Using Text to Speech

This article is for teachers who want to turn on the TEXT TO SPEECH function when creating a Quiz or Study Pack.  This feature allows students to have the questions (and where relevant, the answers) read aloud to them. 

This feature is also available in Welsh if the Quiz, Study Pack or the default language for the Student Interface is set to Welsh and the Question Bank is written in Welsh.

To enable TEXT TO SPEECH for a Quiz or Study Pack:

In your "New Quiz" select SHOW ADVANCED OPTIONS, then switch the ENABLE TEXT TO SPEECH toggle on (so it goes green).

If you are setting a free text quiz and do not want the question to be visible, for example for a spelling test, you can use the HIDE QUESTION TEXT feature. 

Click on ADVANCED OPTIONS and then toggle ENABLE SPEECH TO TEXT and HIDE QUESTION TEXT to green.

The question will be read aloud when the SPEAKER icon is pressed, but a written version will not be visible. 

TEXT TO SPEECH on the student interface:

1.  When students revise a Quiz or Study Pack using flashcards, they will see an SPEAKER icon next to the question and the model answer.

2. When answering a Quiz the SPEAKER icon will appear alongside the question and (if MCQ) the answer options:

2.  When they click on the SPEAKER icon, the text will be read aloud to them:

Limitations:

In some contexts, particularly mathematics, the TEXT TO SPEECH function may not read the question or answer as expected. For example, if you have a maths formula written as 'a x b = y', the 'a' will be read as AH rather than EY, so you may need to re-write the question with a capital A instead.

Decimal points can also cause some issues, e.g.:

This question is read as 'What is 29 [pause] 4 by 37' rather than as 'What is 29 point 4 multiplied by 37'. It is only the first decimal that is read as a pause instead - if 37 was 3.7, that would be read correctly as 3 point 7. 

This style of question also presents issues, as it is read aloud as 'underscore underscore underscore EX 8 equals 24'.

Please do let us know of any other problematic readings you and your students find along the way, as this will be helpful in ensuring we can continually improve this function ([e-mail]).