Recently I wrote an article about automated computerized tutorials that helped a housewife make money. As this project has enormous income potential in India for entrepreneurs, it has kindled the interest of hundreds of educators and housewives. Many of them have asked me a specific question and this article is the answer to it.
If you had missed that article or don't remember it, here is the essence of it: 'Let us say that you want to teach English grammar to primary school children. You have a copy of the text book and the syllabus. You know how to teach the students well. Prepare the lessons step-by-step using any good presentation software program such as Microsoft PowerPoint. Add text slides, image slides, audio and exercises. You can consult the best books on English grammar and make sure that your virtual class room session is error free and excellent. Then use a training video making program such as Camtasia Studio from http://techsmith.com/ to convert your PowerPoint presentation into a self-running Math class video. Now you can run the video on a computer, a DVD player or a CD player. Your students can play it as many times as they need, and can interact with you only when they have any questions.'
Malini was attracted by the project the moment she read about it. She tried to create her own merchandise - automated tutorials on English for primary school children. But she had a problem.
"Even though I am good in English, I am not very happy about my voice and pronunciation. I have practiced a lot to improve my pronunciation and fluency. But I am not satisfied with my spoken English. Is there a solution to my problem?" she asked me.
"A text to speech software program may solve your problem," I told her. "What is it?" she asked me. I replied. "It uses voice synthesis to create spoken audio from text in your computer. You can make your computer read the text aloud and listen to it without straining your eyes. Your computer can read aloud any text based materials such as documents and emails. You can even save text to audio files for listening later. If you use this feature you can solve your problem and create error free tutorials."
"Where can I get that program?" Malini asked me. "There are many programs in the market. Though Microsoft Windows comes with a speech engine, I suggest that you download a trial version of TextAloud from http://nextup.com/ and give it a try. You can also find information on different voices on that website."
"Voices?" She raised her brows. "There are several voices in the market - male, female, Indian, American, Australian and British. Your choice of voice depends on your target market," I said.
"Will the voices be good?" Malini asked. "Most of the voices are great for computer application. 'Free' voices would sound like voices of robots. Commercial voices would sound natural. Let us say you have decided to use Indian voice. This voice will have Indian accent. After you prepare your talk in a text file, simply run the Text to Speech software program with the Indian voice to read the text and generate an audio file with it. You can add this audio file to your digital tutorials and your problem is solved," I said.
"How expensive these programs are? Are they available in India?" she asked. "Most of these programs can be bought online and they are not expensive. As these programs and voices can be tried before you buy, test them all. Then use the program and the voice that work for you," I said and continued, "Most of the Interactive Voice Response systems used by overseas banks and companies to serve their customers over telephone use such voices. If you learn to use them properly you can create excellent tutorials with great audio. But if a trainer is confident about his voice he must prefer his own voice to computer voice. There can be no argument over it."
A week later Malini contacted me through email: 'I downloaded the trial version of TextAloud and tried it for a few days with the voices that came with it. I think all the users can increase their productivity if they use such a program. Initially I was upset with the poor quality of the audio. But after carefully reading the help manual, I understood where I went wrong. Now I am able to produce high quality audio files. I am using it to record all my lessons. My project is moving very fast. My product will be ready for delivery within a month. Thank you New Indian Express.'