Subject Matter: Converting books, docs, websites, or blog text into speech
Grades: Special Education, ESL, Elementary to College, Administrative, Commercial uses

Reading While on the Road
Stuck in traffic, on a plane, or waiting for a meeting and you’re behind on  studying for a test, reviewing work, or keeping up on favorite blogs?  Are you a visually impaired student, or working with special education individuals? Want to take along that document, but not all 20 pages?  Consider using iSpeech to download text, and read with your ears.

How iSpeech Works
Since 2007, iSpeech went through some rigorous testing, and was recently launched in 2009. No software installation, or technical expertise  is required.  The initial service is free, and additional content conversion services are provided with monthly fees (see Cost at article end).  Simply sign up, then cut and paste text into the application’s text box, or upload any supported document, website, blog, etc. The program then converts the content into speech.

Audio files are stored in My Library. Files can be public, or locked for privacy.

iSpeech reports their program can support file types and websites that include: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, Rich Text File, Blogs, RSS news feeds, hypertext markup language (DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, PDF, RTF, HTML).

iPods, Blogs and More
iSpeech indicates material can be podcasted, listened to on iPods, MP3s, or burned onto CDs.  Users can embed a file on any website, including MySpace, Blogger, or eBay.  iSpeech also supports Terapad and Typepad.

For bloggers using Wordpress.org, iSpeech provides a plugin.   The computer voice is understandable, plus has cadence and not a flat monotone. Users, however, can upload an advanced voice quality.

At present, Wordpress.com does not support iSpeech, however iSpeech reports to bloggers that the “current alternative is to place [audio MP3-URL] tags into your post with the MP3-URL pointing to your converted post.  For more details on how to accomplish this, please refer to wordpress.com audio support“.

Lots of Languages
In a couple months, iSpeech will provide text in 23 different languages. French material will, well sound “French”, and not with a mono-dialogue translating words incorrectly.

Expand Into Different Markets
Educators, commercial enterprises, online publishers, government agencies can offer audio versions of text content. For online publishers, iSpeech clients only pay for content that sells.

iSpeech offers a free 30-day trial, however free trials will require a charge either by PayPal, or credit card. However, iSpeech wil refund all monies if the user decides to cancel their service.

Worked For Me
I cut and pasted text into the content box, and it worked just fine. Then I uploaded a file. Your uploads are saved as files in MyLibrary. Next I’ll play around with the URL. When this application provides text-to-speech service in different languages, it will be a very powerful tool.

Try it out and see for yourself. iSpeech is the next step to being free of paper and textbooks.

Additional article by PR Web: iSpeech.org Makes Box.net Talk Aloud .

System Requirements: Web based browser, Requires Flash Player (free download at Flash Player)
Contact: iSpeech.org
Cost: Free for 250 words/mo.; $7.85/mo. for 10,000 words; $14.85/mo. for 25,000 words; $22.85/mo. for 50,000 words. All plans have limited monthly conversions. Check online to purchase iSpeech credits.

Subject Matter:

Drawing Fun for the Little Ones
A teacher mentioned Kerpoof in a Twitter. Hmm…what’s Kerpoof? There’s not many free, quality offerings for PreK to early elementary students, but Kerpoof fits the bill. Kerpoof is a free, colorful, online application that lets the young ones make pictures, a card, short animated movie clip, a story, and practice their drawing.  Viewers can select seven different languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, plus I think Russian and Japanese).  Kerpoof Studio was acquired by Disney.

Pictures, Movie and More!
Open up Super Doodle, and a colorful drawing board with side tools opens up. The drawing palette is easy to identify and use. Viewers can use their mouse, a notebook touch board, or drawing stylus. Young drawers can doodle, splash on paint, change font colors, make the drawing line thin or thick, and print their creation. Check out the multicolor doodle pen. It’s fun!

Make a Move lets students choose a storyline, pick a scene, then provides different characters, backdrop and special effects. Different music can also be added. Scenes can be inserted, choreographed, then dropped into the timeline. Watch the tutorial first, and it becomes pretty obvious how to create a movie.

Play around with all the activities. There’s plenty to keep young and old entertained.

Neat Effects
When clicking on different characters in the various activities, they poof!, disappear, and new characters appear. Some of the movie characters move around. Don’t like what was made, click on the sizzling red bomb, and Kablooey!, it’s gone. Users earn gold coins for applying more advanced tools, which can be redeemed if a member.

Membership, you say? Yes, it costs a monthly fee. Members can unlock additional characters, add music, buy movies, buddy draw, form groups, chat and more.

Learning Sophisticated Illustration Tools
Yet, viewers don’t have to be members to enjoy the initial activities. And Disney is helping budding illustrators, movie makers, graphic artists and designers learn important skills. The tool setup found in these fun activities are simple, yet teach the beginning work flow used in more sophisticated media and illustration software programs (like Adobe Premier Elements and Illustrator, ToonBoom Studio and FlipBoom, Apple FinalCut).

