An
affordable and accurate solution
Speech
recognition is not a brand new technology.
In fact, it's been around for at least 15
years now. However, it's only in the past
few years that it has become accurate and
affordable enough to be a viable solution
for schools and students with special needs.
The technology itself has become extremely
accurate. The hardware required to run
speech-recognition is starting to become
more widely available in schools. And the
Dragon NaturallySpeaking program, on which
this Web based curriculum is based,
has become an affordable and highly accurate
solution for speech input to the computer.
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Tremendous benefit
The bottom
line is that speech recognition can offer
tremendous benefit and potential but it also
takes much work and perseverance, and is not
appropriate for everyone. For those students
who are suitable candidates for the use of
speech recognition, it can provide immense
benefit as long as the student and all those
involved in supporting the student are
prepared to invest much time, effort and
patience.
Provided a student is a good candidate for
the use of speech-recognition (described
more fully in the Evaluation of Student
form), and given a structured training
program with good support and training, a
student will most likely experience a high
degree of success using speech recognition.
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Potential for
Improved Writing and Computer Use
Successful
implementation of speech recognition can
result in a significant improvement in
performance for students who have difficulty
with writing and use of a computer. For
those students who have difficulty in
producing written work either through using
a computer with standard input methods such
as keyboard and mouse, or otherwise with
handwriting, speech recognition provides an
alternative input method using speech and
voice rather than hands for typing or
writing. It provides a different mechanical
method of producing written work. In
addition, it assists those students who have
difficulty with spelling. For students who
have learning disabilities or physical
disabilities and who are slow and
ineffective with producing written work,
speech recognition can become an enormously
useful tool in allowing students to become
more efficient and independent writers.
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Typing speeds with
Keyboard and Voice
Taking a look at the
average typing speeds for typically
developing students, and comparing them to
the average achievable speeds for students
using speech recognition is an extremely
interesting project.
Typing on the keyboard:
| Taking into
account typically developing
students, there is no set
standard for how fast children
and teens should be expected to
type at a particular grade
level. Some research, however,
does provide insight into what
goals schools around the country
are setting. Here's what our
research has found:
A 2002-2003 study
by Illinois school district U-46
notes that some researchers have
suggested that 10-20 words per
minute (WPM) is sufficient in
the later elementary school
years (3rd through 6th grade).
However, the report also notes
that some teachers named in
research set their goals
somewhat lower, at 3 WPM for 3rd
graders and 7 WPM for 4th and
5th graders. Still others based
their keyboarding goals on a
student's handwriting speed:
with a goal of being able to
keyboard at 2-3 times the
handwriting rate.
Buhler, Kansas
USD 313 also conducted research
into this area. In their
task force report, no
requirements for keyboarding
speed are presented until the
8th grade. At this point,
students are expected to type at
the rate of 30 WPM with high
accuracy.
The Utah State
Office of Education has a
detailed
web site in which
keyboarding speed requirements
are laid out very explicitly: 15
WPM in 3rd grade, 20 WPM in 4th
grade, 25 WPM in 5th grade, and
27 WPM in 6th grade. All of
this is with high accuracy. For
7-12 graders, this web site also
presents a keyboarding course in
which students are expected to
type at 45 WPM with high
accuracy by the end of the
semester.
Depending on
the disability and type of
assistive technology used,
disabled students can type as
slowly as 1 or 2 words per
minute. Most students with
physical or learning
disabilities are slow typists
and many have significant
problems with spelling and
grammar. |
Typing by
voice / speech recognition:
| Speech
recognition has the strong
potential to 'level the playing
field' for many, many disabled
students. A student with a
physical or learning disability,
who produces typed work at a few
words per minute, with simple
language and words, has the
potential of dictating an
accurate document (with time for
corrections) at over 20, 30 or
even 40 words per minute.
The motivated student who is
willing to stick with it, and
practice, has the potential of
reaching much higher speeds of
text input than this.
On the
ScanSoft web site, speeds of up
to 160 words per minute are
mentioned as the top speed for
words per minute. This is
not a realistic goal for most
K-12 school students.
However, realistically,
most students with disabilities
who are good candidates for the
use of speech recognition can
expect to significantly increase
their production of text in
accuracy, rate and quality /
content of written work.
|
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Exciting Technology
Quite simply
stated, speech recognition is one of the
most exciting new technologies for students
with physical disabilities and learning
challenges.
Having stated that however, it is also a
complex process compared to many other
technology solutions. Computer technology is
developing rapidly, and becoming more
affordable, effective and available. More
and more, computerized tools are becoming
plug-and-play and developed for a
mass-market who need computer technology
that is easy to operate and quick to set up.
Consequently, the trend is towards
technology that is compatible and
plug-and-play.
Speech recognition technology has come a
long way. From the early 1990s, when
discrete speech recognition (word-by-word,
slow dictation) was extremely expensive,
inaccurate and slow, this technology has
exploded into an affordable, fast and
accurate means of producing dictation.
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Balance: success vs.
effort
However, an
extremely important point when considering
the potential use of speech recognition by
students with learning and physical
challenges, is that speech recognition is
not a plug-and-play technology, but a
complex technological solution requiring
extensive training, patience, perseverance
and support. Subsequently, even though the
use of speech input has the potential of
producing massive benefit for a student, it
also requires plenty of work, practice and
perseverance.
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Not appropriate
for everyone
Speech
recognition will not work for all students,
and it is important to go through an initial
evaluation in order to determine if the
student has the potential to cope.
A positive note about the future of speech
recognition, is that since it is becoming
more accurate and the technology is
improving, we will find that more and more
students are able to cope with the use of
this program in the future. Over time,
training times for initial training have
decreased and the program itself has become
more accurate. That translates into
increased numbers of students with varied
needs being able to accurately and
effectively make use of the program.
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