Audiofy turns any article or web page into audio and reads the page to you. It has sixteen voices to choose from and it is currently free.The app could be of great benefit to students with learning difficulties and those studying new languages (including English). Just put a link into the app of the webpage you want read and it will read the page to you.http://audiofyapp.com/ The app is currently only available on the Apple app store. When I was investigating I saw that the Apple stores rates the app as 17+ as it has unrestricted web access. When you think about the purpose of the app it makes sense as it requires access read webpages. So what else provides unlimited web access? Chrome and Firefox are both rated 17+ on the Apple store yet on the Google Play site they are both rated 3+. I still can't find a rating for Safari but have but In the words of Julius Sumner Miller why is this so? I am sure there are people out there who can explain in technical terms the precise functions but it all has to do with the parental control options on the device itself and how it works with each app to control access to both app downloads and site access. Despite the fact that at school students are accessing a filtered internet service the nature of mobile devices is that their mobility allows access to other internet sources. So what does this mean for educators? Knowledge around the apps you are considering. What do they do? What do they provide access to? Most importantly what is the value for your students learning? How are you going to support students using the technology and keep their parents informed? Have clearly developed behavioral expectations around the use of digital technologies, Communicating with parents What are their expectations? How can the school support parents to understand the purpose and features of apps? The school must ensuring that you have fully informed parental consent around the content and apps you want to use,http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/lolconsent.aspx
