Outline and notes-to-myself for the actual article or articles follow:
- Dragon software "for professionals" is the better / best / only? choice now (2011.04).
- There needs to be a "server" version of Dragon software (if such is not already existing) which any web application served by another web site can access to include voice recognition services for a large group of educators and their students.
- Potential free open source users of voice recognition software need to "make noise" repeatedly in public media about the need for a cheaper, still as effective, alternative to Dragon software.
- Existing free and open source voice recognition software needs to be test-used and the end-user and technical issues of that use posted on this web site in a product comparison list.
Uses of Voice Recognition Software such as Nuance.com's Dragon Naturally Speaking:
- Educators and course designers can dictate their ideas, lesson plans, lesson lecture segments, alternative lesson segments (for special or exceptional students), dictate entire lessons live or played-back from recordings, course outlines, and other education-related. Any and all of this source audio material the VR software will convert to 99% accurate word-processable text three (3) times faster than by someone typing or retyping it.
No scanning and optical character recognition of printed materials of these kinds is required. In fact the educator or course designer might read the existing printed material into the VR software and avoid not only retyping the material but also avoid several hours of use of the scanning and OCR software to achieve the same results. - Language instructors and their assistants can record their own voices speaking words and phrases which their students are to learn. A lower level computer or web application programmer can "link" recorded words and phrases to the text of such words and phrases, perhaps even in a better "flash card" and "flash phrase" system so that the student can both read and hear the words
- Students can record their answers to some exercise and text questions, demonstrating oral abilities as well as intellectual understanding.
- Language students can record their answers, have the VR software convert it to text, have a small sized web application link the text to the audio recording and present the audio+text to the instructor, teaching assistant and/or grader for grading and feedback.