As high school students, we can expect that we will write an essay at least once or twice in these fun 4 years, but did you know that we don’t actually have to write the essay? Yup, the good old days of pen and paper are over.

There is a dictate feature in Microsoft Word! Depending on the year and update of Microsoft Word, you can speak to Word and it will type the words for you.

While students have already found a way to dictate their writing by using their phone’s voice-to-word feature on apps like Google Docs, the feature on Microsoft Word really solidifies the feature. microsoft word dictate feature – Google Search

I’m sure this feature appeals to a lot of students as it is way easier to say what you’re thinking rather than write what you’re thinking. It’s quicker, more convenient, and reliable. If someone told me to speak for a paragraph’s length about a subject, I would find it easier than having to write 4-6 sentences on the spot. Editing and revising the work would be easier because it would just be revision of small things like apostrophes or commas.

While I think this is a helpful feature for students, I don’t believe that this will help students get better at writing. If they can just  voice their words and have a computerized system spell it out for them, they won’t learn or practice proper spelling and grammar. It defeats the purpose of having to form and shape the words. Students will miss out on spelling patterns, might not recognize words the meanings of common prefixes or suffixes as well as they should, or learn how to develop a writing style. The negative consequences from this outweigh the benefits of the feature.