Great for Revision practice, speaking skills, and helping struggling writers.
Community Review for Dragon Dictation
My Take
Dragon is a tool and like any tool, its worth depends on how you use it. Issues with accuracy in dictation have improved over the years. I personally know several individuals with handicaps that rely on Dragon for daily online communication (both personal and business), and it works great for them. Students do need a little warming up to the dictation process, but once they are comfortable, they do well. If you have a purpose behind your use of Dragon, I believe it can be a great tool in your writers' toolbox.
How I Use It
I have used Dragon in two ways.
First, I began using Dragon on Ipads with my special needs students who really struggled with writing. I worked with them initially to get them comfortable with dictating. Once they were used to the process and understood how they needed to speak to the Ipad, they really had some success and their confidence as speakers and as creators bloomed.
The second way I have used Dragon -- and this is thanks to a recent clinical student -- is by having all of my students produce a second draft of a creative writing piece by dictation. They did not read their first draft to the Ipad, although they were allowed to use their notes/outlines. Afterward, students compared the two drafts and would pick and choose from both drafts to create a final. Struggling writers enjoyed this activity and my advanced writers found it challenging. The activity forces students to truly see their story/text in a different way as their brain must process it differently in order to speak the story.