Typecast vs Genny vs Speechify vs Murf.ai

 These are all TTS apps. 

So far, to me, TYPECAST is the best. 

- does not seem to be a limit under the free plan

- result can be either audio or video

- if video, can export to Youtube immediately. 

- under video mode, can choose a different avatar for each 'speaker'. 

GENNY

- second best

- 5 projects, but can create again after deleting a previous project

- result can be exported as a video, with one image throughout. 

- the image can be one which you upload. 

MURF.AI

- good, but free plan offers 2 projects

- cannot delete and create a new project

====

The above can create: 

- monologues; and 

- dialogues

SPEECHIFY

- free plan

- not natural

- audio only 

LINKS on PPT-converted PDFs will still work

 After creating a PPT which had working URLs on some slides, I saved it as a PDF. 

Then I opened the PDF to see if the URL still works. They do!

Converting a WORD outline to a PPT: Levels and body text

 Just opened a WORD file in OUTLINE view, and entered text in 4 different levels.

I also entered 'body' text to see if it will work. 

After I opened a PPT and converted the WORD outline file, the 4 levels work properly, representing 4 font sizes. 

But the body text I tried did not show up in the PPT. 

Just tried two Chrome extensions for summarising a Youtube video

Just tried a Chrome extension for summaring a Youtube video: 

YouTube Summary with ChatGPT

But it doesn't work, maybe because I'm not using Open AI's chatgpt. 

=======

Then I tried Elmo Chat, also a Chrome extension, which I originally installed

 for summarising a webpage, or a pdf document. Anyway I tried it with a Youtube video. 

It works!

It gives me: 

I. A summary. 

II. Opinions.

III. Timelined summaries

IV. a mindmap showing the content organisation of the video. 

Main Points from Future Leaders AI Webinar on 2025-03-08

 

FUTURE LEADERS

 ppt: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WW6pNmlnpr4ltlIkOkIpqJLn-YqVf8t2o_mOWKP5_Do/edit?usp=drive_link

Free:

Fliki for generating video

 

Rytr for revising drafts

 

For images

Midjourney

 

Project Research

 

Collect information

Perplexity

Pdf.ai

Gamma

 

Elmo Chat chrome extension

- for summarising a webpage

- can also sumarise online pdf academiic articles

(can also download PDF first, and then use https://pdf.ai/

 

Perplexity.ai

- works like ChatGPT

- can be used for further research based on current answers

- results can be shared via a link

 

PAUL TO CHECK OUT: PAID

 

- Boardmix

               - can make flow chart (Paul: like miro?)

               - Paul: check out Canva’s whiteboard

 

- Gamma

               -  can generate PPT

-             -

 

Fliki

               - for generating video

Downloaded PADLET pdfs: The links and the audios will still work

 Just realised that in a downloaded Padlet PDF file, the URLs will still work. 

Also, the previous recorded audio's will also work. When clicked, they will play in a new browser tab. 

"Presenting" a Padlet Board like an eBook

 A Padlet board can be presented in a slideshow. We can get the slideshow URL, and then share it with others. 

They will then be looking through the slideshow as if they are reading an ebook. And they can click on the links in the slideshow for external webpages. 

YoutubeTrimmer still the best app for getting a clip of a Youtube video

 Vibby used to be the best, because it allowed annotation, and you could get several clips in one project. But Vibby has closed down. 

After trying out a few alternatives, today, I still think Youtube Trimmer is still the best alternative. It's very simple to use. Of course, unlike Vibby, each resulting link contains one clip only. But in most use cases, that is OK. 

A reminder: When done, copy the Second link to use. 

https://www.youtubetrimmer.com/

(of course, Youtube has its built-in clip creator. But you can only get a one-minute clip at most.)

a quick way to create a timeline in WORD,

 Like PPT, WORD also has a SmartArt function which can be used to quickly create a timeline. 

Two ways to go: 

WAY 1

1. In WORD, type out a list. 

2. Copy the list. 

3. Click on SmartArt, and then choose Process, and then choose one of the process templates. 

4. then, in the left-hand text box, paste in the copied list. 

WAY 2

1. As in WAY 1, but start with Step 3. Type in the list items. 

========

Either way, if there are sub-steps in each main step, in using Way 1, just press TAB, and type out each substep 

===========

Final Reminder: USE Horizontal as the Page Orientation. 

When there is a fire, ...

 

Hong Kong is probably the only city in the world which   says "When there is a fire,...". Not that it's grammatically wrong, but it's kind of pessimistic, isn't it? It's like "Sooner or later, there will be a fire. And 'when there is a fire, .....'."  (Other cities say "If ...", "In case of...", "In the event of ...", ....

Just found a free PDF converter app

 Just found a PDF converter app (web; desktop) which can do many things. And it's FREE! (https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator)

"Type 3 conditional sentence"

Is this conditional sentence wrong? 

"If Jane had asked me, I would give her some money."

