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Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Dragon Professional v16 is a speech recognition software for Windows.

As well as dictating to your device, you can edit and format text and control the computer by voice.

Dragon installs on the computer so you don't need an internet connection for it to work. 

Dragon Professional v16:

Buying Dragon

Dragon Professional v16 costs £567 per licence from various suppliers (see below). There are discounts available for multiple licences. There is a 30 day money back guarantee if you are not happy with it.

You can use the microphone built into your laptop or device but you will get much better results with a headset microphone with a USB connector, and they are not too expensive - Dragon's is about £25. Links to some microphones are given below. 

Dragon needs to be installed on your PC, so if you are in a school, college, university or workplace, you'll probably need your IT colleagues to install it.

Suppliers:

Nuance also offer Dragon Professional Anywhere for iOS and Android which is a subscription product. 

Getting Started

To help you get started, refer to:

When you start Dragon the first time you must create a user profile for your voice - this only takes a few minutes.

Dragon will then offer to take you through an Interactive Tutorial. Going through the tutorial is not the same as training Dragon with your voice - the tutorial is worth doing because you learn about the software and about how to use speech recognition. You don't need to go through the whole tutorial though - you can just start using it immediately.

You can improve accuracy by using the Vocabulary tools where Dragon analyses your documents or emails to add new words to it's dictionary and adapt to your writing style.

Learning to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Before you introduce Dragon to a student, learn to use it yourself - use the Demo Videos and guides above. For teaching students we suggest the procedure outlined in Speech Recognition as AT for Writing, by Daniel Cochrane and Kelly Key, which uses the following approach:

  1. Consider It! - Is Speech Recognition (SR) an appropriate tool for the student and the learning tasks? Not every student can use SR, and you can't necessarily use it for every learning task.
  2. Try It! - SR is not magic. You must teach the student to use SR, and to compose and dictate.
  3. Assess It! - What does SR offer compared to handwriting, typing or other writing tools?
  4. Implement It! - If SR looks like it is a viable tool, how can it be introduced into class and at home?  

User Videos

Take a look at some videos about Bethany who uses a slightly older version of Dragon:

Microphones

You'll get best results with a good microphone and we strongly recommend that you invest in a decent one that is:

We often get asked if there's a way to stop speech-to-text tools from picking up chatter in a classroom, and one way is to buy a 'noise-cancelling' microphone which cuts out noise around you and is focussed on your voice. 

A headset microphone places the mic close to your mouth, so you can talk more quietly, which may also be an advantage in class or public areas.

Headsets are available with one speaker (mono) or two (stereo). With a single speaker you can obviously hear what's going on around you; with two ear-pieces you may feel more able to concentrate on your dictation. Headsets with a single ear-piece are often slightly lighter. 

Some examples are below: these are not endorsements - there are a huge range of microphones available and we recommend speaking to your supplier. 

Wired headset microphonesimage of headset

Look for a microphone with a USB connector rather than a round 3.5 mm jack plug, such as:

Wireless headset microphones free you to dictate while walking around, standing, or from a wheelchair:

There are also handheld and Desktop Microphones such as:

A desktop microphone may be helpful for people who find it difficult to put a headset on and some people find it more convenient and comfortable than wearing a headset.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking in Education

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