Macropad with built in mic?
I'm a special Ed teacher and we've been trying to teach some of our students to type on a computer using talk-to-text. The issue is that the microphones on the school chromebooks aren't very good and keep mishearing things. I am also possibly teaching a "soft coding" class next year, and I wanted to make their own macropads with them. The idea would be to allow them to figure out what buttons would be helpful for them and make using a computer easier.
I was wondering if there's a way to solve both problems at once. Either a macropad with a built in microphone, or a microphone (probably one used for conferences) that has programmable buttons. One of the buttons would be to start listening and type on the screen for them.
It has to be able to "type" onto the screen on its own, as opposed to the PC having a Talk-to-text software of its own. IT MUST BE PLUG AND PLAY. The students have to be able to take this device with them and plug it into a device and use it as a microphone to type.
Obviously this sounds like a raspberry pi kind of thing, but I'm not on that level of custom hardware or firmware creation. Any help on where to get started would be appreciated.
Also, and this is just a preference, if possible it would be better if the switches were optical as opposed to mechanical. Some of the students are limited in their mobility, especially with dextrous strength. Making it easier to press would be better.
Thank you to all who can offer me advice!