Lerah's Computer Classroom - 2007/2008
When you step up on the steamboat of technology, You surround yourself with technology at its best.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Learning enhanced with naturally speaking
I chose an exemplar on Dragon Naturally Speaking Software because I wanted to show the transition from keyboarding to speaking. Dragon Naturally Speaking is the software, but the actual course is referred to as Speech Recognition. In this transition, students learn to speak the application processes that they once typed. The keyboard is almost obsolete. There are great advantages to using this program. To mention a few: It is faster than keying, it is easy to learn, you can dictate text and use voice commands, it is great for anyone who has a speech impairment or disability, it adapts your specific profile and accent through a neural net speech engine to learn your speech language and last but not least, it eliminates the chance of getting carpal tunnel syndrome or any repetitive strain injuries. I have included a quick video with this exemplar that allows you to hear and explore the greatness of naturally speaking software. So, go ahead, try it out for yourself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Lerah, this sounds like a great technology, especially for students who may physical disabilities that do not allow them to type as freely as others, if not at all. I have one reservation concerning this technology and that is, will this technology make better students or will it impair students in the sense of not being able to type and perhaps even learning how to spell? Just a question. What do you think?
Actually it is for anyone work with any type of computer application software. One of the greatest advantages of this program is to increase productivity in the work force. If you do the typing activity from my second link on the exemplar, you will see the comparison of typing verses speaking. This not only with word documents, but database, spreadsheets, powerpoint, etc........The other great advantage is that is does not exclude people with handicapps. It can even convert languages. Isn't that what the workforce is looking for---productivity and efficiency? Why type when you can speak? You still have to know basic formatting for all applications. You will never be rid of that. It also has spellcheck, thesaurus and many other features that you would ordinary use. Use just have to command that the computer use them. You can also build on to the vocabulary and dictionary that is already set up on the program. So, go ahead, try it.
Keith does post an interesting question. Can this technology actually continue to play a role in the impairment of our students laerning to read and write? Specifically, kind of like the impact the calculator has had on learning multipilcation tables? With that said, we can't rule out the benefits that the technology can play in student learning. The most obvious benefits are for our students with disabilities. However, if we can make sure the student's have mastered typing/spelling/writing long before they begin using a program like this exclusivly, we can begin to create an even more "efficient" citizen. I am reading the book The World is Flat and I am amazed at how the efficiency of workers is just as important to companies as the salary of workers. This technology, hands down, will only contribute to efficiency, making our kids more employable in the future.
Post a Comment