Assistive Technologies
Assistive technologies are used in classrooms, businesses, and everyday homes to improve the learning and productivity in those places. Anyone can benefit from an assistive technology, but their primary purpose in the classroom is to assist learners who may otherwise have difficulty learning the material. The Assistive Technology Industry Association defines assistive technology as, “any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities (ATIA).” In today’s classrooms 13% of all students are served by the Individuals with Disability Education Act and receive some kind of service from their school (NCES). With so many of our students receiving services, it seems plausible to surmise that assistive technologies in the classroom are necessary, and improve not just the learning of the individual students, but contributes to the success of the school community as a whole.
One such assistive technology is text to speech. Text to speech translates written word into audible sounds. It is used by students who struggle with reading, or with reading comprehension. In Horry County, this technology is available to all middle school students via the district issued iPad. In essence, every middle school student is served with this assistive technology, although not every students is required to use it, it is a huge milestone for students with disabilities. On the iPad, students can highlight a word or section to be translated and the iPad changes the written word to an audible reading.
Although voice synthesizing started in the 1700s, it wasn’t until 1968 that a technology was introduced to translate written word to audible sounds. The system (MITalk) was created at MIT and was modified a few years later by David Klatt to develop the Klattalk system. Text to speech systems really took off in the 1970s and 1980s with several companies putting out systems. Texas Instruments was one such company and their text to speech system was used for the first known time with children, making the introduction to students sometime in 1980. The hidden Markov model (HMM) to translate text to speech was widely used during the formation of several text to speech technologies. Today, text to speech technologies are available on every smartphone, and most of the computers and tablets that are purchased.
There are several apps and softwares available to assist in speech to text for webpages, written documents, and PDFs. Screen readers assist in the reading of apps and names of folders and documents. Text readers aim to read the text inside of web pages, documents, and other written documents. Finally, there are some apps that offer descriptions of pictures for those exclusively using text to speech, especially those students with visual impairments. One such app is called POET where viewers can upload a visual description of pictures in order for the next person to hear a description of the picture (Understood). For a list, and description, of some of the most widely used speech to text apps and software tools please visit BDA Technology (BDA Tech).
In the classroom text to speech can be used to assist learners with several disabilities. Text to speech is crucial for students suffering from vision loss or blindness, students with dyslexia, or students who struggle with reading comprehension. Students living on the autism spectrum can benefit greatly from assistive technologies such as text to speech. Clearly students who suffer from vision loss would have trouble accessing traditional information given to students. Text to speech enables teachers to provide the same information to all students, and gives freedom to students suffering from vision loss to access their own material and be able to go back to material when necessary.
For students with dyslexia, text to speech helps students hear the words and understand the sentences. It can also build confidence as students have more time to interact in the classroom with their peers and no longer lag behind or struggle to keep up with the reading or the assignments. There is research to suggest that highlighting the text as it is being read can help students with dyslexia to focus their learning and allows for better overall comprehension (BDA Tech).
Autism is another disability that text to speech can help mitigate the divide in the mainstream classroom. Often times students on the autism spectrum disorder have a hard time communicating with their peers, with aids, and with teachers. Text to speech allows students to type their communication and have it read to their group or to an adult. This gives students who otherwise do not have a voice, an opportunity to contribute to both in class discussion and small group collaborative work.
In the ELA classroom, students struggling with reading comprehension now have the ability to have the text read to them. This allows students to contribute to classroom discussions, answer questions about the text, and feel confident that they have learned the same information that others have learned from the text. Social Studies classrooms participating in a jigsaw reading can now include all students. Those who struggle with reading comprehension or vision limitations are now able to contribute equally to jigsaw readings and positive interactions build relationships among peers. In science classrooms, where the frequent use of diagrams and technical vocabulary can confuse even those students without a disability, the text to speech technology allows students to read the vocabulary words and associate them with the given diagram. Finally, in mathematics, students struggling to comprehend word problems while also understanding new mathematical concepts can become overwhelmed. Text to speech software allows students to listen to the word problems and apply the mathematical concepts.
There are several uses for text to speech in the mainstream classroom, and one major advantage of its availability in Horry County Schools is, in fact, integrating students with disabilities into the mainstream classroom. With the priority for special needs students to be in their least restrictive environment, the text to speech technology allows for several disabilities to be integrated into the mainstream classroom, and also allows students without disabilities to use the technology to enhance their own learning. Since all students have iPads, students can now read the text, listen to the text, and then ask for help. It is a technology that becomes more widely utilized as students find its ease of use. I encourage my own students to use it frequently, and believe we as teachers, should encourage our students to use the resources they have available in order to build confidence and community in the classroom.
