A Short Overview of Microsoft's Immersive Reader

Summary

In this video, Richard Bern explores Microsoft's Learning Tools for OneNote, a feature designed to enhance document accessibility for students. Viewers are directed to onenote.com/learningtools, where they can experience text-to-speech, adjustable text size, spacing, font style, and themes. The immersive reader allows for customization of reading experience, including line focus and text highlighting. The video demonstrates how to use these tools with a New York Post article, showcasing the ability to adjust text preferences and voice speed. The tools aim to make educational content more engaging and accessible, with resources available on the mentioned websites for further exploration.

Takeaways

• 📚 Microsoft Learning Tools for OneNote is designed to enhance document accessibility for students.
• 🔗 Access the tool by visiting onenote.com/learningtools to explore its features.
• 👀 The tool offers a 'read aloud' feature, providing an auditory reading experience for the document.
• ✅ Users can customize text preferences such as size, spacing, font style, and themes from the upper right corner.
• 🖊️ It allows the selection of specific words or phrases to be pronounced and highlighted.
• 👓 The 'line focus' feature can be adjusted or turned off according to the user's needs.
• 📘 The demonstration page online showcases the tool's capabilities, but the full version requires download and installation.
• 📰 The video demonstrates the use of the tool with an article from the New York Post, utilizing the 'Immersive Reader' feature.
• 🎛️ In the 'Immersive Reader', users can further adjust text size, theme, and style to emphasize certain parts of the text.
• 🗣️ The tool also includes voice speed adjustment and the ability to play back the text in a chosen voice.
• 🔙 Once finished, users can close the 'Immersive Reader' to return to the original document view.
• 🔍 For more educational technology tips and tricks, the video suggests visiting practicaledtech.com and freetech4teachers.com.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video by Richard Bern?

The main focus of the video is to demonstrate Microsoft Learning Tools for OneNote, which is designed to make documents more accessible to students.

Where can viewers find Microsoft Learning Tools for OneNote?

Viewers can find Microsoft Learning Tools for OneNote at the URL onenote.com/learningtools.

What features does the immersive reader in OneNote offer?

The immersive reader in OneNote offers features such as document reading aloud, adjustable text size, spacing, font style, and themes, as well as options to have certain words pronounced and highlighted.

How can users adjust the reading experience in OneNote's immersive reader?

Users can adjust the reading experience by changing text size, spacing, font style, and themes, as well as by selecting what to have pronounced and highlighted, all through the settings in the upper right-hand corner.

What is the purpose of the line focus feature in OneNote's immersive reader?

The line focus feature in OneNote's immersive reader is used to help users concentrate on one line of text at a time, which can be helpful for improving reading comprehension and focus.

Can the line focus feature be turned off in OneNote's immersive reader?

Yes, the line focus feature can be turned off entirely through the tools in the upper right-hand corner of the immersive reader.

How does the video demonstrate the use of Microsoft Learning Tools in OneNote?

The video demonstrates the use of Microsoft Learning Tools by showing a real article from the New York Post being read using the immersive reader feature in OneNote.

What adjustments can be made to the voice speed in the immersive reader?

In the immersive reader, users can adjust the voice speed to their preference to make the reading experience more comfortable.

What is the benefit of using Microsoft Learning Tools for students?

Microsoft Learning Tools can make documents more accessible to students by providing a customizable reading experience that caters to individual needs, such as adjusting text size and voice speed.

Where can viewers find more tips and tricks like the ones demonstrated in the video?

Viewers can find more tips and tricks by visiting websites like practicaledtech.com and freetech4teachers.com.

Is there a downloadable version of Microsoft Learning Tools for OneNote?

Yes, there is a downloadable version of OneNote that includes the immersive reader and other Microsoft Learning Tools.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Microsoft Learning Tools for OneNote

In this video, Richard Bern introduces Microsoft's Learning Tools for OneNote, a feature designed to enhance document accessibility for students. The tools can be accessed at onenote.com/learningtools, where users can find options to have documents read aloud with adjustable text preferences such as size, spacing, font style, and themes. Additionally, users can customize the pronunciation and highlighting of specific words and adjust line focus. The video demonstrates the immersive reader feature on an article from the New York Post, showcasing how text size, theme, and style can be modified to suit individual needs. The immersive reader also allows for voice speed adjustments and the ability to close the feature once finished. The video concludes with a prompt to visit practical ed tech and free tech for teachers websites for more tips and tricks.

Keywords

💡Microsoft Learning Tools

Microsoft Learning Tools are a suite of features designed to make reading and writing more accessible for users with learning differences. In the context of the video, these tools are integrated into OneNote, allowing students to customize their reading experience by adjusting text size, spacing, font style, and themes. The video demonstrates how these tools can be accessed and used to enhance document accessibility for students.

