Snap&Read Universal is a Chrome extension that begins reading digital text out loud starting from wherever the user clicks or taps on the screen. Lots of TTS tools do exactly that, but Snap&Read is one of the TTS tools also offers OCR: Optical Character Recognition. OCR also reads pictures and images.
This is a perfect tool that can be located in Google Chrome Extensions. Snap&Read Universal is not free, however, it is reasonably priced at $3.99/month and users can try the extension out for free for a limited time frame.
Teachers and school librarians in CCSD conduct a serious percentage of their assignments and activities through the Google Suite. We use Google Docs and Google Classroom extensively in our school. Snap&Read would be a useful extension for adaptive access to any content that teachers and librarians post through the Google Suite. Students with assistive needs can also use Snap&Read to "read" their Gmail messages.
You can find more information about the TTS tool, Snap&Read through this link:
And you can try out (or purchase) the extension through this link:
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. I'm thinking from a special education perspective. Could this tool be used to read tests/quizzes/assignment details who have this accommodation listed in their IEP? Just a thought on another way to use this tool.
Thanks!
Ashley Binette Kabel
I really like how this app is integrated into the Google Suite, making it user friendly for educators and students. I could see the product being helpful for a range of learners: those with visual needs, IEPs, 504s, and struggling readers could all benefit from having a text to speech tool. The website offers district pricing. I'm not sure if the district has a TTS tool that it pays for, but if not this seems like a great product that could easily be pushed to all Chromebooks and other devices that use Chrome. Furthermore, if, as Ashley mentioned, the app could be used to meet the needs of those with oral administration IEPs this would certainly be worth investing in as a district.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, what an incredible tool to have on hand for any number of students, not only those with special needs. As MaryAnn mentioned, it is worth it for the district to look in to some sort of site license, or, at the very least, having its information readily available at all IEP and parent conferences, as a useful resource.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Snap&Read I am going to look into it and try it in my library program. This is such a useful tool that has so many possibilities that goes beyond special needs students. Even students that are considered on level come across words that they cannot pronounce and could use this tool to assist them. When finished with a writing assignments students can have Snap&Read re-read the writing to them and they can listen to it and see if it sounds ok. Great post, very informative.
ReplyDeleteThe dual TTS & OCR features make this an excellent tool for school use. Many teachers at my school use Google Classroom. It would be great if the district purchased a license, but still it is a low cost and would be worth purchasing for classrooms where Google Suite is used often. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHeidi,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great tool! The dual TTS & OCR as Alex state is an excellent tool for classroom use. Not only is it a great resource for the differently-able student but also for a ESOL student. The ESOL student would be able to make the connection between the written word and the pronunciation of the word. Thanks for a great blog.