By Adam Schroeder

Aurum Staff

In the age of computers the way students do homework has changed. Their uses of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing have made research all the more easier. The addition of new technology, such as advanced features in Microsoft Office, have also allowed students to write papers and conduct research much easier. Today’s generation lives in the era of dictation. Dictation software has come a long way since its birth. It now allows us to speak instead of type. In fact, I am not writing this article, I am dictating it. Although I am experiencing minor difficulties, overall I’m very impressed [with the] software. It is a very unique experience when compared to typing. When one types, he or she is able to express themselves in silence directly from their mind to their fingertips. Although we do not always express exactly what we are thinking through our typing, when we speak we can express our thoughts and feelings in a different way. When typing, your thoughts stay inside your head. When dictating, you can speak your thoughts aloud, and make sure what you are saying sounds right.

I’m enjoying my experience with the dictation software. However I am finding that typing seems to be a more spiritual form of expressing yourself. The contact of your fingers with the keys and the sound associated with it shows us we are making progress. Yet in dictation the words are slow to appear on the screen [and] you are unsure if you are moving as quickly as you should be. In fact, it is even odd to have nothing to do with my hands. I suppose I could use this freedom [of] my hands to multitask and write down notes, or to flip through the pages of my research. As a novice user of this type of technology, I’ve yet to form an opinion on it. I find myself speaking slowly and watching the screen of my computer waiting for the software to mess up. Yet when it does make a mistake, correction is easy. Simple voice commands associated with the software allow you to make changes effortlessly. I plan to use this dictation software much more thoroughly in the future in an attempt to test whether or not there is advantage to dictating as opposed to typing.  Yet from what I have seen so far the main problem with writing this way lies in the large amount of time dedicated to editing and correction. This isn’t always a bad thing though. However, the software is surprisingly accurate and very impressive. Do I recommend students to purchase dictation software? That is a question to be answered in a future article.