Note Taking Technology?

[dewdrinker23]

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Is there any technology out there where a person can speak into a microphone and the computer will type itself in a Word document?

 

[RowaH]

Yep, voice recognition software such as "Dragon Naturally Speaking" can do that. But I don't know how you'd be able to use it in a lecture hall.

 

[Mardi-Bob]

Vista has voice recognition software too. However, all VRS is suspect b/c the technology isn't mature(or any good imo).

I just got a tablet to digitize my notes. I like is so far

 

[mjbjhu]

you can also use the Logitech IO pen. It convert your handwriting to computer print. The software is a bit better than voice recognition software but still requires a learning curve.

It also requires that you use special paper that the pen can recognize. The paper can be expensive but you can find it cheap on places like ebay. You can also photocopy the original sheets and use the photocopies, I heard that works fairly well.

 

[Catalystik]

Yep, voice recognition software such as "Dragon Naturally Speaking" can do that. But I don't know how you'd be able to use it in a lecture hall.

A few years ago I used Dragon Naturally Speaking (about $90 now) and found it to be 95% accurate if I spoke clearly and with a greater-than-normal speaking volume. Of course, it doesn't recognize technical words, so you end up editing those extensively. I've heard it's possible to buy a medical version (about $900) with a vocabulary of technical words, but it is meant for a medical practice (and may not include the basic science vocabulary a med student would need). The original (cheaper) program is trainable to some degree. I stopped using the program because it really didn't save me any time (or wear-and-tear on the wrist tendons). Of course, technical perfection isn't needed in note-taking. Maybe it's become more highly evolved in the last few years and would be worth another try.

 

[old_boy]

.

 

[Flopotomist]

The problem I had with Dragon (as a non-disabled person) was that I spent so much time editing the 10% of errors it made, that I lost any time saved re-reading things instead of just typing them myself. I type pretty fast though - so it isn't a big time saver.

Oh - and you can just forget about any medical terms being entered correctly with Dragon.