>>>The important thing is organization and
structure
of writing, as well as ideas and information expressed....at elementary and
middle school levels, and even most of the time at high school, perfection
is not required!
This is the one area that I have found is a must, structured ideas. I have
found it best for the student to have a well organized (or at least a well
thought out) outline. They can then dictate from the outline, expanding on
their thoughts.
Another technique (That I personally have seen work less successfully) is
what I have referred to as a brain dump. I had the student I was working
with turn away from the computer (he was distracted by errors and would
then
lose his train of thought) and then just talk about his topic. He
(theoretically) could then use that mess as a beginning for his outline.
This particular student (13 yrs) could talk and talk to me about a topic
(not well organized but could formulate grammatically correct sentences).
As
soon as I put a head set on this kid's head he froze up. He was better when
he didn't look at the screen, but he would only be able to generate 2 or 3
short sentences at best.
Christine Jasch, OTR/L
Technology Center
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
> -----Original Message-----
> From: spk2wrt@phoenix.edc.org [SMTP:spk2wrt@phoenix.edc.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 6:11 PM
> To: spk2wrt@phoenix.edc.org
> Subject: Re: Speech recognition software
>
> I understand what Bayle meant in the thread shown below, but in the real
> world, voice recognition may be "good enough" for classroom use, even for
> students with FAR lower reading levels. For a rough draft, the student
> can
> rattle on to the computer without worrying about corrections, at a 90% or
> 95% accuracy level. Just to answer a question in the textbook, that's
> "good
> enough" even with mistakes in recognition. For more formal papers, the
> first draft is going to be corrected, anyway, through peer review or
adult
> assistance. So even though the output might not do for a professional in
> a
> job, the output of even a not-100%-accurate dictation session may do just
> fine in a real classroom.
> As to noise, I've found Dragon even works with some students almost
> whispering! (Because they didn't want anyone else to overhear what they
> were
> writing, not because they were being particularly polite, I'm afraid).
> Most
> classrooms aren't silent any more...students are busy peer editing,
asking
> for help, etc. The general hmmmm of a busy classroom has been no problem
> for the cheap AC 200 and Labtec C315 headsets I've been using--if you are
> not hoping for perfect accuracy. I'm paying @ $8 for the headsets from
> TigerDirect.com. If I were working with older students (i.e. high
school
> seniors or college) I'd opt for better headsets, but these are sort of
> expendable.
> Students who cannot or will not write need a way to get their
thoughts
> down on paper, without the barrier of handwriting or spelling. If THEY
> can
> figure out what they told the computer, the teacher is more than halfway
> to
> having a completed paper. The important thing is organization and
> structure
> of writing, as well as ideas and information expressed....at elementary
> and
> middle school levels, and even most of the time at high school,
perfection
> is not required!
>
> Amen Amen
>
> Speech input seems like a really cool thing, but you have clearly
> defined many of the considerations that often get lost.
>
> We are not yet the Star Trek generation !
> spk2wrt@phoenix.edc.org wrote:
> >
> > Speech input software is cognitively demanding: you have to manage the
> > content of what you are saying at the same time you are managing both
> the
> > program and control/editing functions. It's beyond what I'd expect a
> > typical 8 year old to be abel to do. Learning the program, commands,
how
> to
> > speak to it, how to correct, etc., is probably as time intensive as
> > learning to keyboard. Our consultants are now recommending a 6th grade
> > reading level so that the user can manage content and program as it is
> > currently necessary.
> >
> > You can keyboard on an AlphaSmart in class, but you can't talk to your
> > computer in class, and speech input would need to happen in the same
> room
> > all the time to provide the same kind of ambient sound background. Or
> > develop a speech file for each environment. Possible in elementary
> school,
> > but not in secondary school when kids are getting to be old enough to
> > handle the cognitive demands of the programs. This is not Star Trek.
> > Training is not a trivial task. All barriers can be overcome, with
> > sufficient motivation and time. It would be unusual for a child this
> young
> > to have the motiviation to overcome the level of barrier, and unlike
> > keyboarding which gives immediate consistent feedback, speech input
> results
> > are not as consistent. 95% accuracy may sound really good, but that
> would
> > mean for example that about one word on each line of what I'm writing
> now
> > would be totally wrong. It wood be a reel ward, jest knot the won eye
> mint,
> > sew spell check or wood knot ketchup they miss take!
> > s. And at this point in all speech input, you have to voice each
> > punctuation mark. (period)
> >
> > If the issue is just handwriting (I assume you've tried a variety of
> > pen/pencil configurations and grips, slantboards, etc.) would
> keyboarding
> > be a reasonable alternative? It's no more time intensive to learn than
> > speech input and useable in a wider variety of setting. And it doesn't
> take
> > any special anything, so your daughter could use any computer or
> typewriter
> > anywhere and not be stranded if hers goes on the blink or is at some
> other
> > place. Have you looked at word prediction software, which helps some
> kids
> a
> > lot? Speech input requires better spelling skills than keyboarding
> because
> > you have to recognize incorrect homonyms as well as words that are
> spelled
> > almost alike. Read and Write, I think, does a better job of coping with
> > invented and phonetic spelling than WriteOutLoud.
> >
> > Did I help or just confuse you totally?
> > Bayle
> >
> > *********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
> >
> > On 2/10/02 at 8:03 PM spk2wrt@phoenix.edc.org wrote:
> >
> > >Hello,
> > >I am looking for some information on voice activated software such as
> > >Dragon
> > >Magically speaking. I have an 8 yr old daughter who is disgraphic and
> we
> > >need
> > >to do something to assist or augment her writing. Does anyone have any
> > >information regarding this piece of software andit's
> > appropriate/successful
> > >
> > >use in children this young? Any information that you may have is
> > >appreciated.
> > >Laure
>
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