Dear All,

Like Karen I have used Dragon since the DragonDictate days with WordPerfect and DOS (1994). Although I currently use a wireless Plantronics headset I still sometimes find the wired Andrea NC91 or update and a decent sound card/USB audio adapter preferable.

RAM and processor power have always been essential, no less so with Vista systems. I always think of Dragon as needing good "short-term memory", in this case covered by the Random Access Memory, and the reduction in the number of non-essential programs running at the same time.

The major issues I have run into recently with NaturallySpeaking 9.5, however, have been caused by Office 2007. I doubt that I'm the only one running into problems I never experienced while using Office XP and Office 2003! I'm sure that the others with multiple disabilities, including dyspraxia or dyslexia, run into problems with the new ribbons and the purportedly "intuitive" interface.

Since my earliest days using it, however, others have asked about the ability to record and transcribe lectures using Dragon. For all the reasons given by other colleagues, this doesn't work. It also brings up once again how much better it would be if recordings, etc, were made available to all, rather than numerous students trying to record the same lectures, wasting an enormous amount of time, energy and money.

As I am sure is the case in some of your institutions, on some of our courses (and I hope that this will spread), standard practice is that all lectures are recorded, and linked to slides. The relief that this gives students, especially those with disabilities, allows them to concentrate during the lectures. They can make shorter notes, use acronyms, point to parts of the lecture they need/wish to re-listen to, etc. Being able to rely on this has made a huge difference to students on these courses.

This and podcasting have been beneficial for many and, with other technological updates taking over, are more positive ways than requiring each student to request the right to record lectures, then leave them to get on with it, as too often is the case.

Just my rant for this week. All opinions are mine only, and not that of King's College London.


Regards,


Celia
Disability Support Officer, Equality & Diversity Department, King's College London, 7.36 James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8WA  Tel: 020 7848 3799   Fax: 020 7848 3490. This message may have been typed, but on a typically bad RSI /WMSDs (Work related Musculoskeletal Disorders) day it will have been produced using speech recognition software; please ignore any dictation errors I failed to recognise and correct.


Please note that I am at KCL on Tuesdays and Fridays only. For appointments, please contact the Equalities Administrator ([log in to unmask]) 020 7848 3398.

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karen Farmer
Sent: 05 September 2008 09:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dragon NSP

Thanks Sally and all

By the way - they're on to Version 10 now... Which I look forward to trying. Yes, the headset makes an enormous difference, and while I was really thrilled to be supplied with the Plantronics wireless version, after a couple of months of use I have to say that I prefer my old wired headset... And yes, I agree that the computer processing power is vital too. I'm not saying that the software doesn't work, it does - but only to a degree. I've been using VRS since 1999, and have tried all of the various incarnations, and the program is improving all the time - but there are still very definite limitations.

Some days I start it up, it works astonishingly well and I wonder why I ever had a problem with it? Other days when I use it, it does unexpected things (like not leaving a space between the word I dictated last and the one I am just saying) and it frustrates me so much that I shut it down and don't look at it for the rest of the day, or until I feel desperate enough to need it next - only workable if you are 'lucky' enough to have a condition like mine that is intermittent and doesn't always interfere with typing, but as an assessor I have to consider the student who does not have this advantage and who is therefore forced to rely solely on the technology... Reliability and effectiveness are crucial, especially for someone who is already stressed about having to do a three thousand word essay.

As another instance, I started the program last week and it told me, after 3 months of use, that I hadn't got the Audio Wizard set up (i.e. some of the files had been 'lost' from my user profile) and so I would have to do that before the program could be used... These are just two examples, I'm sure other people out there could come up with plenty more...

I suppose that what I was trying to convey (and obviously failing miserably) was that VRS is still not a magic fix - it takes time to get everything right. Sometimes quite a lot of time. Humans are much smarter (although I suppose we can all cite instances of where this does not seem to be the case) and far more adaptable, and technology is not always the best way to empower them - though I grant that it does offer some of us some advantages some of the time (try saying that fast!)

Anyway, I'll leave you all to enjoy this lovely wet Friday, and wish you a better weekend.

K


Karen Farmer
DSA Needs Assessor
Professional & Academic Development (PAD)
University of Bedfordshire
Park Square, Luton
LU1 3HZ

Tel: 01582 74 3422
Internal ext: 3422
Fax:  01582 489349