Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” – Dragon Naturally Speaking for Students with Dyslexia

Presented by: John Phayer

This presentation provides a discussion about the Special Educational technology program, Dragon Naturally Speaking V11, a type of voice recognition software and compares its overall educational uses with the speech recognition plug-in available in Windows Vista. The presentation commences by exploring the concept behind Voice Recognition software and follows with an analysis which describes the functionality of Dragon Naturally Speaking V11. The presentation will continue by addressing the educational uses of this program within a classroom environment to support students with Dyslexia. A summary outlining the advantages and disadvantages of using Dragon Naturally Speaking software will also be provided. The final section of the presentation compares and contrasts the functionality and educational use of this program with a similar voice recognition plug-in currently available in Windows Vista.

Presenter Biography:

John Phayer, completed an M.A. in Education (Research) in Mary Immaculate College on the following thesis title: “Dyslexia and Assistive Technology in Education: What benefits can be gained by third level students with Dyslexia from the use of the Assistive Technology software package, TextHelp?” under the supervision of Mr. Brendan Barry. John delivers I.C.T in S.E.N courses to primary and post-primary teachers in Education Centres and also provides tuition to students with Dyslexia on how to operate different types of A.T. software and hardware to support their learning needs. John has written various articles based on the themes of Dyslexia, I.C.T / Assistive Technology and teachers use of this technology, in journals like: LEARN, REACH, Reading News, Leadership+, Closing the Gap and Special Educational Technology Practice (S.E.T.P) as well as having publications with I.N.T.E.D. and I.C.E.R.I. John has also delivered presentations at various C.E.S.I. and Tipperary Institute conferences on the above themes. Johns’ interests include: (a) how Reusable Learning Objects can be used more efficiently in Education, (b) ICT for Special Needs students as well as (c) having an interest in all aspects of ICT in Education and can be contacted at: johnphayer@yahoo.co.uk

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