It's always fun to find new resources to improve instruction. Here are two websites I found especially interesting...
The first website I thought was interesting is listed above. They provide speech to text software called Dragon. I think learners with poor fine motor skills, reading/writing skills, or typing skills would greatly benefit from this software. Students would be able to speak naturally and the computer/software would write or perform commands being said aloud by the user. The software could be used during the writing process for students with writing disabilities to create portfolio pieces or any writing assignments. The software requires a bit of set up to recognize the users voice, but it doesn't take terribly long and once adjusted is incredibly user friendly. Students can also speak various commands and the computer can surf the web as well. The software is not too expensive, and can be found on the nuance website as well as ebay for bargain hunters with low budget districts! I've used Dragon before, and was not impressed. However, colleagues have used it with great success and I was using it while recording myself talking through a yoga class. I was moving, and wasn't speaking clearly, so it could have been user error.
Another terrific website/software...
Another website/software for writing. This software allows users to write easily with any reading/writing disability. I would love to have this in my classroom as it offers grammar/spelling checkers. It's a virtual English assistant. Ready to help you perfect the English language, grammar, and spelling. It has many neat features that would be very easy for students and adults to use! It would absolutely help students to become more aware of their mistakes in writing. It does require the students to be able to type however, so may not work for everyone. I was parusing the site to find prices, and I kept seeing free download buttons! Free!? Who doesn't love that? I would love to add this to school Ipads to allow students to check their work during the editing process.
Both of these websites/software pieces would be excellent in the classroom, especially for the writing process. The writing process is challenging for many people/students and any AT device to help would be terrific.
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