Interacting with computers by voice and stylus

Grader A: miss

In 2009 students used computers with keyboards and mice. Voice input was not used in classrooms, and pen input was limited to niche tablet PCs and interactive whiteboards. Touchscreens (finger, not pencil) spread from 2010, and voice never became the primary student input.

Test: At least 20% of students interacting primarily by voice and stylus: under 5% in 2009 and 2014.

• Teachers' Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: 2009 (NCES 2010-040) (2010-05): Student computer activities in 2009 centred on word processing, practice and presentations on standard classroom computers.
• Virtual assistant (Wikipedia) (retrieved 2026-09): Mainstream voice assistants began only with Siri in October 2011.

Grader B: miss

Students used keyboards and mice (later touch), not voice and stylus, in 2009 and 2014.

Test: Share test: voice/stylus primary interaction <5% of students by 2014.

• NCES: Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: Fall 2008 (2010-04): Fall 2008: 3.1 students per internet-connected instructional computer; 97% of schools had computers in classrooms; 58% had laptops on carts; whole-school wireless 39%, partial 30%.
• Wikipedia: Speech recognition (accessed 2026-09-28): GOOG-411 2007; deep learning cut error rates from 2009; Siri used Nuance; Microsoft reached human parity on Switchboard only in 2017.