Dragon_Naturally_Speaking_Study_One


 * __Field Study Summary: Dragon Naturally Speaking __**
 * By: Aleksandra Taylor **

__Question: __ How will the implementation of the technology, Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS), into my practice of teaching written output skills to students with learning disabilities improve their writing skills or enhance their motivation to write?

__Why did I choose this question? What were the puzzles, problems, or passions that motivated me? __ I chose this inquiry because I work closely with children with learning disabilities and my passion is to find strategies and techniques that work for the individual student. Even though, I have been hesitant to try new assistive and adaptive technologies, I am well aware that I would be doing my students a disservice if my fear of using technology with them prevented them from improving upon or acquiring new skills. As a resource teacher I often come across students who have low written output skills. This can be due to a fine motor challenge, organizational difficulties, lack of being capable of generating ideas, etc. Therefore, I was eager to try speech recognition with my student. According to Silver-Pacuilla’s article, speech recognition provides access to computers not only for users who have physical disabilities, but also for those who have constraints related to fatigue, poor hand-writing, spatial organization, or spelling. Speech to text technology also provides a student with immediate feedback as; their work is transformed into text with correct spelling and grammar (Silver-Pacuilla, 2006).

__What learning theories are behind my inquiry? __ My field study question asks whether or not Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) has an influence on the student’s motivation and ability to improve their writing skills. I found that there were both internal and external influences/motivators that I wanted to be aware of. When I looked at motivating factors for my student to improve upon his writing I turned to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. My student had his lower, basic need levels fulfilled within his classroom; physiological, safety, and social needs. My student, according to Maslow, needed to have his esteem needs fulfilled on an internal and external motivating level as it pertained to written output. A sense of accomplishment and self respect were internal motivators for my student, and recognition and attention were external motivators for him. Some might argue that his need to do well as a writer would also influence his social needs of acceptance within the classroom environment. Additionally, I looked at how Vygotsky’s Theory of Learning influenced my thinking around the field study. My student struggled with any written output activities, and was incapable of completing these tasks on his own. My student had some knowledge of how to write, in the conventional sense, and he had some prior knowledge about the DNS program. In my mind I wanted to scaffold his learning around both these topics. The definition of scaffolding being “where the adult continually adjusts the level of his or her help in response to the child’s level of performance”(Doolittle, 1997).

__Who are the thinkers who helped me frame my thinking in this area? __ Studies conducted by Higgins and Raskind (2004) have shown that speech recognition technology (speech to text) to be effective in the remediation of reading and spelling deficiencies of children with learning disabilities. If speech to text technology was aiding students in their reading and spelling skills, would it also not aid them in their writing skills? Raskind and Higgins (1999) found that students with LD ages 9-18 who used discrete speech recognition to write stories and compositions 50 minutes a week, over a 16 week period, showed significantly higher scores over a contrast group. I had approximately 80 minutes over a 12 week period in which to conduct my field study. Also, according to Silver-Pacuilla’s article (2006), research is beginning to show the benefits of giving all students access to these capabilities, not just to support students with sensory impairments and learning disabilities.

__What other research or background information did I rely on during this inquiry? __ However, despite the positive results reported in many studies, speech recognition technology is not without difficulties (Follansbee, 2000; Higgins & Raskind, 2000; MacArthur & Cavalier, 2002; Raskind, et al 1999). Training student’s to proficiency is time consuming. I discovered that I needed 4-5 48 minute blocks in which to set up Dragon Naturally Speaking with my student.

Also, training of students to use DNS requires students with an LD to speak with pauses, to be able to read what has been written for them, and to be able to correct what has come up on the screen. Many students with LD are not able to perform these tasks effectively (Higgins & Raskind; 2004). When the student corrects a word that continuously comes up incorrectly, the student is asked to discern between many similarly spelled and sounding words. Or the student can make corrections by commanding DNS to ‘Spell that’ word.

This requires the student to know the spelling of a certain word, and to be able to speak the letters clearly enough for DNS. DNS offers the use of the NATO phonetic alphabet as a feature for spelling out the word. Considering that most adults do not know the proper usage of the NATO phonetic alphabet,(Alfa for A, Bravo for B), I would not even begin to attempt to teach students with LD and spelling difficulties this special feature of DNS.

