No More Misunderstood Comments!

Beep: Voice Comments In Google Docs 

@LisaBerghoff

Giving students feedback is one of the most important parts of the teaching and learning process. And yet, it's also one of the most arduous, time consuming, and misunderstood practices for both teachers and students. For feedback to be effective, it must be timely, specific, and actionable.  This can be a huge challenge for teachers who are giving feedback on over 100 multi-page essays, or for students who misread their teacher's comments. 

That's why I am excited to share a Chrome extension called Beep.

What Is Beep?

Beep is a voice feedback Chrome extension that allows you to record and listen to voice notes and audio comments. It works on Google docs, slides, sheets, forms, and gmail. Instead of typing comments in Google docs, you or your students can leave voice notes. Instead of typing messages in gmail, you can leave voice notes. This is not a voice to text tool. The receiver will hear your voice. Voice recordings can last up to three minutes each and there is no limit to the number of recordings you can make. 

How Do I Use Beep?

First, go to the Chrome webstore and search for Beep. Click Add To Chrome and then pin it to your Chrome extension bar. The first time you use it you may need to allow access to your microphone.

You have some very simple settings choices to make. First, You can decide when your recording will expire. In other words, it will be deleted after the time period you select. The default is set to "never". You can also opt to be able to listen to your recording before you submit. This adds an extra step but it is often a good idea to preview what you are sending before you send it. The default is set to "No, don't show preview".  

Use in Google docs:  Open a Google doc and highlight text. This also works on slides, sheets, and forms! When you click the comment button on the right, you will see an option to record. Click and start recording. To end your recording, click save and then click submit. You can also pause to gather your thoughts and then continue recording. 

What Does It Look Like For The Reciever?

If the person listening to the voice note does not have Beep, that's ok. They will get an notification and can listen through the notification, or they also will be give the opportunity to create a free account.

When/Why Would I Use Beep?

As an educator, this could be a wonderful tool to use when you are giving lots of feedback to lots of students. Sometimes when I am on feedback overload my comments come across as short or unfriendly. Hearing my voice could help make that feedback aligned with its intention, to help my students do better. Here are some other possible use cases:

• Have a student use it as an accessibility tool. If typing is a barrier, have them record what they want to say and then insert it into an email message, Google form, doc, slide, or sheet. 
• Ask students to use it to explain their thinking. Sometimes our students let the typed language get in the way of what they really want to say. Just let them say it!
• Use Beep with shared meeting notes. Instead of typing a whole page into the comments section, why not just say what you want everyone to understand?
• Leave voice notes for yourself. I will sometimes find myself with data on a spreadsheet and I run out of time but I want to make sure to remember where I left off. 

What are some other uses that I don't have listed here? Are you ready to get started with Beep?

Let me know if you would like some help getting going.