computer. To have text spoken, you can highlight the text you want spoken and go to Services > Speech > Start Speaking.

There is an easier way to invoke text-to-speech. Go to System Preferences>Speech and click on the Text-to-Speech panel. Check the Speak selected text when the key is pressed. Then select the Set Key button. You can then set a hot key to invoke text to speech. Close out of System Preferences. Now select the test you want spoken and hit your hot key.

Video Story Starters

Often students will be offered an opportunity to begin a story through a simple sentence as a story starter. To many this becomes more confusing, as they cannot read the sentence, or they are not able to pick up context clues from the sentence. Here is a  short video clip – with no sound – that offers students a visual sensory experience to determine their own context and relevance to developing a story.

Mouse Locator for the Visually Impaired

Mouse pointer enhancements are great tools for presenters who want to highlight information on the screen while doing software demonstrations. Did you know they are also helpful for people with visual impairments. As someone who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, I use a mouse pointer enhancement called Mouse Locator to highlight the pointer with a red circle that is not only big enough for me to notice when I move the pointer, but also in a color (red)  that is more perceivable for someone with limited peripheral vision.

Tapping verbal strengths through podcasting in elementary classrooms

I have many students who express themselves best verbally.  For some, this is because of their age and developmental level.  For others, it is due to a delay or a disability that hinders writing.  I have used podcasting successfully with these students.  Offering this opportunity has been incredibly motivating and engaging, and I have seen many students participate at a level that was previously impossible.

Here’s an outline of the steps I use.  If you don’t know any of these terms, this process is extremely easy.  There are many resources available for learning to create a podcast, and I have posted some links below.

My students use GarageBand with a Snowball microphone to record their ideas, interviews, explanations, and more.  The microphone is not necessary, but it does improve audio quality, and it is especially helpful in a busy, bustling classroom where a silent recording environment is impossible.  After recording, students may add images and music to enhance their work.  Next, the student or teacher can use a simple menu command to export the podcast to iWeb.  The iWeb page can be published to a MobileMe account with a single click.

An added benefit of this process is that students can share their work with family and friends and learn from one another.

Insert student sample here

Insert tutorial links here

Podcasting for the non-verbal student

A great way to give non-verbal students a voice in a podcast project is to use a Mac product called GhostReader by Assistiveware. GhostReader is a text-to-speech program that converts text to audio. Once you have the text in the program you can export it out as a mp3 file. Once it is an mp3 file, it can be imported into Garageband where it can be used in a podcast.