April+19th+Article



National Center for Technology Innovation. "Speech Recognition for Learning." //Reading Rockets//. WETA Washington, D.C., Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.

Speech recognition, also referred to as speech-to-text or voice recognition, is technology that recognizes speech, allowing voice to serve as the "main interface between the human and the computer." Speech recognition has a potential benefit for students with physical disabilities and severe learning disabilities. Speech recognition and speech-to-text programs have a number of applications for users with and without disabilities. Speech-to-text has been used to help struggling writers boost their writing productionand to provide alternate access to a computer for individuals with physical impairments. Both Microsoft and Apple have built speech recognition capabilities into their operating systems.

There are many benefits to students using speech recognition. Students with motor skill limitations, physical disabilities, blindness/low vision, or other difficulties have a challenge when attempting to access and effectively use a standard keyboard and mouse. Speech recognition circumvents that challenge and allows the student to simply speak. Also, the writing production will increase and improve; writing is more thoughtful and deliberate. The mechanics of writing become less of a concern, speech recognition eliminates potential obstacles of difficulty with handwriting or skipping over words when they are unsure of the correct spelling, leading to pieces of writing that are short, missing key elements, or not reflective of the student's true abilities. The student also emotionally or psychologically benefits from the increased independence that speech recognition provides, as well as decreased anxiety about spelling errors or other embarrassments. Additionally, the speech recognition system is nice for students because of the error correction process. Because no speech recognition product is completely accurate, users need to check the accuracy of each word as sentences are being dictated. When an error is made, the child must then find the correct word among a list of similar words and choose it. That way, the student needs to examine the word list closely, compare words that look or sound alike, and make decisions about the best word for the specific situation.