While Dragon Dication by Nuance is not the only dictation application on the market, in this educators opinion, it is the most polished and one of the most widely used.  If you are not familiar with this type of program it is simple to explain: you say it and the program types it.  For fellow special educators and general education teachers alike, this probably elicits a Scooby Doo-like response of Roh?! How many students do you currently have who can hold a fantastic conversation with you regarding subject matter?  How many times have you quizzed and discussed with a student just knowing he had a fantastic grip on an essay topic only to cringe at the resulting product when pen met paper?  

Dragon allows that same student to take his head- full of content knowledge and great ideas and simply speak them in order to compose.  This is a tremendous tool for any student with a language- based disablity, as one of the most common manifestations of such disabilities is a disconnect from thinking something and physically writing it.  For a full look at Dragon Dication jump on over to http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/index.htm.  

Now I mentioned earlier in this post that the Sony Xperia tablet (or any android operated tablet to be fair) can be used to make this program even more effective...here is how.  There is a lovely little Android application named Dragon Remote Microphone that presents some very interesting possibilities.  This app allows your Sony Xperia tablet or Sony Xperia Z,ZL smartphone (again to be fair any andriod operated tablet or device) to become a remote and wireless microphone for your Dragon software veriosn 11.5 or later.   What does this mean for you and your students?  Well for one, studetns are no longer limited to being tethered to their computer in order to dictate and compose written material.  As long as the computer installed with Dragon Dication is on the same wifi network as the mobile device using the microphone app, you are good to go!  This means moving throughout the classroom, the house etc... while working on homework, essays,  and assignments.  The folks over at Nuance are constantly updating the software and the app, so new possibilities and features are constantly making there way into both.  Just one more way to utilize technology to give our students access to the curriculum and overcome obstacles.