Speech recognition is not as accurate with children’s voices, and some children cannot be recognized at all (Higgins & Raskind, 2000). My student had a difficult time having DNS recognize certain words that he pronounced. For example, his spoken word ‘you’, slowed down by the student, frequently became ‘EU’ in text format.

The use of speech recognition in the classroom as an assistive technology has proved difficult to implement (Raskind, et al., 1999). My student, when asked, chose to stay within my small classroom rather than take the technology into his own classroom. Therefore, separating himself from his peers was a better option for him, in his mind, than trying to use the technology amidst his peer group. Also, even if my student had chosen to enter into his classroom with Dragon Naturally Speaking, he would have likely not been able to use it due to the classroom’s background noise. Dragon had a tendency to pick up on my voice when I was training him in how to use the commands effectively. Also, in a quieter classroom environment, the dictation by one student aloud would likely disrupt other students. For example, the use of DNS in a silent reading situation or during silent independent work would likely interrupt other students.

Another issue cited by Higgins and Raskind (2004) was the difficulties around monitoring and supervision of the program to ensure students, and other aids are trained to use the program. I ran into some challenges when I asked the student and the aid to use DNS to talk out a chapter summary of the novel __Breadwinner.__ I wanted to see what the results would be; with the student being familiar with the program and the aid being given minimal instructions. These instructions included the purpose of the program, and simple operating instructions. After forty minutes the student and aid had finished the chapter summary. Initially, I was pleased to see that the student had a summary one typed page long. However, none of the summary made any sense.

Here is a small sample of the summary: //My summary provided this day over a few days. I rather stay home for a few days. She wanted to get water gun but beyond that she went to be with her family I need a break she told her mother I don't want to see anything a liberal while mother admits we are entered by the events at the stadium or other//….. Unfortunately, the aid did not read what he said, nor did she let him stop to make corrections when he asked. When I questioned the student after he commented, “(The aid) didn’t know anything really. She thought it would get every word right. When I tried to tell her, ‘Shouldn’t we stop and correct?’, she said ‘No, let’s keep going and we’ll correct after’.” I would not let a student and aid work on another program again unless I was able to devote the time at that moment to monitor and train an aid.

__Procedures /Data Collection: __ I purchased the software Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS), and I had the District technology technician come in and install the software onto a computer that I planned on using. I began to investigate the technology and I set up a teacher profile with the software. After assessing all the students’ reading and writing levels, I was able to determine which students had weaker written output skills.

I decided to focus my field study on one male student of average IQ with low written output skills and motor difficulties since birth. Occupational and physio-therapy to support his fine and gross motor skills have been provided throughout his school career. I collected and photocopied written samples of his work as ‘evidence’. I met with his occupational therapist to discuss his written outputs skills and his disorganization around everything, from his desk to his thoughts. Then I allocated time into my schedule to get him started using DNS. I had the student fill out an independent writing inventory and one where I asked him questions. I became concerned because he did not seem to think his writing skills were weak. He was proud of his writing progress to date; which was not necessarily a bad thing but, most kids who struggle with written output recognize that fact. Next, we discussed preliminary steps such as: what is DNS, what can it do for me, how to use the head set, etc. Then we created a DNS profile, and we redid some written assignments on DNS. Later we used DNS to do classroom assignments, and we used it in combination with the mind mapping tool Inspiration. Finally, we redid the initial writing inventory and questions to gage motivation and perceived or non-perceived written output gains. During the field study I kept notes pertaining to various aspects; how well DNS worked, which words posed challenges for the student, levels of frustration/motivation, etc. __Data Analysis: __

