This week for my research I found an article, "Voxer Versatility: New Ways to Communicate", from edutopia.org that explains Voxer being used in the classroom. Voxer is "a walkie-talkie app that allows a user to send and receive voice, photo, or text messages, all of which are saved on users' smartphones." This is a technology tool that "has been embraced by the educational community and has enabled students, teachers, and administrators to communicate broadly, easily, and instantly-- with transformative effects." With this technology tool, teachers are able to give meaningful feedback by recording things that students may be struggling with. Then, the student is able to use that recording when they go home or are having trouble remembering, and listen to the recording for help. Another useful point about Voxer is, you are able to hear intonations, the pauses and the bursts of excitement, which gives the student a personal connection. It is something that can be carried on the go and convenient. Voxer also includes back-channel conversations. This is where people are able to communicate and stay connected such as, the principal with the administrative team, staff and students. Last but not least, Voxer gives education the opportunity to connect across boundaries. Teachers can communicate with other teachers all around the world who they've never met. I thought this article gave me the chance to expand my knowledge on technology tools.
North Carolina Teaching Standard number two is, "Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students". Voxer is an example of a great way to use technology with every student. As the teacher, I can record something different for every student just to help them where they need it. This is a fun and easy way to engage students with learning and technology.
Lacey,
ReplyDeleteI use to use Voxer a while back-- probably when it first became popular and all these other convenient ways to communicate came out. But never would I have though that you could use it as a learning tool. You know the more I think about it, what can't we use as learning tools? As a teacher, its like we get the privilege to make things work for us. And at the end of the day, that gives us a wide variety of resources that would have never even been considered in the past. Glad you got another technology tool in your tool box! Great post.