Speech to Text Options
On Windows: Microsoft Word
Enter "windows speech recognition" into the search box on the taskbar, then click the app when it appears.
The first time you run it you will have to teach the it to recognize your voice. Windows has a short step-by-step guide that will walk you through it. The system should get better at recognizing your voice (you can train it by right-clicking on the Speech Recognition console, choose Configuration--> Improve Speech Recognition.)
Once added, can control all kinds of computer actions. You can set the program to launch automatically whenever you start Windows. Right-click on the app-->Options--> Run at Startup.
To use the service with Microsoft Word, click the microphone button and start talking. Click the microphone again to turn off voice dictation. You can navigate with spoken phrases: For example, say "correct that" to make changes and "go to the end of the sentence" to move around within the text. For a list of supported commands (including ones for punctuation and formatting): Microsoft support document.
On macOS: Microsoft Word and Apple Pages
To set up, System Preferences--> Keyboard--> Dictation. Turn dictation on, and also tick the Enhanced Dictation box
Either choose Start Word Dictation from the Edit menu, or press the shortcut button. By default, this shortcut is set to be two taps on the Function key, but you can change it in the Dictation pane of System Preferences.
Then simply say what you want to type. To add punctuation, say the name of the character you want to use. While you are dictating, you can also use commands like "new line" and "caps on." For a full list, review the Apple support page. To stop dictating, click Done or press the Function key once.
On any operating system: Google Docs
Open a Google Docs doc on the screen--> Tools--> Voice typing. You can also hit a keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+S on Windows and Cmd+Shift+S on a Mac. A new microphone button will appear on screen. Click to start speaking and dictating, (you may have to give browser permission to use the computer's microphone.)
If the system is not sure about something you said, it will underline the phrase in question, and you can right-click on these words to see a list of alternative suggestions. To insert punctuation like periods, commas, exclamation points, or question marks, or add new lines or paragraphs, just say so. In addition, Google Docs supports a host of voice commands for selecting and formatting text, adding and editing tables, moving around the document, and more. For a full list of the commands: Google Docs support page. When you are done dictating, click the microphone button again or say "stop listening."
https://dictation.io/speech enter your text by speaking and then copy/paste into another application.
The first few options work within the learning management system as well. For instance, on a Mac, open an assignment submission, enter the shortcut for dictation (Fn two times by default) and it will enter the text as you speak.