Google Tone

Normally, I would post this up on SSIS Link, and just include a little excerpt here, but I wanted you guys to see the full post with images, so here you go…

Were you guys at the Kim Cofino weekend PD? If you were, then you saw this. It’s cool, move on. But if you weren’t, you should at least know about this little piece of tech.

It’s called Google Tone, and it’s an extension for your Chrome browser. It uses your computer’s speakers and microphone to share whatever you’re up to on the Web with… whoever you want, within earshot.

Here’s Google’s official description:

Google Tone turns on your computer’s microphone (while the extension is on) and uses your computer’s speakers to exchange URLs with nearby computers connected to the Internet. You can use Google Tone to send the URL for any web page, including news stories, pictures, documents, blog posts, products, YouTube videos, recipes—even search results.

It’s kinda weird. And at first, it feels really intrusive. Basically, you go to a website while Google Tone is turned on, and click the little speaker icon. Your computer sends out a little song and anyone else with Google Tone enabled will get a notification. They click on it, and bam, they just got the URL you were browsing.

Keep in mind, it will only share the URL you are viewing and you would have to initiate the share. It’s not a way for everyone to see what you are seeing on the Internet at any given time.

More importantly, imagine the implications in the classroom: How many times do you need to share a URL with your students? You can always post it to Moodle. You can email it to them. There are all kinds of ways to share places on the Web, and most of them include multiple steps. With Google Tone, you can find the site you want your students to access, and as long as you have Google Tone enabled, all you gotta do is click the little speaker. Every kid in the class now has the link. Done.

For more info, check out this video:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-tone/nnckehldicaciogcbchegobnafnjkcne?hl=en

Try it out and let me know what you think!