Glad to run into this example by Roger Berry in his 2021 book "Doing English Grammar : Theory, Description and Practice."

Berry was citing the above example from a test for teachers. The 'correct' answer, according to the test, and as you can guess, was: "If Jane had asked me, I would have given her some money." 

The so-called Type 3 Conditional Sentence!

Of course, depending on the context, and the speaker's intended meaning, "If Jane had asked me, I would give her some money" can be 'correct'!

Berry then used the term "the long-discredited three- or four-conditional approach" to describe the over-simplified and rigid classification of conditional sentences often promulgated in ESL textbooks. That totally resonates with me. 

Again, this highlights the importance of teacher language awareness. 

Two useful desktop apps for IPA transcription

 There are now a few mobile apps for turning an orthographic text into an IPA phonetic text. But in practice, we will more likely use a desktop app for such tasks. 

They work like this: 

1. Type or paste in an orthographic text. 

2. Click submit, and the phonetic text will appear. 

Two such desktop apps i have found useful: 

https://tophonetics.com/

What I like about this app is that you can choose to show weak forms. 

https://openl.io/translate/international-phonetic-alphabet

This is actually a translation platform. Besides giving you the IPA 'translation' for the orthographic text you input, you can also have the text translated into different languages, and immediately listen to how the translation is read out in that language. 

D-ID vs Genny for AI-creating speech videos

 D-ID.com

- generates talking-head videos from an input script.

- result praiseworthy.

- monologue only. 

- 

Genny

- generates an audio from a script

- to turn into a video with voiceover generated: (1) choose an image/a video from the built-in bank or (2) upload your own image/video. 

- can create dialogues, not just monologues. 

-  paid plan very expensive. 

First attempt to use AI napkin for creating the rundown for a lecture

 Created the first Napkin AI graphic organizer for a lecture. 

The first half below is the outline I input. 

The app generated several results. Not all the results make sense, though. The one in yellow is the one I chose. 

From Anchor to Riverside

 Anchor, an audio recording app, used to be coupled with Wordpress. Audio recordings made with Anchor could be automatically uploaded to the app called Podcasters for Spotify. The podcast one creates would be automatically featured in the Spotify directory. 

But a few years ago, the two were decoupled. Podcasters for Spotify coupled with Riverside, an audio recording app somewhat like Anchor. 

Then a few months ago, Podcasters for Spotify was renamed Spotify for Creators. It has continued to use Riverside as the built-in recording app. An audio made with Riverside is automatically added to one's podcast. 

Classcraft has become HMH Classcraft

 Classcraft was a gamification platform for classroom management. 

Though I have some reservations about gamification platforms, I can still cite it as an example of a gamification platform. 

But realised just now that Classcraft has become HMH Classcraft, which has nothing to do with Gamification. It is now purely a commercial learning resources platform. 

Symbaloo Webmix and Webspace

 A Symbaloo webmix is one collection of websites. Of course there are  now many tools which can do that, e.g., Start.me; Wakelet, ...

What makes Symbaloo Webmix visually appealing is that each bookmark is a tile. 

A symbaloo webspace is a homepage of a user's webmixes. Each user has given one webspace and its link, as below. 

https://paul-sze.symbaloo.com/

The individual webmixes appear as tabs on the top ribbon. 

Explain Video vs Explainer Page

 你也許也有這經驗，別人whatsapp 你，你寧願他用文字，而不是錄音；文字一眼看到內容，錄音卻要用時間去聽，而我們已忙到連聽留言的時間也不願花。

這亦是為甚麼近年我不再熱心用screencasting 方法製作eLearning的explainer video，轉而用screencap加簡單文字去製作一個流程的workflowy page。對我來說快㨗得多，對學員來說就像看text message 的方便。

下面是一例，解釋用Wakelet 製作一個sharing board的步驟；我製作這Workflowy page不用5分鐘, 學員亦可自行瀏覽，不像看explainer video 的被動。

https://workflowy.com/s/how-to-create-your-s/2MDB7W7ecytEDCaZ

Flinga Wall vs Flinga Whiteboard

 Flinga does not have a paid plan. But users can only create 5 boards in total, after which they will have to delete an older board to create a new one. 

Both types of boards can be shared with students who will be participants. 

FLINGA WALL

- For sharing ideas and brainstorming. 

- Works like Padlet and Wakelet, except that contributors can choose one of five colours for posting their idea. They can also post a photo from their drive. 

FLINGA WHITEBOARD

This has more functionality. 

- Other than text, contributors can upload their ideas in a Square, Circle, or Person, or Title and Subtitle. 

- Contributors can be allowed to place their posts anywhere on the whiteboard. 

- They can also use the Pencil function to draw on the board. 

- They can also upload photos. 

- A teacher can pre-create a board (with posts), and move the posts around during a presentation or annotate. 

=======

But the biggest downside is that it only allows for 5 free boards.