Handy hint: Dictation and feedback

Feedback, feedback, feedback...

Students want feedback on work. Quite rightly so, otherwise how are they going to improve? The mark is feedback, but it really doesn't give them any clue as to how to improve their work. And this is where written feedback comes in.

I have awful handwriting, and over the years students have complained about it. Interestingly most of my colleagues seem to have bad handwriting as well - may be it is a science thing, or is it lectures in general? So I've been looking for a better way to give written feedback, and the obvious answer is to type it. However, typing up every piece of feedback, and then attaching it to a student script, is a real problem. I did toy with the idea of using audio files, but the problem there is you have to get the audio right, there is no room for error, and you have to get the right audio file to the right student. And then it struck me, why not use dictation software?

I first started using dictation software to provide written feedback earlier this year. In my first attempt I was using the iPhone, and Bento (for more on Bento see Surviving the semester: Tracking Students). This all worked surprisingly well, and with the arrival of the new iPad I moved over to using the iPad as that made it easier to edit the text and correct any dictation errors.

My workflow was as follows. Import the class list into Bento, add an area for the feedback, synchronise Bento between the desktop computer and the iPad, and then dictate my feedback in to Bento on the iPad, and synchronise back. This all worked surprisingly well.

The feedback would then be provided to the student in a printout from Bento.

I have been so surprised how well this works but I've now installed Dragon Express on my desktop computer so I can dictate direct to the desktop, so I don't need to do the iPad shuffle (and I have now installed Dragon Dictate* so I can dictate straight to Bento). That is, I've moved away from using dictation software is pre-installed on iPhones and iPads. Two concessions were required to really get this to work, one was the need for a quite office and the other a decent microphone (the built-in microphone in the computer will work, but a good noise cancelling microphone works much better - I am using a Sennheiser PC7 USB headset).

This approach has also had an unexpected impact on the feedback I provide, that is, I now provide more extensive feedback. The reason this has happened is because as I am reading the piece of student work I am dictating the feedback directly into my desktop computer. No need to stop reading, marking and annotating the script, I just dictate, and this provides the final feedback at the end. Plus, dictation (even with editing the odd mistake) is 7 to 10 times faster than typing. Another benefit, the students can actually read my feedback!

One question is, is how accurate is the software? Well, whilst using my iPhone or iPad as a dictation device I would say I was getting around 90% accuracy. Having moved to Dragon Express/Dictate, and having bought a good quality microphone, I would say I am now approaching 99% accuracy.

So, if you want a better and an easier way of providing feedback you might want to think about the using dictation software....

By the way, this blog post (and most of the blog posts over the last 2 months) have been produced using dictation software.

* Another handy hint, when using Dragon Express turn off any auto-correct or text expansion software as this tends to confuse and clash with the software.

Disclaimer: I do not work for the company that sells and/or produces any of the above programs, and I do not get a 'kick-back' from the companies for writing this article. I do, however, routinely use the programs in my teaching, I do find them extremely useful, and so I thought I would share my experience.

Image: "Woodcut of the use of an early wax cylinder phonograph, or gramophone, for dictation" - Wikimedia

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Handy hint: Dictation and feedback

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