Monday, February 28, 2022

Free Webinar: Marvelous Mote Activities for Schools

Mote is an excellent Chrome Web Extension for teaching and learning:

  • You and your students can record your voice and add that recording to websites and web tools including Google Docs, Slides, Forms, Classroom, Gmail, and more.
  • You can view engagement details for your voice notes to see which students have listened to your recordings.
  • And although the free version is great, there is also a paid version with premium features including transcription, translation, STEM mode, and more.

I presented a free 1-hour webinar called "Marvelous Mote Activities for Schools" recently. The webinar covered an overview of Mote, how to install it, and then lots and lots of practical ideas for using Mote with Google Docs, Slides, Forms, Classroom, and more.

See below to watch the recorded webinar, access all of the session resources, see practical examples of uses for Mote in teaching and learning, get special access to the "Unlimited" version of Mote, and get a certificate of completion for the session.


 ▶️ Recorded Webinar (1-hour)

(Or view the video on YouTube.)

  • Title: Marvelous Mote Activities for Schools
  • Description: Mote is a free Chrome extension that lets you and your students record your voices and insert the audio into most all Google tools. In Docs this can be used to provide recorded directions, add personalized feedback, and practice fluency. In Slides this is the simplest way to embed audio in your presentations. In Forms you can use Mote to add audio to your questions, but also for students to record and submit their answers. Mote can also be used in Classroom, Gmail, and much more. Learn how you and your students can use this awesome extension to enhance teaching and learning with audio.

πŸ“‚ Session Files

You can access the resource document for the session below, which has all of the links, directions, and resources explored in the webinar, so you can follow along with each example.

🧰 General Mote Resources


❓ What is Mote?


Mote is a Chrome Web Extension to:

  • Record your voice and add that recording to websites and web tools including Google Docs, Slides, Forms, Classroom, Gmail, and more.
  • View engagement details for your voice notes
  • Use premium features including transcription, translation, STEM mode, and more.


πŸ’΅ Paid versus Free Versions


Pricing details at: https://www.mote.com/pricing

  • Free version
    • Record a mote anywhere (webpages, Classroom, Slides, Docs, Sheets, Forms, Gmail, etc.)
    • 30 second limit per recording
    • 20 recordings per month
  • Individual paid version
    • 180 second limit per recording
    • Unlimited recordings
    • Voice to text transcription
    • Translate your more transcripts
    • Save and reuse mote recordings
  • Schoolwide version
    • Set up for an entire school or domain
    • Manage users and view usage
    • Bulk discounts on pricing


πŸ› ️ Installation and Setup

Install

  • Install the Mote Chrome extension - Chrome Web Store link
  • Sign in with your Google account
  • Give permissions to Mote

Setup

  • Select your role (Student, Educator, Administrator, Other)
  • Select the subjects you teach
  • Select the grades you teach
  • Select how you expect to use Mote
  • Select how you heard about Mote
  • Enter your school name
  • Choose your plan (free or paid)

Remember to "pin" the Mote extension for easier access.

  • Click "Extensions" button.
  • Click "pin" icon for the Mote extension.
  • The Mote icon will now display in the extension bar.


πŸ“„ Mote in Google Docs

Method #1 - Add your voice to the comments in Google Docs

Example #1 - This can be a great way to add personalized feedback to a student's work.

  • Sample Google Document for testing - Google Docs link
  • Select the text you want to leave a comment on.
  • Click the "Add comment" button on the right.
  • Click the Mote icon inside of the comment box to begin recording your comment.
  • When done speaking, click the button again.
  • Click the "Comment" button to add your voice recording to the document.
  • The student can click the play button in the comment to listen to your voice note.
  • The student can also use Mote to record themselves and reply to your comment.


  • If the student does not have Mote installed they will get a link to click instead, which will open a new page where they can listen to the voice note.



Method #2 - Embed your voice directly in a Google Doc as a "Hypermote"

Example #2 - This can be used to add your voice as audio directions to a document, providing additional assistance to students.

  • Sample Google Document for testing - Google Docs link
  • Completed example - Google Docs link
  • Select the text you want to embed your audio recordings.
  • Click the "Add Hypermote" button in the comment toolbar on the right.
  • The "Record your Mote" window will pop up. Feel free to move the window as needed to see your document.
  • Click the Mote button to begin recording your voice, and then click the button again to stop.
  • Click the "Insert" button to embed the recorded audio into the document.
  • The selected text will now be hyperlinked to your recorded audio.
  • When anyone clicks on the link, they can then click on the Mote play button to hear your recording.



