Hello out there!
Our A! Summer Literacy Program is well underway and we are having such fun!
We are learning lots from one another. In one of our latest technology lessons, Kelsey Culbert did a fantastic job of educating us on how she uses a few of her portable electronic devices to work for her. Kelsey's lesson was a massive hit and we simply have to share it with you now...
SPEECH TO TEXT:
What
do you use?
My recipe
for my portable devices:
Phone
– 1. Speech to text for Samsung Phone (microphone button),
2. Voice Search
Samsung App
Ipad
–3. Dragon Diction, 4. I pad menu – accessibility – speak selection – “on”
1. 1. Speech
to Text for my Samsung phone. What is it?
Comes on my
phone – I got a google email account. Then I went to the keyboard on my phone
to install a microphone button. It is accessed through my keyboard. To activate
voice input on the Galaxy Tab keyboard follow these instructions: Display the
onscreen keyboard.
Touch a text box
or somehow get the onscreen keyboard to appear.
Touch the
Settings button, the one with the Gear icon.
Touch the check
box by Voice Input to place a green check mark there.
Touch the Yes
button to confirm. Once it is installed – go to the microphone. You have to
properly enunciate. If it still is unable to understand a word that you are
trying to say, go to the word and touch it – the phone will have suggestions of
what it thinks that you are trying to say. If you want one of those suggestions
all you do is touch it and the word will be replaced…if you do not want any of
these suggestions, delete and either type in the word manually or say it again.
The better your diction, the better your results. Also, it helps to speak only
a sentence or less. You can edit your voice input just as you edit any text.
Speak the
punctuation in your text. For example, you would say, “I’m sorry comma and it
won’t happen again” to have the Galaxy Tab produce the text I’m sorry, and it
won’t happen again (or similar wording). Common punctuation you can dictate
includes the comma, period, exclamation point, question mark, and colon. Pause
your speech before and after speaking punctuation.
There is no way
presently to capitalize words you dictate.
Dictation may
not work where no Internet connection exists.
The Galaxy Tab
features a voice censor. It replaces those naughty words you might utter,
placing the word’s first letter on the screen, followed by the appropriate
number of asterisks. For example, if spatula were a blue word and you uttered
spatula when dictating text, the dictation feature would place s****** on the
screen rather than the word spatula.
The Tab knows a
lot of blue terms, including the infamous “Seven Words You Can Never Say on
Television,” but apparently the terms crap and damn are fine!
2. 2. Apps
– Voice Search – Samsung App – What is it? Voice commands
can be executed by speaking specific statements to your device. You can tell your phone what to do.
This is like “Siri” for my Samsung – Commands like “Read my text messages”, “Open
my email”, “Tell me the weather forecast”.
3. 3. Dragon Dictation – What
is it? I use this on my Ipad –free app –
simply install and set up language and region. I can use Dragon Dictation to type
emails, copy and paste things to my blog. –Can I use it with other things? Yes
- Facebook (my “Status” – goes directly to my wall), twitter, email. I am able
to use punctuation by saying the marks that I wish to insert i.e. period,
comma, question mark, etc… tap the “i” icon to see some helpful tips! Dragon Dictation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTQDEOEsj0Y
4. 4. IPad Settings - Accessibility
– Speak Selection - What is it? For when I want to
have the content on my Ipad read to me.
I go to settings, accessibility, speak selection, read select content, chose
my reading speed, and highlight passage that I would like to have read to me. I
do this with emails, books, etc…
Why
do you use these types of technology?
It makes my life
easier. It gives me a timeline that is far more manageable. I can do in 15
minutes what used to take me 3 hours. And it got me out of the 90s!
What
advice can you give to people wishing to use these types of technology? Be patient! It is going to feel frustrating
but it is worth it. Be prepared to reinstall Dragon Dictation if you need. Find
the best thing, or combination of things, that works for you!
Can
you tell us a bit about your Neil Squire Adaptive Technology Assessment? – What
is this and how did it work for you? This service is
only available to help people that are out of school and that have an
employment goal at some point. Once they find a successful candidate, Neil
Squire applies for funding. Great service, you can try all of the technology
out before you get it. They make it easy on you – when I worked with Brooke,
she came directly to me. They are super flexible! Neil Squire also goes onsite
to do ergonomic assessments for your work station.
Thanks
to your Neil Squire Assessment, what technology did you come away with?
Dragon Naturally
Speaking and Zoom Text
Do you use Dragon
Naturally Speaking? This is expensive! I am happy to have it but it takes
practice. Once you know how to use it, it is the best thing that you can
possibly use. Even though I have had DNS for a while, I can still ask the folks
from Neil Squire to come out and help me at any point.
What is Zoom
Text? A magnifier. It can also read things to you. Both Dragon Naturally Speaking and Zoom Text are
on my personal computer at home.
What
technology did you try that did not work for you? Eye
gaze. It did not work for my vision and neck control.
Thank you so much for educating us, Kelsey, and keep up the good work!
