Google Voice is a powerful communication tool with plenty of potential. Students can leave voice messages can be saved, transcribed or played back. Text messages can be sent and received for free. Plus, Google Voice lets you choose a free phone number to be associated with the account. The possibilities for classroom implementation are endless! Leave this session with a clear understanding of how Google Voice works plus activities that can be implemented into lessons immediately.
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Google Voice handout: Click here (PDF)
Google Voice: www.google.com/voice — Head over there and set up your Voice account!
Google Voice session backchannel: www.todaysmeet.com/voice — Ask questions, give examples and share how you could apply this material!
Broadcast with Podcasts: www.ditchthattextbook.com/broadcast — Matt’s presentation about creating shareable audio (can be created using Google Voice)
Indiana Google Apps in Education Summit evaluation:
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Matt Miller (@jmattmiller) is a high school Spanish teacher at Turkey Run High School in Marshall, IN. His students engage in Spanish through educational technology regularly, including tools like blogs, digital videos and photos, QR codes, Google Voice and more. He blogs regularly at Ditch That Textbook, which is dedicated to teaching with less reliance on the textbook with an emphasis on technology and creative teaching. He can be contacted at matt@ditchthattextbook.com.
Some of Matt’s blog posts relating to Google:
Some of Matt’s most viewed blog posts:
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1. When you set up Google Voice, it allows you to pick a phone number from a list. You can sort and search all the available numbers to pick the one you want most.
2. When you receive a voicemail or a text at that number, it is displayed like an email in the inbox. It displays the phone number that sent it and the time it was received. The checkboxes allow you to manage multiple messages at the same time (i.e. archive, delete, mark as read/unread, etc.).
3. When voicemails are received, Google transcribes them. The transcription is pretty good if the voice is clear and the speaker doesn’t mumble. It transcribes in English only (the messages above were recorded in Spanish and the transcriptions turned out as gibberish).
4. Push the play button to hear the voicemail. The button displays how long the message is.
5. By clicking the drop-down “more” button, there are many things you can do with your message: add a note for yourself to the message, e-mail the message, download it as an mp3 file, embed it in a website and edit the transcript.
Settings can be changed by clicking the gear button in the top-right corner of the screen and clicking “Settings”.
1. Change your outgoing voicemail message using this feature. Google Voice asks you for a real cell phone/landline phone number during set-up (not the Google Voice number you picked). If you choose to record your voicemail greeting, Google Voice will call your cell phone so you can record your greeting.
2. In some situations, Google Voice only plays your name and not your entire outgoing voicemail greeting. Record the name you want associated with this account with this feature. Again, Google Voice calls you to record it.
3. Google Voice will notify you via e-mail if you receive a new voicemail or text message. You can designate an e-mail address for receiving those notifications.
4. Use this feature to change the code you use to access your Google Voice account from a phone.
Using the call button: Google will connect a call between your cell phone and the number you want to connect to. (Note: Some calls may incur calling fees.)
Using the text button: Google will send a FREE text message to the U.S. or Canada to the number you specify. Messages can be routed to your cell phone or email address.
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Assignments don’t feel like homework. My common Google Voice assignments from my Spanish classes are the “make a one-minute recording of …” using the grammar and vocabulary structures we’re currently working on. (Here’s an example of a student call.) I give them a little time in class to prepare their recordings so I can help them craft something that sounds good. If they use their time wisely in class, all that’s left is the call. Homework with their beloved cell phones. It’s great.
Listening and grading is a breeze. Google Voice voicemails handle like e-mails. They’re listed neatly on your Google Voice account dashboard. It’s easy to manage playback of calls. Plus, the voicemail transcription feature can be SO handy for going back to remember a specific part of the recording without having to re-listen to it.
Options are endless for the audio files it creates. My mind is spinning with ideas on how I could use the mp3 files of my students’ voices. (I would want to get their permission before using them, of course.) I want to create a radio call-in show where those files are spliced in like talk show callers. I could incorporate a goofy host voice and some sound effects and it could be a really fun assignment to listen and respond to.
It breaks down the socioeconomic divide. I teach in a rural, low-income school district. We are blessed with great technology in the school, but many students don’t have access to it or the Internet at home. But practically everyone has a phone of some sort. This incorporates a level of technology even if students can’t afford the latest gadget.
