Graphic Organizers + Voice Dictation = A Recipe for Success
Here at the Tech Tips: Work Smarter, Not Harder blog, we love free resources, but there is something else we really love…. And that’s when two free resources work together so seamlessly to even further provide supports. A support sandwich if you will 😀 …and today’s lunch special is a support sandwich made of Graphic Organizers in Kurzweil 3000 and Voice Dictation built into Word (with a condiment of Split Screen mode in Windows).
Step 1 – Build your Graphic Organizer in Kurzweil
Open up the desktop version of Kurzweil 3000 and use either a built-in template, or build your own graphic organizer. Write down your ideas, create connections between ideas, and develop a flow for your paper. Edit your graphic organizer until you have all of your thoughts down and are ready to write.
Step 2 – Open a blank Word Document
Use the split screen mode so that half of your computer screen shows your Graphic Organizer in Kurzweil, and the other half of your screen is a blank Word document. While looking at your graphic organizer, showing you your ideas, how they connect and flow through your paper, use voice dictation in Word to dictate, or to talk through your paper.
Why? What makes this a recipe for success???
Graphic organizers may support individuals who find it difficult to organize their thoughts, or determine where to start. Voice dictation may support those who have difficulty in writing or typing their thoughts, whether because of a disability, slow typing skills, spelling difficulties, etc… Plus, the majority of individuals are able to speak faster than they can type, so voice dictation might help you “type” your paper faster! Combining these two supports, using the split screen method, allows you to organize your thoughts, see what you want to say, and speak your thoughts faster than you (most likely) could type them!