Instructions
Welcome to the Shorthand Learning application! This page will guide you on how to effectively use the application to improve your shorthand skills through dictation exercises.
About Dictations
This application provides dictations from various sources like books and newspaper articles. You'll find a diverse range of dictations with different audio lengths and transcript word counts to suit your practice needs.
Start Learning
- Navigate to "Learn" in the left navigation bar. (This opens the main Learning area.)
- Click the "Dictations Menu" button. (This displays the options for dictation sources.)
- Select your desired source: "Books" or "Articles".
- Choose the specific exercise or article you wish to practice.
- Select your preferred speed (words per minute).
- Click the "Play" button to begin audio playback and start the dictation.
- Important: Click the "Clear Transcript Area" button before starting a new dictation. (This prevents mixing text from previous exercises and ensures accurate results.)
Understanding Your Results
Review your results to pinpoint areas for improvement in speed and accuracy. For example, if accuracy is low, practice at slower speeds. If your WPM is low, gradually increase speed as you improve.
- WPM (Words Per Minute)
- Your achieved typing speed during the dictation.
- Accuracy
- The percentage of words you transcribed correctly.
- Transcription Errors
The system highlights different types of errors in your transcript:
- Missed words - Words present in the original transcript but not typed by you.
- Inserted words - Words you typed that are not in the original transcript.
- Misspelled words - Words you typed with incorrect spelling.
Example: Analyzing Transcription Errors
Original: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog and sleeps soundly.
Student: The quik brown fox jumped over a lazy dog and sleep.
Analysis: The quik brown fox jumpsed over a lazy dog and sleeps soundly.
In this example, "quik" and "sleep" are misspelled, "jumps" and "soundly" were missed, while "ed" and "a" were incorrectly inserted.
- Words in Original Transcript
- The total number of words in the original dictation text.
- Typed Correctly
- The number of words you typed that matched the original transcript exactly.
Review Your Transcript Feedback
After submitting your dictation, carefully review the feedback provided by the system.
This review helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses in shorthand practice.
Pay close attention to the highlighted mistakes. Analyze these errors to develop strategies and improve your accuracy in future dictations.
Instructor Feedback (If Available)
You may also receive personalized feedback from an instructor regarding your score and transcript.
Instructor remarks can offer overall assessment and suggest specific actions for further improvement in your shorthand skills.