Example #3 - This can also be used to add audio for spelling words or writing practice for text that needs to be heard rather than seen.

  • Sample Google Document for testing - Google Docs link
  • Completed example - Google Docs link
  • Select the text where you want to embed your audio recordings.
  • Click the "Add Hypermote" button in the comment toolbar on the right to record and embed a hypermote as described before.
  • The students can then click on the links to play the recordings and then type in the text they heard.


Example #4 - This can also be used for the student to record their voice to practice fluency (for young readers, or world languages, or ELL, etc.)

  • Sample Google Document for testing - Google Docs link
  • The student selects the text where you want them to practice reading.
  • Then they click the "Add Hypermote" button in the comment toolbar on the right to record and embed a hypermote as described before.
  • When done you can click on the links to hear the student's recordings.


πŸ–Ό️ Mote in Google Slides

Method #1 - Add your voice to the comments in Google Slides

Example #1 - Just like in Docs, you can also add a Mote recording to the comments in Google Slides. This can be a good way for you or students to add feedback to a slideshow.

  • Sample Google Slides for testing - "Book Talk" - Google Slides link
  • Select the text or item you want to leave an audio comment for.
  • With the item selected, click "Insert" then "Comment".
  • Click the Mote icon inside of the comment box to begin recording your comment.
  • When done speaking, click the button again.
  • Click the "Comment" button to add your voice recording to the slide.
  • The student can click the play button in the comment to listen to your voice note.


Method #2 - Embed your voice directly onto a Google Slide

Example #2 - You can use Mote to embed a voice recording directly onto a Slide as a way to provide audio directions, narration, audio activities, and more.

  • Sample Google Slides for testing - "Short and Long Vowel Sounds" - Google Slides link
  • Click the "Mote" icon above the slide.
  • The "Record your Mote" window will pop up. Feel free to move the window as needed to see your slide.
  • Click the Mote button to begin recording your voice, and then click the button again to stop.
  • Click the "Insert" button to embed the recorded audio onto the slide as a speaker icon.
  • Anyone who clicks the speaker icon can play the recorded audio in the slide.


Example #3 - Students can use Mote to embed a voice recording directly onto a Slide as a way of adding their voice to a slide to tell a story, read something they wrote, or explain their thinking.

  • Sample Google Slides for testing - "Build a Jack-O-Lantern" - Google Slides link
  • Completed example - Google Slides link
  • The student will click the "Mote" icon above the slide.
  • The "Record your Mote" window will pop up, and they can move the window as needed to see the slide.
  • Then they click the Mote button to begin recording their voice, and then click the button again to stop.
  • Click the "Insert" button to embed the recorded audio onto the slide as a speaker icon.
  • Anyone who clicks the speaker icon can play the recorded audio in the slide.
  • For more details and directions see my blog post and video about this project.


✅ Mote in Google Forms

Method #1 - Add your voice to the questions in Google Forms

Example #1 - You can add a Mote recording to the questions in a Google Form to read the questions for the student, or to provide audio for text that should not be seen such as spelling words.

  • Select the Google Form question you want to add audio to.
  • Click the Mote button at the bottom of the question to start recording, and then click the button again to stop recording.
  • The recording will automatically be added to the description field below the question.
  • When the student takes the quiz, they will be able to click the play buttons to listen to your recorded audio for each question.


Method #2 - Add your voice to the answer choices in Google Forms with the Mote Pad

Example #2 - You can add recordings for each of the answer choices in a question to have the options read aloud to the student, or to provide audio that should not be seen as text.

  • Click the Mote extension to open the Mote Pad.
  • Click on the Mote button to begin recording, and then click again to stop recording.
  • The link to your recording will automatically be copied to the clipboard.
  • In Google Forms click to edit the answer choice, and paste in the copied link.
  • Repeat as needed for each of the answer choices.
  • When the student takes the quiz, they will be able to click the play buttons to listen to your recorded audio for each answer choice.


Method #3 - Add your voice to your response when submitting a Google Form

Example #3 - If your students have Mote they can record their voices when answering the questions in a Google Form.

  • Create your quiz in Google Forms as normal.
  • When a student fills out a "short answer" or "paragraph" question in the Form, they can click the Mote button to begin recording their response, and then click it again when done recording.
  • The link to their recording will be automatically inserted in the text response box.
  • After they submit their responses, you can listen to their recordings.
  • In Google Forms, click the "Responses" tab.
  • Next click the "View responses in Sheets" button in the top right corner (and let it create the Sheet if you have not already done so.)
  • In the Google Sheet simply hover over the Mote links that were submitted to have the voice card open up where you can play each recording.


