Adaptive or Assistive Technology/

Emerging Technology/
Innovative Uses
Robert Pressman

6/18/2019

CSN Education Department

EDU 214 - 1001-1002
 Text to Speech (TTS)
“Students with learning disabilities, developing English proficiency, poor instruction, low attendance, and
other factors, share the struggle of being unable to navigate grade-level text.” Napper, K (2019, April 15)

Most devices assigned to students in our school district are iPads and Chromebooks. In
some
classes, students can use their own devices (BYOD), which are usually iPhones or Android
phones. There are numerous apps for these platforms and add-ons for Google and Firefox.
Safari has a text reader built in. One of the text to speech extensions for Chrome and
Firefox browsers, Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader
https://addon.readaloud.app/, but a simple free solution with the
built-in text to speech for any text displayable by the browser.
Then there are the built in applications on major operating systems...
 Speech-to-Text in iOS, Android, Chromebook, Windows
All these have built in text to speech capability that can be used by students.
Chromebook: Has a built-in screen reader called ChromeVox. You can turn
ChromeVox on or off from any page by pressing Ctrl + Alt + z. On tablets: Press
and hold the Volume down + Volume up buttons for 5 seconds. While holding the
buttons, you’ll hear a sound to indicate it’s working. Keep holding the buttons, then
ChromeVox will start speaking.
iOS: Open the Settings’ app and go to ‘General’ and then to “Accessibility” Go to
“Speech” and flip the switch for “Speak Screen” to the ON position. Now from just
about any screen in iOS, scroll two finger down to access.
Android: Open Settings and go to ‘Accessibility’ and then to “Screen Reader” and
flip the switch for “Screen Reader” to the ON position.
Examples of use of Text to Voice in iOS and Android
 Google Project Stream: Game on Anything

The idea behind Google's Project Stream is to be able to play major video games on any video device.
Gaming has been a leading activity in technological advances.

“Project Stream could make PC gaming more

accessible than ever before. But what's
potentially even more exciting is that Google's
aims extend beyond video games. The
company wants to use Project Stream as
a test bed to bring streaming technology in
general to the next level.”
—Marshall Honorof

image from
https://store.google.com/product/stadia_founders_edition
 Google Project Stream, Stratia, Other uses

The current use is for a streaming gaming service, but the concept can be used
for any other high content streaming. Google has experience with massive
servers since they use such for Youtube content. It has not started yet except for
testing and it’s planned launch is November 2019. It will be $9.99 per month for
full 4K HDR streaming. It uses a Chromecast Ultra to cast to televisions and
there is also a special Stratia game controller.

The “5G” internet will first be used for entertainment with education and business
following. It will be increase the availability of AI computation.
 Portable Wifi Hotspots

The Palm Springs Unified School District (PSUSD) partnered with T-Mobile to
provide mobile hotspots to students that don’t have internet access at home.

These hotspots can be setup with filtering based on the schools filter. There have
been improvement in behavior and achievement with this added service for
students who don’t have access to work on assignments outside school.

Schools in Detroit, Miami-Dade County, Fla., Fairfax County, Va.,Tucson, Ariz. and
Forsyth County, Ga. implemented this using Kajeet mobile hotspots.
 Portable Wifi Hotspots
Kajeet data plans are $19.97 per line/month or lower with discounts. I
did not see how much the T-Mobile plans were, but most providers
should be competitive.

Pictures from https://www.kajeet.net/

 References

Napper, K (2019, April 15) Text-to-Speech: Not Just For Special Education Students! Retrieved from
https://medium.com/inspired-ideas-prek-12/text-to-speech-not-just-for-special-education-students-39e7e9aa444b

What is a screen reader? (2019, April 5), Retrieved from https://www.audioeye.com/blog/what-is-a-screen-reader/

Toms Guide Staff (2018, Dec. 4) Most Innovative Tech of 2018 Retrieved from
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/innovation-awards-2018,review-5980.html

Google’s Stadia Gaming Platform Price, Specifications (2019, March 20) Retrieved from
https://highlytechno.com/googles-stadia-gaming-platform-price-specifications/

Stadia Founder’s Edition (2019, June 20) Retrieved from https://store.google.com/product/stadia_founders_edition

T-Mobile Business (2019, June 20) Retrieved from https://www.t-mobile.com/business/resources/school-district-t-mobile-partnership

Wilson, Danielle (2014, Feb. 14) School Districts Using Mobile Hotspots to Help Students Connect at Home Retrieved from
https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/school_districts_help_students_connect_outside_classroom_with_portable_wi-fi/

Kajeet Smartspot Plans (2019, June 20) Retrieved from https://www.kajeet.net/smartspot