Exploring the use of iPads and mobile devices in education.

Siri Speaks to Me

Siri (voice recognition software on the iPhone) has made my life easier and most importantly it has increased my productivity.

How?

In the data driven world of education that demands consistent documentation--evidence that I'm doing my job -- Siri has enabled me to document student conferences and create comments to post on student work.

I use one of the apps on my iPhone 4S to dictate my comments about a student's work. Then I print them out and attach them to work I'm stapling to a buliten board and place another copy straight in my assessment binder. I prefer doing this in Pages because it syncs up with my iPad and I can print it out straight from there. Any notes app or even an email that you can send to a printer works too.

Let's get started!

Using the voice recognition tool on my keyboard I record comments for student work in the Pages app. I make any edits and print it straight from my iPhone or iPad using wireless printing, or email the document to my desktop for printing.

I print a copy of student work comments (in a smaller font) for my assessment binder to track student progress.

After recording my caption, I print it out in a large size and staple it to student work before it goes up on our bulletin board. When it comes down, I place it in my student's portfolios.

Is Siri's voice recognition perfect? Of course not, but I've tried other dictation applications (ex. Dragon Dictation) and this one comes on top by a mile. At first it can be frustrating to tone down your regional dictation (there are some Long Island words I still struggle with) but once you learn the "Siri lingo" you'll be set. Here's a link that lays out everything for you.

Good luck with your dictation practice. I hope Siri speaks to you too!

**Don't have an iPhone with Siri? Try the Dragon Dictation app for iPhone and iPad - it's fantastic!**

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Comment by Amy Sines on January 28, 2013 at 3:46pm: that's a practical application...how do you print them up? I'm not sure how to do that...

Comment by Monica Burns on October 21, 2012 at 12:23pm: Thanks! Siri isn't perfect but there are definitely classroom applications for voice recognition apps. Read more of my tips.