As students, we are all facing the same struggles. Juggling multiple courses, several deadlines and lastly reading these countless articles that help us prepare for our exams. But what if there is a way to combine multiple tasks? Today, I want to share with you a tool I have discovered that has a lot of potential to change the way we learn. It’s called Speechify, and in this blog post, I’ll take you on a journey through my experiences and what I believe can be further improved.
As a student navigating a social life, a job that pays rent and a master program, I often found myself drowning in a sea of articles and prepping for classes or exams. Time is and has been my constant nemesis, and I wished for a way to consume all that information more efficiently. That’s when I stumbled upon Speechify (to be fair, it was an add and I am a sucker for a good marketing campaign).
So, let me introduce to you an AI tool that has made my life easier: Speechify is a text-to-speech application that can turn written content into spoken words (Speechify, 2023). Imagine having the power to listen to your study material while commuting, cycling to campus, or even doing one of the boring household chores.
Even though Speechify is still in its early stages, I found that I could absorb information more effectively through auditory learning (Kayalar & Kayalar, 2017). Concepts that seemed daunting on the page became clearer when I listened to them. For me, it is not just about making learning accessible; it’s about making learning flexible and adaptable to our busy lives.
However, while Speechify is already an interesting tool, I believe there is still quite some room for improvement. One aspect I’d love to see improved is the customization options. More options to adjust the speech rate, voice, and even add natural pauses between paragraphs would make the listening experience even better, as I personally think the voices are yet a bit too generic, which makes listening to long documents sometimes a bit too tiring. Additionally, integrating AI-generated summaries or study aids, such as flashcards (e.g., similar to Brainscape) based on the content we’ve listened to could be a game-changer for students.
In conclusion, Speechify has the potential to help students in the future to manage their time when it comes to studying more wisely and can make learning more accessible, efficient, and enjoyable. However, even though AI tools can be helpful, Qadir (2023) reminds us that they’re not perfect and can make mistakes, so it’s important not to depend on them too much and always use our own judgment.
References
Aston. (2023). Speechify | Turn any reading into audio | TTS, AI voice over. Speechify. Retrieved from https://speechify.com/
Kayalar, F., & Kayalar, F. (2017). The effects of auditory learning strategy on learning skills of language learners (students’ views). IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 22(10), 04-10.
Qadir, J. (2023, May). Engineering education in the era of ChatGPT: Promise and pitfalls of generative AI for education. In 2023 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON) (pp. 1-9). IEEE.
This post is relevant for all of us trying to manage time within a busy MSc program! Currently, I am finding it quite hard to keep up with the large loads of reading materials from several courses. Often, I find myself prioritizing deadlines that are due earlier in the period, which leaves less space to go through course materials. Also, many of those deadlines are group projects, and I notice that I often prioritize group work over my individual keeping-up of course materials. The reason is that you do not want to be a slacking teammate and jeopardize other people’s grades.
In other words, I am looking for ways to deliver both group and individual deadlines throughout the period while still keeping up with every week’s materials! And that goes course wide. I feel like Speechify would be a nice thing to try, and it is a good example of how generative AI can improve our educational process. I have tried “reading out” articles, which you can due through your web-browser, but often, these voices are still quite boring and they read the entire webpage and footnotes. You then manually have to click every time to make it read from a certain point again… such a hassle.
I will likely try it out. This blog post leaves me wondering how it works out for you? Does the speechify software merely turn text into audio, and then read it out to you? Or does it do something with the text so that the audio becomes more engaging? Or does it summarize entire texts? I assume you still do not want to listen to a 100 page article.. And how does it differ from the simple “reading out” option in web browsers?
Anyways, thanks for the tip!
It’s great to hear your thoughts on Speechify, a tool that looks like it might be able to radically alter the way we learn and study. I can relate, as a fellow student, to the challenges you’ve described in your articles about balancing work and studies with other responsibilities.
It’s fascinating what you describe how Speechify is able to convert written content into spoken words and allow for audio learning on the go. The truth is, our busy lives often mean that we can’t spend much time on focus reading so it’s an amazing game changer when I have the ability to receive information during my commute or household work. I’m interested in exploring the idea that, by learning to listen, you will be able to see more clearly complicated concepts.
I appreciate your honesty in acknowledging the room for improvement with Speechify. In order to provide a personalised learning experience, it is essential that customisation options such as speech speed and voice adjustments are available. This could be beneficial if the tool were to develop in order to provide more specific voices that are based on each person’s preferences. I’d also like to compliment you on the suggestion of incorporating AI generated summaries or instructional aids, which can be a great bonus that will help students understand important facts more effectively.
Your concluding remark about not depending too much on AI tools is wise. Those instruments, while helpful, are not infallible and it is crucial to rely on our own judgment as Qadir points out in 2023. The key to making full use of these tools lies in balancing technology with our critical thinking skills.
Overall, your work gave valuable information about the potential of speechify and its ability to address challenges that students face in managing their time and making learning more accessible. Thanks for sharing that resource, and it’s going to be interesting to see how I can best use it as a learning tool.