SEN 'Read aloud' solution for Exams Papers

[petben]

How do you provide a student solution for:

 

1. Reading a physical piece of paper. Maybe reader pens and headphones? The SEN department says they have not had good experiences with them.

 

2. Reading a digital document (exam PDF/Word for example). We currently use TextHelp Read/Write software but it's now annual subscription based and quite pricey. Windows 'read aloud' doesn't seem to read anything properly (if at all) other than web pages.

 

Thanks for any advice.

[2ilent8cho]

Having seen the more recent demos of ChatGPT 4o where it can view your screen and read the data and talk like a human would that do the job? iPad, take a photo and get it to read what it sees/contents?

[Cazab]

In the small primaries I've seen an individual staff member with individual students in any room they can get their hands on, ready out the exam...

[Brax]

We used to use claro for exams however we have recently switched over to exam reader pens. We cannot recommended them enough. The students are assigned a reader pen now and can use it in their lessons if needed. They hand it in to exams/exam access arrangement member of staff to clear, charge and keep secure. I'd be curious as to what the issues are the SEN department had with them because it's been a roaring success here and taken pressure off of IT for needing to supply more laptops. We use these: https://cpen.com/products/c-pen-exam-2/?utm_term=c%20pen&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=3802660366&hsa_cam=18275410451&hsa_grp=143982758834&hsa_ad=620515881019&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-10827121&hsa_kw=c%20pen&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ruyBhDuARIsANSZ3woS3cfTiZB4DHw42lVE3dNUP84I1rC5-I9htkqZ0GWS3wDT-_WbBKYaAuezEALw_wcB

[petben]

We used to use claro for exams however we have recently switched over to exam reader pens. We cannot recommended them enough. The students are assigned a reader pen now and can use it in their lessons if needed. They hand it in to exams/exam access arrangement member of staff to clear, charge and keep secure. I'd be curious as to what the issues are the SEN department had with them because it's been a roaring success here and taken pressure off of IT for needing to supply more laptops. We use these: https://cpen.com/products/c-pen-exam-2/?utm_term=c%20pen&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=3802660366&hsa_cam=18275410451&hsa_grp=143982758834&hsa_ad=620515881019&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-10827121&hsa_kw=c%20pen&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ruyBhDuARIsANSZ3woS3cfTiZB4DHw42lVE3dNUP84I1rC5-I9htkqZ0GWS3wDT-_WbBKYaAuezEALw_wcB

 

Yes I’m surprised too.

They’re quite expensive though, not looked too hard. Do u remember ur education friendly supplier?

Thanks

[Aprice]

One of the special schools we work with uses something called DocsPlus.

 

I'm sure it has some sort of reader function in it.

[thimon]

We use Edge’s accessibility features to read about PDF files.

[Brax]

Yes I’m surprised too.

They’re quite expensive though, not looked too hard. Do u remember ur education friendly supplier?

Thanks

I believe they were bought from the website below. I don't recall exactly what they purchased as I wasn't directly involved but they have the carry cases so likely purchased those. However the standalone pens have good bulk buy discount.

https://www.scanningpens.co.uk/products-uk

 

They also did think it was expensive. But the investment was seen as very much worth it to improve student learning and streamline the exams. Especially since the window for getting the papers from the exam board has shrunk considerably.

Edited May 23, 2024 by Brax

[Romantin]

Providing solutions for reading exams papers can be tricky. For physical papers, reader pens and headphones are an option, but it seems like they haven’t worked out well for your SEN department. Maybe you could explore other options like audiobooks or recorded readings by teachers?

 

As for digital documents, it's a bummer that TextHelp Read/Write is pricey now. Have you checked out other screen reader software like NVDA or Balabolka? They might be more budget-friendly alternatives. Also, some PDF readers like Adobe Acrobat have built-in text-to-speech features that could be worth trying out.

[petben]

Providing solutions for reading exams papers can be tricky. For physical papers, reader pens and headphones are an option, but it seems like they haven’t worked out well for your SEN department. Maybe you could explore other options like audiobooks or recorded readings by teachers?

 

As for digital documents, it's a bummer that TextHelp Read/Write is pricey now. Have you checked out other screen reader software like NVDA or Balabolka? They might be more budget-friendly alternatives. Also, some PDF readers like Adobe Acrobat have built-in text-to-speech features that could be worth trying out.

 

Thanks for the replies I will check your recommended possibly cheaper solutions.

[PureDarkStar]

We use Adobe Reader's Read Out Loud feature which works really well for PDFs, just not those that have been scanned.

[36Degrees]

We currently use TextHelp Read/Write software but it's now annual subscription based and quite pricey.

 

^^^ This. We have also had issues this year with some of the PDFs downloaded from the exam board not being compatible with the software.

[thimon]

We use Adobe Reader's Read Out Loud feature which works really well for PDFs, just not those that have been scanned.

 

We had one paper that wouldn’t download. So we scanned a paper copy then used Acrobat Pro to make it readable via Edge.

[timbo343]

PDF to open in Edge and use the ReadAloud Extension:

hdhinadidafjejdhmfkjgnolgimiaplp;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx

 

Immersive Reader for Chrome too:

fmidkjgknpkbmninbmklhcgaalfalbdh

[ass17]

How do you provide a student solution for:

 

1. Reading a physical piece of paper. Maybe reader pens and headphones? The SEN department says they have not had good experiences with them.

 

2. Reading a digital document (exam PDF/Word for example). We currently use TextHelp Read/Write software but it's now annual subscription based and quite pricey. Windows 'read aloud' doesn't seem to read anything properly (if at all) other than web pages.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

ExamWritePad is your all-in-one solution. Please download a free 30-day trial of it to see what you think.

 

Happy to discuss in more detail. Full pricing and downloads are available via http:// https://examwritepad.com

 

If you go to the educational forum of EduGeek and you will see that ExamWritePad is a pinned discussion and one of the biggest (posts and views) on the platform.

[Spookyville]

We use Adobe Reader's Read Out Loud feature which works really well for PDFs, just not those that have been scanned.

 

 

How did you get around the fact that (in our case anyway) the exam accounts used don't have internet access? It's supposed to have an offline "mode" but seems to ping back to speech server anyway which with no internet access is blocked. Any advice?

Edited October 4, 2024 by Spookyville

[thimon]

I thinks it’s because Windows is still online, background online processes work, the user just cannot browse the Internet.