Britannica School, a tool available in Loudoun County Public Schools, provides resources with a built-in text to speech function which highlights the sentence being read aloud. The highlighting invites learners to follow along with their eyes to track the content. Text to speech is accessed by pressing the play icon located in different locations based on which level (elementary, middle, or high) is being used. Britannica School is available through LCPS Go.
Prevent students and family members from being drawn to the Dark Side by inviting them to choose from a list of videos which play different ambient background music and images while they work on other projects all with the theme of Star Wars. Display on any screen, such as a Chromebook or shared interactive whiteboard, for a multi-modal sensory experience that is out of this world. This is the way to participate in Star Wars Day that invites choice, provides a soothing experience, and that helps provide rich opportunities for language expression! May the Fourth Be With You!
MackinVia, a tool available in Loudoun County Public Schools, provides ebooks with an option to have the text read aloud using text to speech with a variety of voice options. Listeners can choose which voice best matches their personal preference. MackinVia is available through LCPS Go and as an app in the Google Play Store on Chromebooks.
Screenshot of an ebook in Mackinvia displaying 5 different voice options.
The Google Chrome extension EquatIO invites users to create graphs using Desmos. The Equation Editor features of EquatIO allow a user to create equations that will populate a graph. The Equation Editor allows for various ways to create equations including typing with prediction, speech to math, and handwriting conversion. Users can then transfer the graph to another file, like a Google Doc. The following video is a short demonstration of how to create graphs using EquatIO. At the time of this blog post’s publication, EquatIO is available to every learner in Loudoun County Public Schools.
MackinVia, a tool available in Loudoun County Public Schools, provides ebooks with an option to adjust the playback speed. Listeners can adjust the speed to either slow down or speed up the playback based on their needs. MackinVia is available through LCPS Go and as an app in the Google Play Store on Chromebooks.
Screenshot of a book in MackinVia showing the variable playback speed options.
The PASS software download from PRC-Saltillo allows users to run the various augmentative/alternative communication (AAC) language configurations (i.e. Unity, UNIDAD, CoreScanner, LAMP Words for Life, WordPower, Essence) on a Windows computer. The software works the same way as the AAC tool except it does not speak aloud. The software is useful for educators to model language on a laptop or interactive whiteboard using the same AAC configuration as a learner.
The software is approved to be installed on Windows computers supported by Loudoun County Public Schools.
Learners sometimes make mistakes with math because they have not lined up the numbers properly. A strategy that might help is to use the Google Chrome extension EquatIO to automatically align the numbers. Use the Equation Editor in EquatIO to generate math on the first line. Press “Enter” to move the cursor to the second line. A series of icons will appear in the menu bar which can be used to align the math. The math will be aligned to the left by default Select Align Left, Align Center, Align Right, or Align by Relation based on need or preference. Aligning by relation will allow the user to align by the equal sign which will create another column in order for this to happen. At the time of this blog post’s publication, EquatIO is available to every learner in Loudoun County Public Schools.
Tarheel Gameplay is a website that turns videos into interactive experiences by intermittent pausing. Users search the library of activities all of which are created by other users. Once a video is selected and started, it pauses periodically. The participant then selects the button that appears on the screen either directly, by pressing a key on a keyboard (like the Enter key), or by activating a switch.
Tarheel Gameplay
More button over a video in Tarheel Gameplay.
Microsoft has recently added a new reading fluency practice feature to Immersive Reader called Reading Coach. Using a tool that has Immersive Reader such as Microsoft Word, a learner reads a passage aloud. Reading Coach then analyzes the audio to provide specific, personalized feedback to the individual including five target words to practice. The feedback includes measure of a percentage of accuracy, time spent reading, and words read accurately per minute. Learners can keep a record of their scores and use it to document progress over time.
Feedback from Reading Coach
This video provides a quick demonstration:
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights provides a video series on a variety of topics related to digital access in education, including how people with disabilities use technology along with identifying and remediating barriers to access. This short video explores fundamental concepts behind how some people might access materials using a keyboard and utilize visual focus indicators.