Richard D. Solomon's Blog on Mentoring Jewish Students and Teachers

Our hope is that this blog will become a forum in which people can exchange ideas on how to recruit, develop and retain exceptional Jewish educators through mentoring and e-mentoring students, teaching candidates, and teachers in our day and supplemental schools. The present focus of this blog is to empower Jewish teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, consultants, and staff developers to integrate web technology (i.e. web tools and apps) into their teaching and teacher training.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Introduction to another Chrome extension that converts text to speech, Chrome Speak

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (i.e. online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training. The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this post we will discuss how Chrome Speak, a web tool extension that can be added to the Chrome browser which converts text into speech, can be used to promote instruction in the Judaic Studies and secular classroom.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has an interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers or Ipads. Given parental and school approval, and the development of specific guidelines, smartphones can be used to enhance instruction as well.

Note: Although Chrome Speak can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join.

What is Chrome Speak?

Chrome Speak is an extension that can be added to the Chrome browser; this extension converts text to speech.

What is a Chrome extension?

A Chrome extension is software program that can modify and enhance the functionality of the Chrome browser. For more information on Chrome extensions click on this link: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/index.html

Where is Chrome Speak located on the internet?

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromespeak/diagnfimeecdcecjpnkjgbnlelkclcpj

Where can I find tutorials explaining how to use Chrome Speak?