🍎 Mote in Google Classroom

You can add voice recordings to Google Classroom in the stream, in class comments, and in private comments.

  • In the Stream click the box to "Announce something to your class".
  • Or for a class comment, click "View Assignment" then "Instructions" then click in the box to "Add class comment".
  • Or for a private comment, open the student's work, and then click the box to "Add private comment".
  • Next click the Mote button to record your voice, and click the button again when done recording.
  • The link to your recording will automatically be added to the comment box.
  • Click the "Post" button to post the recording.
  • Students will be able to lay your voice recording from within Google Classroom.
  • If students have the unlimited version of Mote they can also add an emoji reaction to your voice recording.


πŸ‘€ Viewing Activity

You can view all of the Motes you have recorded, and see the engagement they have had on your "My Activity" page.

  • First click on the Mote extension in the top right corner of Chrome.
  • Choose "My activity & engagement" from the drop-down menu.
  • This will open your activity page where you can scroll through all the voice notes you have recorded.
  • You can do several things for each voice note including:
    • Play the voice note
    • Click the 3-dot button and download the voice note
    • See if the page with your comment has been viewed πŸ‘️
    • See if your comment has been listened to 🎧
    • See feedback from your students including πŸ‘ "Thumbs up" πŸ’œ "Love this!" πŸ‘‹ "I may need some help!" and πŸ‘Ž "Thumbs down!"
    • "View original context" to see where you left the comment
    • And more!


✍️ Transcription

Transcription is an "Unlimited" feature that will create a speech-to-text transcription for all of your voice notes.

  • First you need to turn on the transcription feature.
  • Click on the Mote extension in the top right corner of Chrome.
  • Expand the menu section titled "Settings & Help".
  • Click the slider on for "Enable voice-to-text".
  • Now anytime you create a voice note, Mote will automatically create a text transcription of what you said and include that along with your recording for the students to see.
  • Note: It may take a minute for the transcription to show up after completing your voice recording.
  • If you need to edit the transcription (for mistakes or other changes) click the purple 3-dots button for that voice note, and then choose "Edit".
  • This will open a window where you can edit the transcription as needed.
  • Click "Save" and then "Exit" when done.


㊗️ Translation

Translation is an "Unlimited" feature that gives you the option to translate and replace any of your voice note transcriptions with another language.

  • After you have created a voice note that you want to translate for the student, click on the purple 3-dots button for that voice note, and then choose "Edit".
  • This will open the transcript edit window.
  • Next click on the "Translate" button.
  • This will open a list of available languages to translate to.
  • Click on the language of your choice.
  • The transcript edit window will now be updated with the translated text. You can manually edit the translation if needed.
  • Once you are ready, click "Save" and "Exit".
  • The transcription in your text will now be updated with the translation.


πŸ““ Motebook

The "Motebook" is an "Unlimited" feature that lets you save commonly used voice notes to your Motebook so that you can use them again as needed.

To save a voice note to your Motebook:

  • After you have created a voice note that you want to reuse in the future, click on the purple 3-dots button for that voice note, and then choose "Edit".
  • This will open the transcript edit window.
  • Click on the "Save as…" button.
  • Then type in the same you want to give to this entry in your Motebook.
  • Click "Save" and "Exit" when done.

Now anytime you want to you can reuse this saved voice note.

  • Click the "Add comment" button as normal.
  • However, instead of simply clicking on the Mote button, click and hold down on the Mote button for a "long press".
  • This will open the Motebook window listing all of your saved voice notes.
  • Click on the saved voice note you want to reuse and it will automatically be inserted into your comment.
  • Click "Comment" to accept this voice note.


πŸ† Certificate and Extended Unlimited Trial

Certificate

  • If you are interested in getting a certificate of attendance for this webinar, we do offer a 1-hour PDF certificate. 
  • Simply watch the webinar and look for the directions and link to fill out the attendance form. Your PDF certificate of attendance will be automatically generated and emailed to you.

Extended Unlimited Trial

  • Mote is offering all attendees of this webinar an extended trial of the "Unlimited" version of Mote through the end of June 2022. 
  • After watching the webinar, fill out the request form here: https://bit.ly/curtsxmote


Post by Eric Curts. Bring me to your school, organization, or conference with over 50 PD sessions to choose from. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts 

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