Alexa, I wanna kiss your face!

In the last two days, Amazon has made our Echo Dot Kids Edition devices more useful in the classroom than ever before! Yesterday, I learned how to "whitelist" Alexa Skills for our Kids Edition Dots that were not specifically made as a kid's skill.

What does this mean? According to this article, "Amazon says that the FreeTime on Alexa experience is tailored for kids ages five to 12, and most of the skills and features are appropriate for ages five to nine. Toni Reid, Amazon’s vice president in charge of Alexa and Echo devices, says the company is taking privacy and security very seriously with the FreeTime service and noted that it does not share customer info with any of the developers of FreeTime skills." (Siefert, 2018) Developers had to jump through additional hoops to create kids skills and oftentimes a really good educational skill wasn't available as a kid's edition skill because it was tagged as an "educational skill." 

While at the Alexa Conference last week, I realized that many developers (as well as some Alexa employees themselves) did not realize this was the case. After a bit of trial and error yesterday I enabled the FreeTime service on one of our school own devices and I was able to allow that device to access some very worthy educational skills by allowing them through the parent portal. What did this look like?:

• I signed into the Amazon Alexa app that was associated with the account that managed the Echo Dot Kids Edition device I was working with. I then started searching for the educational apps I wanted. Specifically for me this time, 123 Math and AskMyClass. 
• I then downloaded the FreeTime app for Alexa and signed in with the same credentials. 
• I then launched the Parent Dashboard inside the app by clicking on the "Child" that I had set up already. (This is password protected so that children can't add things without permission."
• I then clicked on "Settings"/"Add Content"/"Alexa Skills"
• I was able to swipe on skills I wanted to add to this device.  

Two concerns:

1. That's a whole lot of steps, maybe there is a shorter way to do this that I am not aware of right now.
2. FreeTime will not be free after a year grace period that I received when I got the devices this year. 

Next thing happened TODAY! When I opened my Amazon Alexa app today I noticed something new.

• Click on "Your Skills" at the top of the app
• Now I see "Blueprints" 
• Not only do I see Blueprints but I can create them right from the app now. This can be an amazing formative assessment tool on the fly.

This is a gamechanger for the classroom! We can now personalize the use of our Kids Edition Echo Dots with skills that relate to OUR classrooms and do it safely by using the Kids Edition Echo Dot! Alexa, I could kiss your face! I can't wait to share all this with my teachers tomorrow! 

P.S.-ALEXA, did you read my blog yesterday? Am I vain to think I might have been the catalyst for this change????

Hey Alexa, do you want to come to my school?

For the last two years, Bradley Metrock of Score Publishing has brought the Alexa Conference to my fair city, Chattanooga the Beautiful. Due to my reaching out to Bradley last year, I not only had the opportunity to attend this cutting edge event but I also spoke during the conference about Alexa from an educator's perspective.  Last year my mind was blown by the creative geniuses in the room that traveled from all over the world to attend. Last year was an intimate group that allowed me to pick their brains.

This year, Amazon became a sponsor of the Alexa Conference and the attendee list grew! For me, it was nice to walk in and see familiar faces and to catch up with some of the developers. This morning is the last day of the 2019 Alexa Conference and I truly feel fortunate to be a part of this event.

In August 2018, Bradley Metrock of Score Publishing connected me with Dave Isbitski, Alexa Chief Evangelist, because I wanted to create a pilot opportunity using Echo Dot Kids Editions with remotes at our school. Mr. Isbitski and his wife graciously sent 5 devices and remotes to our school to support our concept. We have tried things, adjusted, been disappointed, tried new things, and continue to look for ways to integrate the Echo Dot Kids Edition in our classrooms.

After attending the conference, I have learned that our path in using these devices feels ok. Both the pilot teachers and I have been somewhat disappointed in our path of trying to find ways to intentionally integrate. As I have sat and listened to the struggles and the unknowns of various Alexa developers, I realize I am in a place I haven't been very often as an instructional technologist- not bleeding edge but cutting edge. We are truly part of the first to push through.

Using the Echo Dot Kids Edition means we do not have access to using the wonderful blueprints feature available with the regular Echo Dot. I'll be honest, this is probably the most frustrating thing I've dealt with in regards to the potential of tech in the classroom for as long as I can remember. If teachers could create their own skills (without learning how to code) then they could personalize the use of their voice first devices to meet the specific needs in their classroom. It becomes more than just a timer or generic testing of math facts.

I had the chance to talk to some Amazon Alexa representatives at the conference about why you can't create blueprints for the Echo Dot Kids Edition and while I understand the response, I don't necessarily agree with it. So I find myself wondering "Hey Alexa, do you want to come to my school?" Supposedly Google is working to create a student-friendly voice option. But I see Amazon being soooooooo close to being there. Of course, this makes me wonder what is happening behind the scenes that make Amazon not want to connect the dots I see missing.

Why is the kids edition Dot almost twice the cost of the regular dot? How far are we away from a voice first speaker that is built for the preK-12 educational audience? I realize I am on the cutting edge of this and maybe don't even understand how to best meet my own needs for our school but it seems time for voice to be a part of every classroom Hey Alexa, what's the holdup? Let's move forward and show me (and all educators everywhere) how to follow student privacy laws and use voice first in meaningful ways!