Voice Recognition and Speech-to-Text Pilot Implementation in Primary General Education Technology-Rich eMINTS Classrooms Prepared in partial requirement for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Special Education, Effective Practices grant Speech-to-Text Pilot Software Respectfully submitted to: Angie Nickell, Supervisor for Effective and Innovative Research Heidi Atkins Lieberman, Assistant Commissioner for Special Education October 8, 2007 By Wayne Goddard, eMINTS Evaluation and Research Coordinator Lorie Kaplan, eMINTS Program Coordinator Jennifer Kuehnle, eMINTS Area Instructional Specialist Monica Beglau, Director, eMINTS National Center Voice Recognition and Speech to Text Implementation in Primary General Education Technology-Rich eMINTS Classrooms Wayne Goddard Lorie Kaplan Jennifer Kuehnle Monica Beglau Abstract Text to speech (TtS) and voice recognition (VR) software has been in use for over a decade. This qualitative study examines the use of TtS and VR tools in primary general education classrooms. Extant research has limited foci of closely guided instruction in the classroom, typically for students with learning disabilities to improve communication arts skills. The intent of this study was to determine how teachers and students would implement and use TtS and VR software in technology-rich general education classrooms to support student learning needs. Text to speech (TtS) and voice recognition (VR) software have been examined as both an accommodation and intervention for students with disabilities, usually on a one- to-one basis, with a researcher or aide, especially as a tool for engaging and improving reading. These research efforts are typically conducted after school or during summer months, with children with special needs and of limited duration as reported by Joseph Sencibaugh in his recent meta analysis (2007). Researchers have suggested further study for implementing assistive technology in regular general education classrooms to “level the playing field” among all students in the classroom (Sencibaugh, 2007). Universal design for learning (UDL) research suggests that specific benefits could be derived by many general education students, not just students with special needs, when using assistive technology (AT) in the classroom (Abell, 2005; Acrey, Johnstone, & Milligan, 2005; Downing, 2006; Garderen & Whittaker, 2006; Hitchcock, Meyer, & Rose, 2002; 1 McGuire, Scott, & Shaw, 2006; Sencibaugh, 2007; Wehmeyer, 2006). Using AT in general education settings can be viewed as a “cognitive prosthesis” (Edyburn, 2006a). As cognitive prosthesis AT is used as a scaffold that will allow struggling students to achieve on a level with their peers. When no longer needed, the scaffold can be reduced or abandoned. A review of the literature found there are no studies extant of multiple technology-rich classrooms1 in different schools implementing TtS and VR software simultaneously to examine the benefit for all students in the classroom. Project description The primary interest for this project was to determine the effectiveness of providing TtS and VR software in technology-rich general education classrooms in grades three through six. The general education classrooms were selected with a homogeneous mix of students, not just students with, or without, special needs. These elementary classrooms typically have struggling emergent readers, English language learners (ELL), and students that struggle with writing and editing skills. Also of interest was the potential of the software for use in response to intervention (RtI) general education classrooms as an accommodation and/or intervention. In any classroom the instructional time that is lost through remedial teaching puts severe demands on teacher’s time and school building resources. Recovery of instructional time and improved student performance is crucial. Any software that could help with regaining instructional time is worth investigation. TtS and VR software has the capacity to act as a facilitator in many ways and allow students to work independently 1 “technology-rich classroom” as defined by eMINTS standards consists of: a student to computer ratio in the classroom of no less that one computer for every two students, high speed internet access, teacher laptop, data projector and SMART Board™ (interactive white board), printer, scanner, digital camera, and student productivity software along with a teacher who has completed the intensive eMINTS professional development program (more than 200 hours in a two-year period). 2 while restoring instructional time for the teacher (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2005; Franklin, 2007; Iiyoshi, Hannafin, & Wang, 2005; McNamara, O'Reilly, & Best, 2006). Software does not “care” how many times students may ask to have a word repeated to them before they understand how it is said. Nor does software “care” how many times a dictionary definition is asked to be repeated, or used in a sentence, or read to a student. This use of a cognitive prosthesis as a scaffold for all students in the classroom allows for use by individual student need and level of proficiency adding to student self-efficacy (Edyburn, 2006a). With TtS and VR being possible solutions for skill building that do not involve intense teacher management, this study sought to investigate the implementation of TtS and VR software in technology-rich general education primary classrooms. The study continued through the course of the school year to determine use over one academic year. Lastly, universal design for learning (UDL) has as a core concept that any assistive device, or AT, may be beneficial to all students, not just those students who have special needs (Abell, 2005; Gordon, 2002; Harac, 2004; Howard, 2004; Pisha & Coyne, 2001; Santovec, 2005). Any general education student can potentially find benefit from using AT in the classroom. Computer technology frequently has gone from an initial classroom use as intervention or accommodation to mainstream use; spell-checking and word prediction are two common examples (Pisha & Coyne, 2001). UDL is a framework for equity-in-learning for all students in the classroom. enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies (eMINTS) classrooms were known to have the infrastructure and teacher knowledge to support this proposed implementation (see Appendix, Exhibit A for eMINTS research basis). The 3 eMINTS teachers have completed more than two hundred hours of high quality (as defined by both the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MO DESE) guidelines and No Child Left Behind legislation) professional development (PD) over two years. The eMINTS Comprehensive Professional Development (eMINTS-CPD) facilitators work with teachers to implement constructivist based inquiry learning through the adoption of technology into the classroom curricula. Classrooms are equipped with a ratio of no less than one computer for every two students. Every classroom has a data projector connected to a SMART Board™ (interactive white board), scanner, digital camera, printer, and high speed connections to the internet. Over the course of two years teachers are taught to transform their teaching to constructivist, inquiry based methodologies that encourage a deeper student understanding than surface level content memorization while working in cooperative learning groups ("Hallmarks of an Effective eMINTS Classroom," 2005). Within eMINTS classrooms students quickly come to treat technology as simply another tool for learning. eMINTS-CPD helps teachers prepare students for becoming proficient software users and investigating how they can best exploit software to match and enhance their own learning styles and help peers learn ("Hallmarks of an Effective eMINTS Classroom," 2005). eMINTS classrooms were selected as the most effective classroom environments to explore the use of TtS and VR software for this project. Literature Review Relatively little is known about the implementation and continued use of TtS and VR software in primary grades in general education classrooms. Challenges that have been identified as barriers to effectively implementing and using AT in general education 4 settings include insufficient computer to student ratio, inadequate teacher technology training, insufficient funding for software for all classroom computers, or districts cannot complete the infrastructure needed for technology-rich classrooms (Alcantud, Dolz, Gaya, & MartÃ-n, 2006; Balajthy, 2005; Boone & Higgins, 2007; Edyburn, 2006c). If all these needs have been met, teachers may still be teaching students how to use technology, rather than teaching with technology as promulgated in eMINTS classrooms2. Computer AT has been used to help students with special needs for over two decades (Forgrave, 2002; Quenneville, 2001). After twenty years of AT in the classroom there are no definitive guidelines for the selection of AT for specific special needs. With the rapid change of software in the general market place it is increasingly difficult for teachers to stay current with advances (McKenna & Walpole, 2007; Mears, 2006). The challenge for teachers working with students with learning disabilities (LD) is finding effective software (Hasselbring & Bausch, 2005). If a student is in a wheelchair sitting at the front steps of the school the need for a wheelchair ramp is obvious. If a student with a learning disability is standing at the doorway to the classroom it is not so obvious what is needed. T. Hasselbring and