Community reviews for Google Voice

Google Voice is an amazing teaching tool. It isn't so much an in-class teacher tool as it is an extension of the class tool. It allows for follow-up questions from students and parents after class. It also provides a way to stay in touch with parents from your desktop, without using a personal cell phone. In many schools and distrcits teachers are not allowed to use cell phones in school. This is often a detriment as parents and studnets (middle school and above) often use their cell phones as a primary point of contact. Having a Google Voice number allows you ans the teacher to keep those lines of communication open with district-issued devices, having access to a cell number without needing an actual phone. Google Voice has been invaluable to me. I freely give out that number knowing I can check it all from my laptop or iPad, and don't have to give out my personal cell phone. It is also great for teachers who travel between buildings. It gives you a single number you can check from any computer, and the calls can be routed to ring at multiple numbers (if you have multiple offices). Here is a slide deck I created about Google Voice's benefits for educators: http://www.slideshare.net/mr_casal/simplek12-webinar-google-voice-041712

Students do not need a computer or a tape recorder to record their speaking practice--Google Voice allows them use any telephone to complete the assignment, be it landline or cell. I've even had a few resourceful students whose parents' phones had been shut off use their iPod touch to Skype me the message through Google Voice. I used Google Voice for one calendar school year with my eighth grade French students to prepare for speaking tasks of the New York State Proficiency exam. This implementation had both the intended result of improving student's speaking confidence and speaking skills as well as the unintended result of improving student's writing skills (most students wrote out what the were going to say before calling it in). Having students synthesize a thought in the target language on a regular basis in one to two sentences and communicate it via speaking was a great way to get students practicing both speaking and writing--and it was quicker to grade than the standard in-class composition or project. Students liked that they got to use their phones to complete their homework assignments. While the tech novelty wore off after a few weeks, though, students started to really appreciate just how quickly they could complete this homework assignment. Most were able to compose their response in two to three minutes and call it in in under 60 seconds. My shy students who did not like speaking in front of the class quickly learned to appreciate the fact that they could complete this assignment in the privacy of their own home, knowing that no one but the teacher would be listening to their response. Struggling students benefitted from the regular synthesis practice. Advanced students used the assignment as a testing ground to experiment with more complex linguistic structures. I truly believe this was beneficial for all. This product could be helpful for foreign language teachers of all levels, as well as for ESL teachers, as a way to assess speaking as a homework assignment. I also envision possible uses for ELA teachers seeking to show students the advantages of reading an essay outloud as part of the editing process. It could be used by music teachers to assess scales practice. It could be used by special ed teachers looking for creative ways of assisting students in need of a scribe to complete homework or in class essays. Possibilities are limited only by one's imagination and the three minute message limit.