Essays make my students groan. They’ve done a million worksheets. But phoning in assignments is new territory for most of them. It engages their brain in a different way than a writing assignment.
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1. Traditional lesson questions: Haven’t ditched that textbook completely yet? Put a new twist on a common practice. Have students answer textbook lesson questions by voice instead of by pencil. Grade by listening or through the transcription. The change of pace may inspire!
2. Audio essays: Give students a chance to make their case verbally. Audio essays – whether the 30-second or multiple-minute variety – let students inform and persuade verbally, a skill they will likely need in the workforce.
3. Interviews: There are so many directions this can be taken. Students can interview their friends for their opinions about topics from class. They can delve into their own genealogy with family. They could even interview community experts on a research topic.
4. Debates: This takes interviews to the next level. Students get a topic from class and find one or more classmates. They grab a cell phone (or land line phone) and dig in for a discussion.
5. Poetry reading: Make poetry assignments come to life. Students can write their own poetry and recite it, or they can give their own interpretation of a poem the class is studying.
6. Speak for a character: Let students interpret what a character in history, in a story or in anything involved with your class would say. How would Juliet describe her sticky family situation? What would Adam Smith say about the state of our economy? How would a Haitian describe her daily life and struggles?
7. Directions: Give geography mapping activities a new look by having students give directions from one place to another. Include important cities or landmarks they should know. Creativity reigns!
8. Tour guide: This is similar to the directions activity. Students study an important place and take tourists on a verbal tour, identifying people, places and things and injecting information along the way.
9. Predicting the future: Based on what’s happened in the past and what students have learned in class, what do they think the future will be like?
10. Songs, raps, chants or cheers: These can be fun to write and even more fun to perform. Make sure they tie back to class content, of course.
11. How did you solve it?: When students hear their peers explain how they’ve reached a solution on a problem in math, science or any other class, they might be more receptive to hearing it. However, student explanations can have mistakes (sometimes serious mistakes), so checking answers before recording might be a good idea.
12. Talk show: Students take the role of talk show host, taking call-in questions, discussing issues with their co-hosts or talking to guests.
13. Game show: Hosts ask the questions and contestants answer them for fabulous prizes. Celebrity guests could make things interesting!
14. A call home to Mom: Students could leave a message for their parents or siblings, explaining an interesting place they’ve visited, an interesting event they’ve witnessed or talking about something that’s on their mind. Tie it into a theme from class and you get conversational, easy-to-understand explanations of your class content.
15. Surprise question: Leave a question that students must answer on the outgoing message. The catch: Students don’t know the question until they call! This can be a kind of pop quiz and an opportunity to think on their feet.
16. Podcasts: Create full-length audio shows that others can listen to. Record the audio using Google Voice and then download the message to an mp3 file. You can modify audio (fade in/out, add music, remove excess noise, etc.) using audio programs like Audacity. See Matt’s presentation page on creating podcasts: Broadcast with Podcasts.
Some notes about using Google Voice voice messages: Student cell phone minutes or long distance charges can be an issue, so warn them ahead of time. If parents are opposed to using Google Voice or don’t want to call to your specific number (if it’s long distance), calling a school voicemail or letting students use your classroom phone could be an alternative. Also, students make mistakes. I’ll often let them re-record their messages by hanging up on their mistake message and calling right back. I just grade the last one they submit.
17. Reminders: Remind students about assignments, projects, quizzes and tests. Parents may want to get these reminders, too.
18. Promos: Marketing professionals create hype for products by divulging details beforehand. Why not use that as a tool to get students interested and excited?
19. Review: Sending texts with questions or review information can give extra repetition with the material. In many cases, repetitions can equal increased achievement.
20. Primer: Get an in-class discussion started early. Give students a topic and something to think about before the arrive.
21. Extra learning opportunities: Offer the occasional extra credit question. Direct students to an interesting website relevant to class content. Some students won’t bite, but others are truly interested in going the extra mile.
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How to create a Google Voice account and how it incorporates student voice in class
15 classroom applications of Google Voice
Google Voice’s texting capabilities and how to harness its power
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