Melanie Wiscount Wikis in the Classroom DTSD
Monday, April 7, 2008 4-6 pm
Wikis in the Classroom Objectives
1. What is voice recognition/speech recognition? –
2. What are the benefits of voice recognition to students? to teachers?
3. How to Use it in the Classroom
A. Compose
B. Assistive technology – physical needs
C. Success tool – learning support
4. Needed hardware & software; environment
5. Configure computer for speech recognition
6. Using MS Word XP:
A. Create a Voice Profile
1) Microphone wizard
2) Voice profile wizard
B. Compose using Speech tools - Dictation
C. Format using Speech tools – Voice Command
7. Using MS PowerPoint XP:
A. Additional Training
B. Compose using Speech tools - Dictation
C. Format using Speech tools – Voice Command
8. Using MS Excel XP:
A. Compose using Speech tools - Dictation
B. Format using Speech tools – Voice Command
9. Discussion about using Voice Recognition in the classroom
10. Questions
11. Final video - A Vision of K-12 Students Today
What Voice Recognition Does for Students
w Develops responsibility, ownership, and increased self-esteem as students make their way through the writing process
w Great for students who struggle with the actual act of transferring their thoughts onto paper
w Excellent for students who have difficulty with the physical act of writing or typing
w Provides disabled children the opportunity to be successful in their learning
w Allow the pressure and frustration of writing to be removed and the art of writing, as well as the creativity involved to become the focus
w Empowers students and provides self-confidence for these learners
w Takes the labor out of school assignments
w Aids young elementary students who do not have typing skills to complete keyed text work
w Students publish their own work
w Feedback would be immediate as they read their revised writing and saw their work being turned into published text
w Any grammatical changes or changes to punctuation could be seen as they were working, providing for reinforcement of these skills
w Seeing students’ work in printed text is not only satisfying and rewarding, but also effective in teaching them correct spelling and grammar usage while they share it with the class
w Help prepare students for future writing in the upper grades when assignments will be typed by students
[http://www.msu.edu/user/porter30/cep816.htm]
What Voice Recognition Does for Teachers
w Allows the freedom to focus on other skills and strategies as they watch their students become successful, independent writers
w Gives teachers tools to empower students
w Saves time in publishing works and assignments that require typing
w Quality of completed work increases
[http://www.msu.edu/user/porter30/cep816.htm]
Drawbacks of Using Voice Recognition in the Classroom
w Lack of accuracy, reliability, and user-friendliness for young students
w Need to control noise climate of class to increase accuracy of voice recognition for students
w Possibility - decline in the need to teach keyboarding; keyboarding is a necessary skill that students need in today’s world, and voice recognition software would not be available in all aspects of their lives.
[http://www.msu.edu/user/porter30/cep816.htm]
Speech Recognition Tips
w Speech recognition is not designed for completely hands-free operation; you achieve the best results if you use a combination of your voice and the mouse or keyboard.
w Use a consistent quality of speech to achieve the best results.
w Speech recognition understands words better when you speak in a predictable manner.
• / Speak in a consistent, level tone. If you speak too loudly or too softly, the computer may not recognize what you said.• / Use a consistent rate without speeding up and slowing down.
• / Speak without pausing between words; a phrase is easier for the computer to interpret than just one word. For example, the computer has a hard time understanding phrases such as "This (pause) is (pause) another (pause) example (pause) sentence."
• / Start by working in a quiet environment so that the computer hears you instead of the sounds around you, and use a good quality microphone. Keep the microphone in the same position; try not to move it around after it is adjusted.
• / Train your computer to recognize your voice by reading aloud the prepared training text in the Voice Training Wizard. Additional training increases speech recognition accuracy.
• / As you dictate, do not be concerned if you do not immediately see your words on the screen. Continue speaking and pause at the end of your thought. The computer displays the recognized text after it finishes processing your voice.
• / Pronounce words clearly, but do not separate each syllable in a word. For example, if you sound out each syllable in "e-nun-ci-ate," the computer may not recognize what you said.
The following list describes some of the shortcuts that you can use:
• / You can also switch between Dictation and Voice Command modes by saying "dictation" or "voice command."• / In Microsoft Word, you can delete the last thing you said in Dictation mode by saying "scratch that."
• / You can turn the microphone on and off by clicking Speech on the Tools menu (in Microsoft Excel, point to Speech on the Tools menu, and then click Speech Recognition).
• / You can also turn the microphone off by saying "microphone".
[http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306901]
http://www.classroom20wiki.com/Wikis