The best learning technologies shine by staying out of the way, letting teachers and students focus on the material at hand.
Microsoft's Learning Tools for OneNote nails this balance, empowering users to grasp any text more effectively. The official landing page sums it up perfectly:
But this table captures it best:
Learning Tools works with OneNote 2013 and 2016, in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Close all OneNote instances—including the 'New Sticky Note' icon—before running the installer. Once installed, a new Learning Tools tab appears on the OneNote ribbon.
This streamlined toolbar, born from a company-wide OneNote Hackathon led by program manager Jeff Petty, integrates proven tech: Bing-powered dictation, immersive reading with Windows text-to-speech and highlighting, and Microsoft Research's natural language processing.
It's designed to tackle reading challenges for everyone, helping combat information overload in our digital age.
Launch the Immersive Reader from the Learning Tools tab for a clean, focused reading environment. Navigate with Next and Previous page buttons. It skips images but extracts and reads text from them.
Pair it with Office Lens: Snap a photo on your phone, scan for text, import to OneNote, and let Immersive Reader handle text-to-speech—even on scanned images.
Hit Play to activate Microsoft’s text-to-speech engine. Adjust speed and voices (like natural Microsoft Zira or David) in Settings. Click any word to resume narration from there.
Words highlight as they're read, mimicking the neurological impress method to boost fluency and independence—ideal for all learners, including those with dyslexia.
Even native speakers grapple with grammar nuances. Click the book icon for five aids that color-code parts of speech, enhancing comprehension.
Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives buttons highlight respective elements in distinct colors—toggle individually or together. This reveals word roles, like nouns as subjects or objects, building vocabulary and context awareness.
The Understand mode highlights verbs and subordinate clauses (in triangular brackets). Toggle elements for customized views.
Syllables breaks words into pronounceable parts, perfect with text-to-speech for accurate pronunciation.
High-contrast dark theme amplifies these features.
Fine-tune your experience:
The Dictate button uses advanced speech recognition—sign in with an Office 365 or Microsoft account first. A quality microphone ensures accuracy, outperforming OneNote's default tool. Voice notes are searchable via File > Options > Audio & Video.
These tools foster independent reading while complementing OneNote's collaboration features. Imagine interactive grammar lessons via projector—transforming any space into a dynamic classroom.
Vital for ESL learners tackling pronunciation and idioms, they benefit non-native speakers and dyslexics alike. As Forbes contributor Jordan Shapiro notes, it's a 'game changer' that elevates learning for everyone.
Integrate Learning Tools into your routine today. Do these tools enhance digital reading? How do they help struggling readers in your life?
