DictaNote is a Chrome Extension that allows you to create text by using a microphone. I heard about this tool from @rmbyrne on his blog Free Technology for Teachers. In a nutshell, you can use your microphone to turn your speech into text. Teaching 1st grade, I always encounter students that limit their writing because of uncertainty with spelling words correctly. Many of them are nervous about taking a risk with the tricky words. I have tried many strategies for getting these timid writers to take a risk. I have used the app Dragon Dictation to help students spell unfamiliar words. However, this was very hit or miss. Students tried talking normal, slow and even like a robot. In the end, it was very spotty with the app recognizing the word a student was saying let alone a sentence. While Dragon Dictation was hit or miss, I tried another app. We installed the Google Search app onto our iPads. Students could hit the microphone icon (Voice) below the search bar and ask, " How do you spell ______?" More often than not, Google would return the correct spelling of the word. In addition, it would speak the correct spelling of the word to you. MY PLAN My 1st graders make huge progress throughout the school year. However, we are somewhat limited on time when it comes to typing our stories, on our blogs or digital stories using Little Bird Tales. I have a lot of single finger typers. I plan to have students try Dictanote to speed up the process. I will still have them type during the year but am interested in seeing the impact of Dictanote for some of my hesitant writers. Early on in the school year, my lower readers/writers tend not to write more than a sentence. Will Dictanote help those writers extend their stories knowing that he/she will not struggle to spell the words? What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for other speech to text tools?
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Andrew FenstermakerInstructional Technology Coordinator | Innovation Coach | Google Certified Innovator | Presenter | Blogger | Adjunct @UiowaEducation | Owner @kids_f_i_r_s_t |