💡OneNote

OneNote is a digital note-taking app developed by Microsoft. It allows users to type, write, draw, and clip content, which can be organized into notebooks. In the video, OneNote is highlighted for its integration with Microsoft Learning Tools, showcasing how it can be used to make documents more accessible through features like text-to-speech and adjustable text settings.

💡Immersive Reader

Immersive Reader is a feature within Microsoft Learning Tools that provides a full-screen reading experience, which can help users focus on the text. It includes options for text size, spacing, font style, and themes. In the video, the presenter demonstrates how to use Immersive Reader in OneNote to enlarge a document and customize the reading experience for better comprehension.

💡Text Preferences

Text Preferences refer to the customizable settings that can be adjusted to improve the readability of text for individual users. In the video, text preferences in OneNote's Learning Tools include options for text size, spacing, font style, and themes. These preferences are shown as a way to tailor the reading experience to the needs of the student, making it more accessible.

💡Pronunciation and Highlighting

Pronunciation and highlighting are features that assist users in understanding and focusing on specific words or phrases. In the video, these features are part of OneNote's Learning Tools, where users can choose which words to have pronounced and highlighted as the document is read aloud, aiding in comprehension and focus.

💡Line Focus

Line Focus is a feature that allows users to focus on one line of text at a time, which can be helpful for readers who find it difficult to concentrate on longer lines of text. The video demonstrates how Line Focus can be turned on or off in OneNote's Learning Tools to accommodate the reader's preference.

💡Voice Speed

Voice Speed refers to the rate at which text is read aloud by a text-to-speech tool. In the video, the presenter shows how to adjust the voice speed in OneNote's Immersive Reader, allowing users to control the pace at which the document is read to suit their listening preferences.

💡Accessibility

Accessibility in the context of the video refers to the ability of the Microsoft Learning Tools in OneNote to make digital content more usable for people with disabilities or learning differences. The video emphasizes how these tools can be used to adapt documents to individual needs, promoting inclusive learning experiences.

💡New York Post

The New York Post is a daily newspaper mentioned in the video as an example of a source from which a document can be bookmarked and then read using OneNote's Learning Tools. The video demonstrates how a document from the New York Post can be opened in OneNote and read with the assistance of the Learning Tools.

💡Practical Ed Tech

Practical Ed Tech is a website mentioned in the video as a resource for more tips and tricks related to educational technology. It is presented as a place where educators can find additional information and support for using technology in the classroom, including tools like OneNote's Learning Tools.

💡Free Tech for Teachers

Free Tech for Teachers is another website referenced in the video as a resource for educators seeking technology solutions for the classroom. It is suggested as a place to explore alongside Practical Ed Tech for further insights into using technology to enhance teaching and learning.

Highlights

Introduction to Microsoft Learning Tools for OneNote

Accessibility feature to make documents more accessible to students

Link provided to try out the tool at onenote.com/learningtools

Document read-aloud feature for improved reading experience

Adjustable text preferences such as size, spacing, and font style

Option to change text themes within the tool

Customization of text pronunciation and highlighting

Line focus feature to assist with reading

Demonstration page available online for preview

Real version requires download and installation

Example of using Learning Tools with an article from the New York Post

Immersive Reader feature for document enlargement and customization

Adjustable voice speed for the read-aloud feature

Option to play back the document as an open letter

Closing out the tool after use

Microsoft Learning Tools as a resource for making documents more accessible

Additional tips and tricks available on practicaledtech.com and freetech4teachers.com

Transcripts

hi this is Richard Bern in this video

we're going to take a look at Microsoft

learning tools for OneNote which is a

great tool to make documents more

accessible to your students so you can

try it out at onenote.com slash learning

tools and what you'll see here is you

can have this document read aloud

reading experience that and

you can adjust in the upper right hand

corner your text preferences you can

just a size and the spacing and the font

style and even the themes

you can change what you would like to

have

pronounced and highlighted

and you can change your line focus as

well by using the tools in the upper

right hand corner or you can turn that

off entirely now this is just the

demonstration page that you'll find

online the real version of it which you

do has a download and install

you'll see here in my screen now so I

have this article that I that I

bookmarked from the New York Post and

I'll select learning tools

and now I'll select immersive reader

and will see the document enlarged here

and again in the upper right hand corner

I can adjust my text size theme and

style I can choose

the options that I want to have

emphasized to my students or a student

can do that for him or herself

then in the upper right hand corner you

can also adjust the voice speed and

the name

here we can play it back an open letter

may not be the best way to air your

grievances as XEL employee Talia Jane

demonstrated

and then when you're done you can close

it out so that's Microsoft's

learning tools again you can find that

out onenote.com forward slash learning

tools they gets a great option for

making documents more accessible to your

students as always for more tips and

tricks like this please check out

practical ed tech comm and free tech for

teachers com