Google: I love you! Except…
I am a huge Google fan. I morphed from dabbling in Google Docs from time to time to having my Calendar, Several Docs, and Reader open on my desktop at work each morning before I even brave the sometimes insurmountable inbox that is my school email. I also used Google accounts last year with students so that they could collaborate on Docs together in the classroom. It was a dream way of communicating and organizing the dreaded group project!
There has been nothing to complain about Google’s offerings for a while now. That is, until I tried to set up student accounts this year. To my utmost surprise and horror, one now needs a mobile phone to verify each account through text messaging. I try to be a mover and a shaker when it comes to technology, but I don’t want to get involved with students receiving text messages because of what they need to do in class. It’s a leap with which I’m uncomfortable. But now I don’t know what to do!
So while I ponder what to do with my Google dilemma as my students embark on their first pair project, they are dutifully huddled around Word documents on one computer to bang out their scripts for their presentations. Perhaps someone can persuade me that using their cell phones is an okay things to do.
Or maybe Google will give me a break on this one.
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Miss Connolly,
With one google dilemma comes a google solution. Why not set up a google voice account and have the students set their account phone numbers to the google voice number? It will take some extra time and effort on your part but you will then be able to send all the text confirmations through your own phone without giving out your cell phone number.
While google voice accounts aren’t currently available to the general public, you can purchase one on eBay for about $1 and get going. Good luck!