Lesson Audio & Read-Aloud
Lessons can be read aloud. As the audio plays, the words being spoken are highlighted on screen, so pupils follow the text rather than only listening to it.
It is worth telling your classes this exists. Many will not find it on their own.
Who it helps
- Pupils with weaker reading ages, who understand the content but stall on the text
- Pupils with dyslexia or a visual impairment
- EAL pupils, who benefit from hearing and reading at the same time
- Anyone revising, who would rather listen than read a screen again
It needs no setting up, no separate licence and no assistive software. It is part of the lesson.
How pupils use it
The audio controls sit with the lesson slide. A pupil presses play and the narration follows the slide they are on, highlighting each phrase as it is read.
Playback speed can be changed, which is useful in both directions. Some pupils slow it down to follow more closely, others speed it up when revising material they already know.
Headphones are worth having in the room if you are using it in a lesson rather than for homework.
What is narrated
The teaching text on each slide, including code examples where a lesson has them.
Tables and images are not read aloud. Where a slide is mostly a diagram, the surrounding explanation is narrated but the diagram itself is not described.
Using it in class
A few things that work well:
- Front of class, with the highlighting on the board, so the whole group reads at the same pace
- For catch-up, where a pupil who missed the lesson works through the slides at their own speed
- For homework, especially for pupils who find a page of text daunting
Screens in these guides use a demonstration account, so your own school name, courses and dates will be different.