Works Cited
Autism Speaks. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2016, from
https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-apps/speech-magnet-text-speech
History and Development of Speech Synthesis. (n.d.). Retrieved July 05, 2016, from
http://research.spa.aalto.fi/publications/theses/lemmetty_mst/chap2.html
Text to Speech. (2011). Retrieved August 05, 2016, from
https://bdatech.org/what-technology/text-to-speech/
The Condition of Education - Participation in Education - Elementary/Secondary - Children and
Youth With Disabilities - Indicator May (2016). (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2016, from
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp
Text-to-Speech Software: What It Is and How It Works. (2014). Retrieved July 05, 2016, from
https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies-basics/text-to-speech-software-what-it-is-and-how-it-works
What is AT? - Assistive Technology Industry Association. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2016, from
https://www.atia.org/at-resources/what-is-at/
One such assistive technology is text to speech. Text to speech translates written word into audible sounds. It is used by students who struggle with reading, or with reading comprehension. In Horry County, this technology is available to all middle school students via the district issued iPad. In essence, every middle school student is served with this assistive technology, although not every students is required to use it, it is a huge milestone for students with disabilities. On the iPad, students can highlight a word or section to be translated and the iPad changes the written word to an audible reading.
Although voice synthesizing started in the 1700s, it wasn’t until 1968 that a technology was introduced to translate written word to audible sounds. The system (MITalk) was created at MIT and was modified a few years later by David Klatt to develop the Klattalk system. Text to speech systems really took off in the 1970s and 1980s with several companies putting out systems. Texas Instruments was one such company and their text to speech system was used for the first known time with children, making the introduction to students sometime in 1980. The hidden Markov model (HMM) to translate text to speech was widely used during the formation of several text to speech technologies. Today, text to speech technologies are available on every smartphone, and most of the computers and tablets that are purchased.
There are several apps and softwares available to assist in speech to text for webpages, written documents, and PDFs. Screen readers assist in the reading of apps and names of folders and documents. Text readers aim to read the text inside of web pages, documents, and other written documents. Finally, there are some apps that offer descriptions of pictures for those exclusively using text to speech, especially those students with visual impairments. One such app is called POET where viewers can upload a visual description of pictures in order for the next person to hear a description of the picture (Understood). For a list, and description, of some of the most widely used speech to text apps and software tools please visit BDA Technology (BDA Tech).
In the classroom text to speech can be used to assist learners with several disabilities. Text to speech is crucial for students suffering from vision loss or blindness, students with dyslexia, or students who struggle with reading comprehension. Students living on the autism spectrum can benefit greatly from assistive technologies such as text to speech. Clearly students who suffer from vision loss would have trouble accessing traditional information given to students. Text to speech enables teachers to provide the same information to all students, and gives freedom to students suffering from vision loss to access their own material and be able to go back to material when necessary.
For students with dyslexia, text to speech helps students hear the words and understand the sentences. It can also build confidence as students have more time to interact in the classroom with their peers and no longer lag behind or struggle to keep up with the reading or the assignments. There is research to suggest that highlighting the text as it is being read can help students with dyslexia to focus their learning and allows for better overall comprehension (BDA Tech).
Autism is another disability that text to speech can help mitigate the divide in the mainstream classroom. Often times students on the autism spectrum disorder have a hard time communicating with their peers, with aids, and with teachers. Text to speech allows students to type their communication and have it read to their group or to an adult. This gives students who otherwise do not have a voice, an opportunity to contribute to both in class discussion and small group collaborative work.
In the ELA classroom, students struggling with reading comprehension now have the ability to have the text read to them. This allows students to contribute to classroom discussions, answer questions about the text, and feel confident that they have learned the same information that others have learned from the text. Social Studies classrooms participating in a jigsaw reading can now include all students. Those who struggle with reading comprehension or vision limitations are now able to contribute equally to jigsaw readings and positive interactions build relationships among peers. In science classrooms, where the frequent use of diagrams and technical vocabulary can confuse even those students without a disability, the text to speech technology allows students to read the vocabulary words and associate them with the given diagram. Finally, in mathematics, students struggling to comprehend word problems while also understanding new mathematical concepts can become overwhelmed. Text to speech software allows students to listen to the word problems and apply the mathematical concepts.
There are several uses for text to speech in the mainstream classroom, and one major advantage of its availability in Horry County Schools is, in fact, integrating students with disabilities into the mainstream classroom. With the priority for special needs students to be in their least restrictive environment, the text to speech technology allows for several disabilities to be integrated into the mainstream classroom, and also allows students without disabilities to use the technology to enhance their own learning. Since all students have iPads, students can now read the text, listen to the text, and then ask for help. It is a technology that becomes more widely utilized as students find its ease of use. I encourage my own students to use it frequently, and believe we as teachers, should encourage our students to use the resources they have available in order to build confidence and community in the classroom.
Works Cited
Autism Speaks. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2016, from
https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-apps/speech-magnet-text-speech
History and Development of Speech Synthesis. (n.d.). Retrieved July 05, 2016, from
http://research.spa.aalto.fi/publications/theses/lemmetty_mst/chap2.html
Text to Speech. (2011). Retrieved August 05, 2016, from
https://bdatech.org/what-technology/text-to-speech/
The Condition of Education - Participation in Education - Elementary/Secondary - Children and
Youth With Disabilities - Indicator May (2016). (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2016, from
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp
Text-to-Speech Software: What It Is and How It Works. (2014). Retrieved July 05, 2016, from
https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies-basics/text-to-speech-software-what-it-is-and-how-it-works
What is AT? - Assistive Technology Industry Association. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2016, from
https://www.atia.org/at-resources/what-is-at/