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Figure 1 below shows the comparisons between the initial interview and final interview with the student. The student had a perception of himself as a good writer at the start of the study and this perception not only remained, but improved. In September, the student described himself as a so-so writer, slow writer who was messy and wrote for the purpose of fulfilling homework requirements. By late November, the students’ perception of himself had changed to one of an average-good writer, who was good at spelling, liked his final products, and had the potential of writing quickly with DNS. As this study only lasted less than 11 weeks, I was surprised at any change in self perception. The student also became more confident in his spelling abilities for when he commanded the program to ‘spell that’ word, he reconfirmed his relatively good spelling abilities. Therefore, I concluded that his self perception of himself as a writer overall did improve. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> FIGURE 1: Interview/Writing Inventory comparison between start of study and study end.
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Writing Inventory/Interview: ** || **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">SEPTEMBER ** || **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">NOVEMBER ** ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">1. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> I like to write? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">2. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">I am a good writer? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">3. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">I think writing is important? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">4. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> I like to show my writing to others? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">5. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> I write a lot? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Sometimes || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Sometimes ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">6. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> Others can understand my writing? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Sometimes || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Sometimes ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">7. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">The things I write about are interesting? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Yes || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Sometimes ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">8. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">What is your favorite kind of writing? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Journal writing done in class || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Language Arts done on Dragon because DNS is easier when I don’t have to write or type. ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">9. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Describe yourself as a writer. ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">So-so writer, slow, messy but getting better, write for homework, good ideas. || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Average-Good, good at spelling, slow writer but fast with DNS, I like it ( in reference to the final writing product done with DNS), good ideas ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">10. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">What are your biggest challenges as a writer? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Neatness, teachers can’t read my writing || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">I forget some pieces, miss out words, or I put them on the wrong line. ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">11. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Perfect situation to write, describe it. ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Computer at home, most comfortable || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Dragon in resource room because it is quiet. “Classroom is noisy…so might not work. I think Dragon would disrupt (the other students) in the classroom…it would be annoying for them, me saying every word aloud in front of them”. ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">12. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Have you changed as a writer over the past 5 years? How? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Writing has gotten better, use to be able to write only half a page || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">n/a ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; msolist: Ignore;">13. ****<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">When people ask you to write, how do you feel? ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Nervous, scared that it will end up being for homework, scared about the length of assignments || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Pretty good ||
 * **<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Interview Notes: ** || <span style="background-color: #15c12b; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS';">Student seemed nervous talking about his writing skills. || ||

__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Did my student become more motivated to write? __<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">At the end of the study I concluded that writing with DNS was definitely motivating for the student. Since the student was able to finish some classroom assignments early, and this was unusual for him, his internal motivators of accomplishment and self-respect improved. (Figure 1) Externally motivating was the recognition from peers and teachers that he had completed his assignments, and that they were ‘well done’. Also, he enjoyed the one on one teacher attention when he was using DNS. Often, he would come up and ask if it was his block in which to work on DNS with me.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> __Did the student become a better writer?__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">My evidence showed that the student was a much more capable writer when he used DNS. Figure 2 is an example of the student’s writing prior to working with DNS, and Figure 3 is the same piece of work done on DNS. In the DNS piece the student has included more interesting details into his writing, and the piece of writing is longer. The student was given more time to complete the DNS piece as he was training the program at the same time. Even though the student made claims of having good ideas, he at times struggled to come up with any ideas and then having the technology did not help him. (Figure 4) I thought this students’ writing would greatly improve with DNS. However, at times he had the technology and was unable to organize thoughts into sentences. I attempted to scaffold with the use of mind maps with varying degrees of support; scribing, using Inspiration, etc. (Figure 5) I have no doubt that if the student continues to train to use the program that he will continue to make gains as a writer.

__<span style="color: #009900; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">I am learning that: __ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Students regardless of a learning disability should have access to technology which is normally considered for use with children with LD, as an adaptation. Children who do not have the same struggles as children with LD can also make gains in literacy skills using ‘adaptive technology’ (Wetzel, K. 1996). Oral composition in itself is a difficult skill to master, and on top of this, the students need to learn a new DNS language of commands. I am also learning not to expect that technology will be a ‘quick fix’. From the literature I read, I had high immediate hopes that my student would do very well, very quickly. And when at first he did not, and he continued to have the same struggles I slowed down my expectations of the program, and supported my student through scaffolding. __<span style="color: #339966; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> Where I am now(what I believe, what’s changed or clarified in my practice): __<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">I had always seen a tool like DNS to be useful for students with multiple disabilities, where the act of physically writing or typing a piece of work would be strenuous. If a student was capable of typing, I did not see many benefits to using a tool like this. However, now I see that a tool like this does not have to be limited to any students as there are so many benefits. For example, any student using this program receives immediate spelling feedback as they use DNS. Also, I learned that the introduction of a technology needs to be closely monitored and supported. My student was not able to get a good result when his aid assisted him with DNS given minimal instructions on my part. My student still needed a lot of scaffolding to complete some assignments even with various pieces of technology were at his disposal. <span style="color: #339966; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; msobidifontfamily: 'Comic Sans MS'; text-decoration: none;">

