Accessibility in Education #16 - Speak Selection

Welcome to another post in this series supporting educators to use the features built into iPad Operating System to support the personalised experience their students have on their iPad.

There are so many features built into your device, that I estimate that most people use around 10% of what is available to them. Plus, with the rate of change and the volume of incredibly useful tools, it's hard to keep up! In my work as an Apple Professional Learning Specialist, I've discovered that these selected tools have proven to be the most valuable in my interactions with the individuals I've collaborated with in the classroom.

This resource has been created to give you access to short videos that assist you to set up the iPad for success in the classroom. There are 30 top tips coming, little video snippets and some ideas about who might find each tool valuable.

The top tips are grouped into topics. In my mind, the first group are about the settings on the iPad. These are the more global type features. The second and third sets are the ones that assist students to get content into and out of iPad, and off the page or environment, and the fourth set is additional tools that facilitate organisation, and understanding. The last tool gives you customised suggestions of which features would be worth setting up based on the student’s personal needs.

At the end of the 30 posts there will be a combined resource and downloadable content for you with all the videos and resources in one location, so keep your eye out for that.

In this video, we set up Speak Selection. Tap on a word or a piece of text and your device will read it out to you using your selected voice. This is great to hear what you have typed with dictation repeated back to you, or for hearing what the text you are reading should sound like. Some students find that hearing text aloud makes it easier to understand.