Voice recognition has arrived!

If you are like me, you tried voice recognition (VR) software many years ago. If you are like me, you probably didn't think it was very good. While it could convert S L O W speech into text with 80-90% reliability, it was really more trouble than it was worth. Well, that has changed

The latest version of Dragon Naturally Speaking (Version 9.5, http://www.nuance.com/naturall yspeaking/) is very close to being perfect. In fact, it is easily more accurate than my typing (which does not say much), and it purrs along at close to 100-wpm (much faster than my typing). As far as how fast one can speak, that's still a bit of a problem. While you can talk almost normally, you have to consider punctuation, capitalization, and error correction. However, all of these seem to be better implemented that in previous versions (including Version 8). After a little training and practice, you would be surprised how easy it is to get used to these nuances.

For distance educators and students, the software holds great promise. For example, if you conduct synchronous chat sessions, the software will amaze you; you can easily post three times more text than using traditional keypunch entry. This can become a problem if a student is using VR since it will be so easy for them to dominate the conversation. However, for instructors, it makes life much better.

Other areas where VR excels are discussion boards and grade comments. Personally, I noticed that my comments and responses were much more comprehensive when using VR. It was simply easier to provide longer and more detailed feedback and comments.

One would think that with all of these advantages, everyone would be using the tool. Well, as with most things, there are a few minor rough spots. First, we are just now starting to see the availability of wireless microphones that will work with Dragon. The alternative is to be constantly tethered to your computer. Of course, this means you will nearly kill yourself a couple of times of day while trying to get up and get a cup of coffee while forgetting to take off the headset.

Another problem is the cost. The list price for the least expensive version of Dragon is $99 and discounted prices are hard to find. While this version works fine, the price can be prohibitive for educators, and even worse for students. Personally, I'm not aware of any educational discounting, but considering the good fit, one would think the publisher would get on the bandwagon.

The bottom line is that VR is here, it works, and it needs to be used. I'm not ware of any research in the area (if you would like to explore a collaborative research relationship, contact me), but I suspect that learning would improve if students used the technology. It makes online interaction easier, which should have an impact on learning gain.

Learn more about this author, Mark Revels.
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