Voice to Text for Curriculum Developers

You spend your days crafting learning objectives, designing assessments, and writing scope and sequence documents. That means hours of typing when you could be thinking about pedagogy. Blurt lets you speak your curriculum ideas while your thoughts flow freely. Hold a button, articulate your learning objectives or lesson concepts, release. Text appears wherever your cursor is — in Google Docs, Word, your curriculum management system, anywhere. No breaking your instructional design flow. Just talk and the words appear.

First 1,000 words free Works in Google Docs, Word, Canvas macOS only
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The Typing Problem

Writing learning objectives that meet standards alignment

You need to write measurable learning objectives using Bloom's taxonomy verbs while ensuring alignment with state or Common Core standards. Each objective requires careful word choice — analyze, evaluate, synthesize — and you're typing the same phrases repeatedly across dozens of units. Your fingers ache while your brain races ahead with the instructional logic you actually want to capture.

Drafting detailed lesson plans with all required components

Every lesson plan needs an opening hook, direct instruction notes, guided practice activities, independent work, and formative assessment strategies. You know exactly how the lesson should flow — you could explain it to a colleague in two minutes — but typing out every section takes 45 minutes. The administrative documentation requirement is crushing your creative energy.

Creating assessment items aligned to objectives

Backward design means your assessments must directly measure your stated learning objectives. You're writing multiple choice stems, constructed response prompts, and rubric criteria. Each item needs precise language to assess the right cognitive level. You toggle between your objectives document and your assessment file, typing and retyping while trying to maintain alignment across everything.

Documenting scope and sequence across grade levels

The curriculum map needs to show vertical alignment from K-12 or across course sequences. You're describing skill progressions, prerequisite knowledge, and spiral review opportunities. Each grade level entry requires explaining how concepts build on prior learning. The scope and sequence document grows to 50 pages and your wrists are burning halfway through.

Writing teacher guides and implementation notes

Teachers need clear guidance on how to implement your curriculum. You're writing pacing suggestions, differentiation strategies, common misconceptions to address, and extension activities. You could explain any of these verbally in seconds, but documenting them means hours of typing. The teacher guide keeps getting delayed because the writing takes too long.

How It Works

Blurt works in every app curriculum developers use — Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Canvas, Schoology, your district's curriculum platform. Anywhere you can place a cursor.

1

Hold your hotkey

Press your chosen keyboard shortcut. A small indicator shows Blurt is listening.

2

Speak your curriculum content

Articulate your learning objective, lesson procedure, or assessment item. Blurt handles punctuation automatically.

3

Release and continue

Text appears at your cursor instantly. No copying, no pasting, no extra steps. Keep designing.

Real Scenarios

Drafting lesson plan procedures quickly

You're outlining a 50-minute lesson on photosynthesis. Hold the button and talk through it: 'Begin with a 5-minute warm-up showing a time-lapse video of a plant growing toward light. Transition to direct instruction using the interactive diagram on slide 4. Students then complete the guided practice worksheet in pairs, focusing on the light-dependent reactions.' The procedures appear as you speak them, capturing your instructional flow naturally.

Creating assessment questions with precise language

You need a constructed response item measuring analysis skills. Hold and speak: 'Using evidence from the text, explain how the author's use of metaphor in paragraph 3 develops the theme of isolation. Your response should identify at least two specific examples and analyze their effect on the reader.' The prompt appears ready for your assessment document. No typing, no struggling for the right academic language while your fingers hunt for keys.

Building scope and sequence documentation

You're documenting skill progression for mathematical reasoning across grades 3-5. Hold your hotkey: 'In grade 3, students develop foundational understanding of multiplication as repeated addition. By grade 4, they apply multiplication to multi-digit numbers and begin connecting multiplication to area models. Grade 5 extends to decimal multiplication and introduces the relationship between multiplication and division of fractions.' Vertical alignment captured in one breath.

Writing teacher implementation guides

Teachers need guidance on differentiation strategies. Hold and speak: 'For struggling learners, provide the graphic organizer with sentence stems pre-filled. For advanced learners, remove the organizer entirely and have them create their own structure for the analysis. English learners benefit from a word bank of key vocabulary with definitions in their home language.' Implementation notes written while you're thinking pedagogically, not mechanically typing.

Documenting curriculum alignment to standards

Each unit needs standards alignment documentation. Hold your hotkey: 'This unit addresses Common Core standard RI.8.6, analyzing how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting viewpoints. The summative assessment directly measures this through the argumentative essay requiring students to address counterarguments.' Alignment documentation that used to take an hour now takes ten minutes.

Capturing revision notes during curriculum review

You're reviewing last year's curriculum with feedback from teachers. Hold and speak: 'Based on teacher feedback, unit 4 needs an additional scaffolded lesson before the synthesis activity. Students struggled with the transition from analysis to evaluation. Add a bridge lesson focusing on identifying criteria for evaluation before asking students to apply those criteria.' Revision documentation captured immediately while the discussion insights are fresh.

Why curriculum developers choose Blurt over built-in dictation

Blurt macOS Dictation
Activation Single hotkey, instant start Click microphone or press keys twice
Speed Text appears in under 500ms 2-3 second delay before transcription
Educational vocabulary Handles Bloom's verbs and pedagogy terms Often mishears 'formative' or 'scaffolding'
Long-form dictation Reliable for paragraph-length content Frequently stops or loses connection
Punctuation Automatic, natural punctuation Requires saying 'period' and 'comma'

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Blurt work with curriculum management systems like Rubicon Atlas?
Yes. Blurt works anywhere you can type on macOS. If you can place your cursor in a text field in Rubicon Atlas, Curriculum Trak, or any other platform, Blurt can insert text there. It also works in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and browser-based systems.
Can Blurt handle educational terminology like Bloom's taxonomy verbs?
Blurt handles educational vocabulary well. Terms like 'formative assessment,' 'scaffolding,' 'differentiated instruction,' and Bloom's verbs like 'synthesize' and 'evaluate' transcribe accurately. You might occasionally need to edit specialized district-specific acronyms.
What does Blurt cost?
Blurt offers a free tier with first 1,000 words free, which resets every Monday. For unlimited transcription, the Pro plan is $10/month or $99/year. Most curriculum developers find the free tier sufficient for lighter weeks and upgrade when they're deep in development cycles.
Does Blurt work on Windows or Linux?
Blurt is macOS only. We focused on creating the best possible Mac experience with native menu bar integration and system-level keyboard shortcuts. Windows and Linux versions are not currently available.
Can I dictate while on a video call with my curriculum team?
Yes. Blurt captures audio through your microphone independently of Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams. You can be muted on the call and still dictate notes or curriculum content. Just stay muted so your team doesn't hear you talking to Blurt.
How long can I dictate in one session?
There's no hard limit on dictation length. You can speak for several minutes continuously if needed. For best accuracy, most users dictate in natural chunks — a paragraph or section at a time — then release and continue. This also lets you review as you go.

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