Advanced Academics, a nationally recognized provider of online education for secondary students, and ReadSpeaker®, a leader of online text-to-speech solutions, have teamed up to provide Advanced Academics with an innovative online text-to-speech tool.
The ReadSpeaker® Enterprise(TM) solution for R.O.A.D.S. 3.0, Advanced Academics' new version of its proprietary learning management system (LMS), is an online text-to-speech application that speech-enables online educational content for the benefit of students who now have the ability to listen as well as read online.
"ReadSpeaker text-to-speech technology allows our online students to match the delivery of course content to the way that they learn best," said Roberta McKerlie, Advanced Academics director of education. "This new feature improves the student learning experience by letting students hear course content, PDFs, and other documents read aloud and is especially important for visually impaired students or those with aural learning styles. With the help of ReadSpeaker, Advanced Academics is able to make online learning accessible to even more students."
"Advanced Academics helps students succeed through a rigorous online curriculum, high levels of personal support and a state-of-the-art learning management system, R.O.A.D.S. 3.0," said Jeffrey A. Elliott, Advanced Academics president. "ReadSpeaker's industry-leading text-to-speech technology is an exciting addition to the comprehensive suite of online tools included in R.O.A.D.S. 3.0. The text-to-speech tool will promote academic achievement by letting students customize course delivery to their individual learning styles."
ReadSpeaker makes online educational content more accessible to students with cognitive issues, learning difficulties, and/or vision problems. ReadSpeaker's online text-to-speech solutions also help students who use English as a second language. ReadSpeaker provides a feature that highlights the text while it is being read, reinforcing a better understanding of the text. Additionally, it provides multitasking opportunities for learners and portability of content to other devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
"ReadSpeaker is proud to provide Advanced Academics with a service that helps its teachers deliver courses that can now talk to their students. The current usage of hundreds of thousands of listenings every month demonstrates the rapid adoption of talking courses by students of Advanced Academics. Online text to speech is rapidly becoming an integral part of the elearning environment," said Joop Heijenrath, ReadSpeaker Cofounder and responsible for ReadSpeaker's business operations outside of Europe.