Fetch Notes

Hello cloud based sticky notes!  Fetch Notes is a super simple site which allows you create notes on the web or via text/e-mail.  It is definitely a no frills way to put your thoughts down on "paper".  Using Fetch Notes you can create uncategorized notes or you can use hashtags to group notes together.  For example, if I want to create a "to do" list (or my wife's list for me to do) I can use #todo in front of my notes and it will group all of those together.  You can also use text messaging and e-mail to create or add to your notes too.  One feature I found to be pretty cool was the ability to text the site and have your notes returned.  If I wanted my #todo list sent to my phone I could text Fetch Notes fetch#todo and they would send me all of my notes with that hashtag.  Pretty cool!

Now What?

Fetch Notes could be a great way for students to take notes in class and organize them in one location.  Some students might like this service because of the text feature and the ability to recall notes via text.  There will be a group feature coming shortly where notes will be able to be shared among a group of students.

Google Voice

I have been using Google Voice for quite some time but never as an educator...and I'm not sure why.  If you feel overwhelmed by all of the parent e-mails and phone contacts then this is a great way to get your head above water.  Google Voice is free and essentially gives you a personal secretary for handling all of your school related calls.  After signing up for your account you will be given a Google voice number.  This is the number you will give out to students and parents to use to contact you.  When parents or students call, you have the option to screen the call in order to decide whether or not to pick up.  If they leave a voicemail, it will be transcribed and saved in your account where you can read it, listen to it or save it.  Another great feature for teachers is the ability to record your conversations with parents and save them to your library so there are no longer any questions about what was said on the phone.  Another great feature of Google Voice is the ability to text from your computer using your Google number.  This means that noone will ever see your real number and you can text for FREE to parents and students (they can text your Google number and it will show up in your Google Voice library).  Check out the introductory video below to learn more about Google Voice.





Now What?

Google Voice is a great tool to use for teachers.  Simply drop your Google Voice number on your course syllabus and allow students to contact you directly without ever seeing your phone number.  You can even put a customized widget on your website which will allow visitors to call you right from your class website.  If you want to keep up with your  Google Voice account on the go...check out the apps available in the Google Play market or App Store.

Wiffiti

Wiffiti is coming soon to education and I believe that it will make a big splash in classrooms where phones are allowed to be a part of the learning experience.  Teachers want the ability to get immediate feedback from students.  We have come up with several ways for this to occur (response clickers, web based polling, real time collaborative documents) but we have yet to discover a way to incorporate text messaging...until now.  The first site which allows students to text in comments is here with Wiffiti.  Currently their site says that they will be undergoing a major overhaul in the upcoming weeks.  You can request an invite to their beta testing and until then try it out with what is currently on the site.  Wiffiti appears to be a major breakthrough in that the student's cell phone number is never displayed, users do not need to create accounts (a name is given to them when they first text in) and their is a moderation feature which keeps inappropriate content out of the conversation.  Students can even upload images and the teacher can pull in content from other sources (twitter so far).  Below is a screenshot of a discussion board from a history classroom:

Now What?

Once this is off the ground and running, students will be able to text in thoughts and comments during class which can be displayed using a projector.  This will ensure that everyone is in the conversation and because it is private without names, students can feel comfortable sharing their questions and ideas.

Class Pager

A while back I wrote a post about Class Parrot which is a site that will allow you to setup your classes and then send text messages to their phones without ever sharing your phone number.  Class Pager is another site like this with the same capability with one clear advantage...you are given an unlimited number of texts.  Class Parrot limits the number of texts per month.  One catch is that you can only have one free class on Class Pager and then for $9.99/month you can get up to four more classes with unlimited texts.

Now What?

This is a great tool not only for you classroom but also clubs, sports, etc.  I use Class Parrot with my yearbook students and it is much easier to get a message to them that way than by e-mail or announcement.  You can also use this website to ask students questions via text and they can write you back.  This would be good for anonymous feedback about something in your classroom.

Class Parrot

Looking for a way to stay in more constant communication with your students or team?  Class Parrot is a text based notification system which allows you to push out a group text using their website and not your phone. Setup is EXTREMELY simple and fast.  You don't even have to setup your group because the first text will ask the student/player to respond back with their full name.  For more information, check out the faq section.  Upon initial sign-up you get 500 free text messages and then after that you get another 200 for each person who you invite to use the service.  Currently, there is not an option to pay for this service in order to receive unlimited texts.