__<span style="color: #339966; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Here are some examples: __ __<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Figure 2: Work done by student for his classroom teacher in September in one block __ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-no-proof: yes;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> __ Figure 3: Same piece of work done by student in three blocks with DNS. __ __ My summer __ This summer I went to England. We saw lots of things there. I saw lots of relatives there. Like my great great grandma she is 89 years old. She lives in a house. I also had an uncle he has two cats their names are Amber and William. Amber and William. my sister loves them. We stayed for four nights there. My room had a computer in. We went to Legoland we met my second cousins there we went on lots of rides there. After some rides we had some lunch. After that we went to some more rides. After that we went to Mike's house and played with his cat's. And the next day we went to a park and played there for a while. And then we went back to Mike's house and had some lunch. Then we played with the cat's some more before long it was bedtime. And then the next morning we went to uncle Joe's house we stayed there for about three nights in total we also rented a car it was big in black he also went to lots of pubs in England that's what they call restaurants. One time what you want pub all our cousins were waiting for us including our great great grandma. She goes to lots of bingo games. There's a bus that comes and picks her up and the grocery stores not too far from our house. There's so many nice sites to see and things to do we even want on a tram that led up a mountain. It was really cold so he had to wear jackets we brought our grandma's ashes and spread them England was where grandma was born. There was a huge graveyard. We wanted to find grandma's mother and father. Then after that we went back to Joe's house before long it was time to leave. We got back into the car and went to Mike's house. He played with the cat some more then we got into uncle Michael's car and went to the airport or with where we got onto a plane and went home. It was still daytime when I got home so I played with my sister I had hoped that we go there again sometime.

__ Figure 4: Classroom assignment were the student struggled to write a short persuasive paragraph using DNS __

Canada does not believe in capital punishment. Do you agree that there should never be capital punishment in any given country? Intro 2 supporting examples 2 supporting reasons Conclusion -retribution || -wrong person executed -jail for life a worse punishment -mental illness || I agree that there should never be capital punishment in any given country. People should get punishment but not capital punishment. For example, if someone steals they should go to jail. If it's a bad crime they should go to jail for 10 years. People should go to a mental illness hospital or jail if they have a mental illness. If someone is sick and they are killing people they should go to a mental illness hospital. An eye for an eye is not right. So that's why I agree that there should never be capital punishment in any given country
 * For || Against ||
 * -eye for an eye



__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Bibliography: __

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">www.edc.org/spk2wrt/bob.html.

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Higgins, E.L., Raskind, M.H. (2004). Speech Recognition-based and Automaticity Programs to Help Students with Severe Reading and Spelling Problems. //Annals of Dyslexia<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> //54, 365-385.//

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Raskind, M.H., &Higgins, E.L. (1999). Speaking to read: The effects of speech recognition technology on the reading and spelling performance of children with learning disabilities. //Annals of Dyslexia<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> //49, 251-282.//

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Raskind, M.H., Higgins, E.L., Slaff N.B., & Shaw T.K. (1999). Assistive technology in the homes of children with learning disabilities: An exploratory study. //Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal,<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> //9,47-55.//

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Lanncioni, G.E., Singh,N.N., O’Reilly, M.F., Olivia, D., Montironi,G., (2004) A Computer System Serving as a Microswitch for Vocal Utterances of Persons with Multiple Disabilities: Two Case Evaluations. //Journal of Visual Impairments and Blindness,<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> //116-119. //

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Silver-Pacuilla, H., Fleischman, S. (2006) Technology to Help Struggling Students. //Educational Leadership: Association for Supervision &Curriculum Development,<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> //84-85.//

MacArthur, C. A., & Cavaler, A. R. (2002) Dictation and speech recognition technology as accommodations in large-scale assessments for students with learning disabilities. [], Attachment #11.

//<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Wetzel, K. (1996) Speech-Recognizing Computers: A Written-Communication Tool for Students with Learning Disabilities? //Journal of Learning Disabilities//, 29,371-380. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">

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