For tutorials, click on the “How To Play” at the top of the website.

I haven’t shown my teenagers this website yet, but I will. I don’t think I’ll have an easy time prying them off the computer when they start designing their movie set.

For another review, check out Virtual World News.

System Requirements: Web based browser (Firefox & Internet Explorer 7 recommended); Flash Player 9 (download for free at Adobe Flash)
Contact: Kerpoof.com
Cost: Free for initial activities; Extra Features Membership required (1 month @$4.39; 6 months @ $24.79; 1 year @$44.79)

Innovative Lesson Plans
I interviewed two teachers who have used various Adobe products in their classroom. Both teachers are Adobe Education Leaders.  Adobe has an interesting approach to incorporating technology into a teacher’s curriculum. Instead of offering lesson plans that teach instructors how to use their software, they apply actual lessons and ideas utilizing their product.  Teachers and students learn how to manipulate these tech tools by completing projects. These lessons apply to K-12 curriculum (Part A), and higher education (Part B).

K-12 Curriculum
Adobe’s portal to K-12 education is K-12 Education Solutions.  For specific lesson plans, link onto Digital School Collection Teacher Resources. As pdf files, Adobe provides online lesson plans in Art, Biology, Chemistry, History, Literature, Music, Poetry, Social Studies, and other subject matter. And they’re pretty interesting.

Each lesson plan provides links to workshops demonstrating how to use various Adobe applications. For instance, Visualization of the Atom incorporates Photoshop Elements 7.0 and Acrobat 9. Each lesson explains how to apply individual tools from specific applications, and apply them in the lesson plan. Assessment rubrics are also provided.

Another example is the Animal Kingdom Digital Encyclopedia, which incorporates Contribute CS4. Here, directions are not as general but more specific to the lesson, yet any teacher or student can take what they learn, and apply these skills to different material.   Sometimes it’s hard to develop lesson plans and incorporate technology, yet if someone provides grounded ideas on how to apply the material, the lesson light bulb clicks on a little easier.

Flash in Chemistry
Yet, don’t take my word for it. T.J. Fletcher taught Honors Chemistry at Eagan High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Students used Flash 7 and Acrobat 9 developing a Calorimetry simulation, and then in the last trimester, produced a video clip on a chemistry subject.  Check out the video clips at Multimedia Showcase.  Now, that’s innovative!

Here are Mr. Fletcher’s comments, the Calorimetry Simulator and video tutorials: Using Adobe Flash in Chemistry.  Students not only learned how to incorporate technology with chemistry and math, they applied trouble shooting skills, working together, and problem based analysis.   He is now an Education Technology Coordinator for the TIES consortium of 38 Minnesota school districts, teaching teachers, media specialists, technical coordinators and administrative staff how to utilize different applications.

Trebuchet Tech
World history doesn’t always have to be taught from books. With Photoshop Elements 7.0, Premier 7.0 and Acrobat 9, medieval history can come alive. Sara Martin is a middle school teacher (5th-8th grade) at the Hart-Ransom School in Modesto, CA.  She asks the students to stretch their potential, by using media projects in history, literature, science, and English. Sara taught computer literacy and worked with core teachers to incorporate their subject matter into different projects.  Some of her student projects involved digital storytelling, creating a news magazine and advertising pamphlets, making historical subject video clips, and producing slide show of still photos.

Sara provides teaching tutorials at Photoshop Elements & Tutorials.

And here are some of the students’ video clips: SchoolTube.com.  Cross curriculum learning can be taught with different methods. When students teach students and teachers, learning takes on a whole new level.

More Than the Three R’s
Besides learning about chemistry, language arts and history, all these different projects teach the students important skills in planning, narration, speaking, preparation, listening, working in groups, oral and visual communications.  Give students new tech tools to explore, and watch them run.  These skills are necessary tools to succeed in any college, and future career.

Today’s generation embraces technology, like ducks embrace water.  It seems to come naturally. And with the Adobe lesson plans and tools available  to teachers and students, consider what technology can provide for your curriculum.

Adobe’s Higher Education curriculum is reviewed at Adobe Curriculum Higher Education, Part B.

System Requirements: Web based browser; Acrobat 8, check software for specific requirements
Contact: Adobe.com
Cost: Lesson plans free; check educational pricing for online applications and software

Book Sharing
Vital Source Bookshelf allows students to share notes, purchase and download books. With Vitalsource Bookshelf, publishers download books and sell them through Vital Source.

Students can cart around digital literary classics in their computer and not in their backpacks. Vitalsource Library is a rich library source of basic literary references, classic works, historical and cultural documents and other important resource links.

System Requirements:
Mac OS 10.3.9
Windows XP SP2 with .NET Frameworks 3.0

Contact: Vital Source Technologies
Cost: Varies per publisher