Description: Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a speech recognition software package produced by Nuance Communications for Windows PCs. NaturallySpeaking uses a minimal visual interface. Dictate words appear in a floating tooltip as they are spoken, and when the speaker pauses, the program transcribes the words into the active windows at the location of the cursor. Nuance claims that using NaturallySpeaking, writing a 900 word essays would take 6 minutes, while typing 40 words per minute and writing a 900 word essay would take 22 minutes.
Pros: This software is very affordable. You can use your voice to dictate and edit in Microsoft Word and Excel, Corel WordPerfect, and virtually all Windows-based applications. This software is available in Spanish, French, German, as well as English.
Cons: If you use this software in a large classroom or a loud area, it tends to pick up on other voices and it could interpret things that you don't want it to pick up.
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This piece of software ranges from $99.00 to $200.00. Its a great price for a school district and it is very affordable for anyone to purchase for their home computer as well. |
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This piece of software is very useful to children as well as adults. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a dream come true for children who have disabilities and cannot type. This product would also be good in any environment, including schools, homes, small business and offices. |
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Dragon Naturally Speaking is very easy to use. You just put on the microphone headset and read a paragraph so the computer recognizes your voice and then your own your own! This product can be used at any age as long as they can speak clearly |
Recommendations: I would recommend this to any teacher or school district. It is up to 99 percent accurate, and is often more accurate than typing. This software never makes a spelling mistake and it actually gets smarter the more times you use it! Most people speak over 120 words per minute, but are able to type around 30-40 words a minute. Its a great software for students with physical disabilities. If a student is a very slow typist and is having difficulty creating reports and other written assignments on word, this software could help them; it allows the child to say what they want to type at a much faster rate and gives them a fun way of doing so.
Lesson Plan for incorporating Dragon NaturallySpeaking into the classroom
