Develop language skills with cell phones - True Stories

Cross posted at the Teaching Generation Text. The blog dedicated to using mobile devices for learning.

Not only can Google Voice become a repository for oral reports, assignments, or sound bites, but teachers can also write notes on each clip, share, and post them. Not only is this an effective tool for use with auditory learners and a way to practice language skills, but English as a Second Language and Foreign Language teachers will also want to listen up too! Often there is not enough class time for oral reports, but Google Voice changes all that as we see in the story of one high school Spanish teacher's experience in the below anecdote.

Text Talk Classroom Stories: Katy Taylor
At Holmdel High School in New Jersey, students in Katy Taylor’s Spanish class practice their language skills on the phone. On their own time, students call her Google Voice number and  read something in Spanish or create a dialogue which is sent to her Google Voice account.  The kids respond really well to it and instead of taking up class time, they dial in to her phone number at a time that works best for their schedule. She is then able to go online to hear what they've done at a time that works best for her.  She listens to their recordings and e-mails them feedback. Many students are afraid to make mistakes in front of their peers. When they receive a recording assignment, they're more apt to take risks because they have some privacy. The end result is students are speaking more and getting feedback.

More Ideas for Using Google Voice with Students

1. Have students do their oral reports using Google Voice. If they don't like how they sounded the first time, they don't have to send the message. They can re-record until they have something with which they are happy.
2. Use as an assessment tool to easily capture student's reading level. Not only do you have a recording, you have a transcript and a place to keep notes. Rather than talk to a parent about how a student has progressed across a year, let them listen to it their child themselves.
3. Have students share something interesting about themselves and post the recordings on a class page or in a blog where other students can listen or comment.

To find out how to get going with Google Voice, visit this link. For more ideas about effective ways to use cell phones for learning, including research-based strategies, lessons, and more order Teaching Generation Text.

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Google Voice Provides Every Teacher with a Personal Secretary

Google Voice is a terrific tool for busy educators for a number of reasons. First, it gives you one phone number that is tied to you. You can chose to have that phone number ring any phone you’d like. As a result, you can pick just one phone to take with you and all your phones will ring into it. You will never again need to carry multiple phones or swap phones. Another feature that the busy teacher will love is that it gives every teacher their personal secretary as all voicemails are transcribed. How fabulous is that?!?!!! You'll never need to transcribe a message, or sort through 4 voicemails to get to the one you were trying to listen to. Just read or click on the message you want to hear and skip over the rest. Another way Google Voice is like the built in teacher secretary is that it asks callers to announce themselves. No more being concerned about unknown numbers. You'll always know who is on the phone before you pick it up or, you can choose to just send the call to voicemail. But wait, there’s more! If you're just not sure if you should take the call, you can let it go to voicemail and Google Voice allows you to ListenIn^TM on your voicemail messages while they are being left. If you decide to take the call, you can connect to the call by pressing “*.” You can also record your conversation and listen to it later. Possibilities for misquotes...gone! And, as an educator, the ability to record a conversation or voicemail provides a simple and easy way to capture audio for podcasts or conversations with experts that students can listen to at any time. All conversations and voicemail recordings are saved as audio files that can be used as you wish i.e. sent via email, published on a website or blog, saved on a wiki.

To learn more, watch this video about Google Voice, then read some ideas for educators, and finally, learn how to get started with your own account.


Ideas for Educators Using Google Voice:
1) Let Google Voice be your personal secretary, transcribing your messages, allowing you to skip messages from callers you don't want to here from, and inviting you to eavesdrop as a message is being left for you.
2) Record conversations with experts that can be archived and played back at anytime.
3) Record yourself! Want to set up mini tutorials about topics. Just leave yourself a Google voicemail and you can include it in any online space.
4) Provide voice recordings for student assessment. Leave messages for students about their work by recording your voice then send it to them using the tool that works for you i.e. emailing it to the student, post the link in your content management system, etc.
5) Easily share messages with your school administrator. Rather than explaining to your principal details about a message a concerned parent left, Google Voice lets you forward the audio message and transcript via email. Nothing is lost in translation.
6) Google Voice enables you to place a widget on any online space that you can share with others. There's no need to give out your phone number. They simply click the widget enter their number and are connected either to your phone or voicemail, depending on how you set up your preferences.

Here's How to Get Started:

GET READY

Request an invitation

Visit https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite to sign up for Google Voice.

Accept the invitation

Be on the lookout for an invitation from Google Voice to your email. You’ll accept your invite there.

GET SET

Choosing Your Number

Next you will be able to select a phone number that will be yours forever. Choose wisely. What number do you want? You’ll need to select an area code. Many of the most popular area codes aren’t available (for instance 212 and 646 are unavailable), but there seems to be codes for every city (for instance, I was able to get 347 for New York City).

Your number can also spell out a word. After a lot of experimenting, I found it’s best to figure out a four letter word. My number is 635-LISA. You’ll want to have a word in mind when you set up your account.

