Natural Reader

At first, I had a difficult time figuring out how to convert the e-text on Natural Reader. However, once I figured out how to convert the file, it was a simple process. The first time you look for is a button at the top that looks like a disk. It will say convert to mp3. You click the button and save the file to the mp3 format. You can then open your file in an mp3 and have it as an audio file. I think any student or teacher could follow a few simple steps to complete this process. I believe this is a helpful feature because it means that students can have access to a file in mp3 format on their own computer at home, which could help them in doing homework assignments.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bw-AwX9fUdwPZ2pha0pzQVl3Rmc/edit?usp=sharing

Natural Reader Experience

I used Natural Reader to listen to the Prologue for Romeo and Juliet and the first Scene of Act I. The application allows you to copy a document into the reader and have it read aloud to you. You can choose from different voices: Anna, Mike, Paul, and Kate. The voices are not ideal, but it is still a good tool.  I think this tool would especially learners who have reading difficulty or are auditory learners. Natural Reader is especially good for studying Shakespeare because a lot of students have a hard time understanding Shakespeare without hearing it aloud, including students without disabilities. Students can choose the voice they feel the most comfortable with and the voices sound like real people. In the future, I would like to have Natural Reader in my classroom because many students can benefit from hearing literature read to them.