Blog Post #4: Digital Tools as an Adaptive Technology Resource
An excellent online tool that serves elementary school-aged children (as well as others) is Voice Dream Reader. This web and mobile app is designed to help support young readers with reading difficulties. It is fully supported by iOS devices like iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. It has limited support for macOS and the web browser (https://www.voicedream.com/), and is not available on Chromebooks (unless running iOS apps) and Windows PCs. Some difficulties that these students might struggle with may include, but are not limited to, Dyslexia, ADHD, ELL students, emergent readers, and visual impairments. What it does is it converts text to speech (TTS) from PDFs, books, web pages, and more. Then it shows as highlighted text as it is read aloud.
An image of different ways that Voice Dream Reader can be used.
Voice Dream Reader is not free and is a subscription model. To access this digital tool, go to: https://www.voicedream.com/ and click "Get Started." There is a free version called Voice Dream Reader Lite, but some limitations exist, like only being able to read the first 300 characters of a text. There is also a free 14-day trial to see if this is something the user or school might be interested in using. It is priced at a yearly rate of $59.99 per year. If purchasing for the school, Voice Dream Reader does have volume purchase discounts. Licenses can then be tied to specific devices, so if your school is 1:1 (specifically iPads), this would be a program benefit.
This can be used as an adaptive tool because it reads a variety of formats. Within it, it also has several voices, many languages, and customizations for speed. This is customizable to the user and highlights text while being read aloud to help young learners with comprehension skills. It will also help teachers and librarians with struggling readers to access grade-level content. This might provide the elementary school learner with confidence, too, because it allows for independent reading and access to specific texts. Educators can use this during listening centers, learning times, testing, assignments, editing work, language development, and more!
A video showing the Voice Dream Reader App
References
Spina, C. (2017, May 5th). How Universal Design will make your library more inclusive. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/how-universal-design-will-make-your-library-more-inclusive
Statewide Vision Resource Centre. (2023, February 20). How to use voice dream reader [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5MO4Qq2UQ
Thank you for introducing Voice Dream Reader! I completely agree that the ability to convert various text formats into highlighted audio makes this tool especially valuable for students with dyslexia, ADHD, visual impairments, or those who are English language learners. I also appreciated your point about how it can build student confidence and promote independence by giving them access to grade-level content in a more accessible way.
ReplyDeleteThis would have been incredibly helpful for one of my ELL students last school year. He had recently moved from Mexico and faced significant challenges with reading. While we were able to translate most of his assignments using Google Translate and communicate verbally with a translation app on the iPads, accessing content in textbooks or meeting AR reading goals remained a major hurdle. A tool like Voice Dream Reader could have given him a way to engage more meaningfully with texts and supported his language development along the way. Thanks again for sharing!
Madison Frank
This sounds like an amazing product. I love all the features you discussed and how it can help students. I hate that it isn't free though. I would love to find a product that is like this for free. My students have 1:1 iPads but they also can only download certain apps the district will allow them to. They have a "store" they can choose from and if anyone wants an app added they have to "jump through hoops" to get it approved. Voice Dream Reader would be a dream to have but unfortunately it doesn't seem feasible for many because it is paid.
ReplyDeleteKathleen,
ReplyDeleteThis tool sounds amazing for students that need assistance with reading a text. In the past, I had a student with such severe dyslexia that he couldn't read past a kindergarten level in middle school. I was constantly working alongside his academic support teacher to find ways to have webpages, quizzes, tests, articles, and more read aloud to him using his Chromebook because he was embarrassed about having to get anything read to him by a teacher. A tool like this, despite being behind a subscription wall and unavailable on Chromebooks, would have relieved him from that feeling of embarrassment and saved me and my fellow teacher a lot of time. With tools like this one, where a subscription is required alongside a technology alternative, it would be best to meet with administration at the school to petition for it to be bought for the teachers in the school who are interested in it to help the students.