Selecting Which Phones Ring

You can determine which phones ring when this number is called. Think in advance if you want your cell, work, home phone to ring when calls come in.

Importing Your Contacts

Next you’ll want to ensure all your contacts are in your new Google Voice account. This is surprisingly easy to do. These two posts provide everything you need to know. How to Export Your Outlook Contacts to a CSV File and Importing contacts by CSV. This took me about 5 – 10 minutes to do.

GO!

Test it out

Get your significant other, kid, or friend to try it out with you. Have them call you and leave a voicemail. You’ll see how it comes in as a text. Have then call you again and listen in as they leave a voicemail. Have them call you again and record your conversation.

Share Your Number

Once you’ve tested the service and are comfortable, it’s time to share your number. Update your number on all our communication systems at work, your email signature, websites, letterhead, etc.

You have read this article Cell phones in Education / Google Voice with the title Google Voice. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-voice-provides-every-teacher.html. Thanks!

I received my Google Voice Invite and You Should Too!

Last week I was talking to a friend on the beach who told me she couldn’t read an email I sent her because she didn’t have her BlackBerry with her. Instead she explained that she only had her personal phone. She said sometimes she just carries her work phone. Sometimes just her personal phone, sometimes both. I asked her how she manages all this phone swapping and inquired as to why she would even want two phones to carry around and switch off. She answered by saying that she couldn’t just use her work phone in case she changed jobs, so she needed a personal phone so that everyone would know how to reach her should she switch jobs.

Well! All the phone swapping is exhausting and hard to keep up with. So much so, that during a recent swap attempt a phone went a flying and splattered causing her to miss a good portion of our next day on the beach dealing with its replacement. Now, if my friend had Google Voice, this would not be an issue.

Google Voice gives you one phone number that is tied to you. Not a particular phone or location. Additionally, you can chose to have that phone number ring any phone you’d like. As a result, you can pick just one phone to take with you and all your phones will ring into it. Users never again need to carry multiple phones or swap phones. While that alone is a reason to use Google Voice, there are many other reasons. The biggest impetus for my getting Google Voice was that I learned that it converts all your voicemails to text and sends your phone a message with the converted voicemail to text. How fabulous is that?!?!!! Never again do you need to transcribe a message, or sort through 4 voicemails to get to the one you were trying to listen to. But wait, there’s more! Google voice allows you to let a call go to voicemail and allows you to ListenIn^TM on your voicemail messages while they are being left. If you decide to take the call, you can connect to the call by pressing “*.” You can also record your conversation and listen to it later. A simple and easy way to capture audio for podcasts or conversations with experts that students can listen to at any time. Google Voice also provides conference calling.

This video provides a nice overview of what you’ll get with Google Voice.

If this sounds good to you, here’s how you get started:

GET READY

Request an invitation

Visit https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite to sign up for Google Voice.

Accept the invitation

Be on the lookout for an invitation from Google Voice to your email. You’ll accept your invite there.

GET SET

Choosing Your Number

Next you will be able to select a phone number that will be yours forever. Choose wisely. What number do you want? You’ll need to select an area code. Many of the most popular area codes aren’t available (for instance 212 and 646 are unavailable), but there seems to be codes for every city (for instance, I was able to get 347 for New York City).

Your number can also spell out a word. After a lot of experimenting, I found it’s best to figure out a four letter word. My number is 635-LISA. You’ll want to have a word in mind when you set up your account.

Selecting Which Phones Ring

You can determine which phones ring when this number is called. Think in advance if you want your cell, work, home phone to ring when calls come in.

Importing Your Contacts

Next you’ll want to ensure all your contacts are in your new Google Voice account. This is surprisingly easy to do. These two posts provide everything you need to know. How to Export Your Outlook Contacts to a CSV File and Importing contacts by CSV. This took me about 5 – 10 minutes to do.

GO!

Test it out

Get your significant other, kid, or friend to try it out with you. Have them call you and leave a voicemail. You’ll see how it comes in as a text. Have then call you again and listen in as they leave a voicemail. Have them call you again and record your conversation.

Share Your Number

Once you’ve tested the service and are comfortable, it’s time to share your number. I updated my number on all our communication systems at work. I also updated my email signature in my BlackBerry and in Outlook. You’ll also want to update your business cards.

I really love my Google Voice and am thrilled to be able to share with other innovative educators what you can do to get started with your very own Google Voice number too! When you do, drop a comment here and let me know how it’s going. I'd also love to capture any cool ways innovative educators are using this in education. For inspiration check out how high school teacher Chris Fritz is Managing Student Calls with Google Voice.

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Question from my Facebook Friend:

Renuka so i have one basic question...what is the cost?

Lisa Velmer Nielsen It's Google! It's free!

You have read this article Google Phone / Google Voice with the title Google Voice. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-received-my-google-voice-invite-and.html. Thanks!