Using Symphony Classroom with Merlyn

 

Once Setup of Symphony Classroom with Merlyn has been completed, you are ready to use Merlyn in the classroom!

Table of contents

• Turning Symphony Classroom on/off
• Using Symphony Classroom and what to ask Merlyn
• Using the remote and the Push-to-talk button
• Who is Merlyn listening to and responding to?
• Opening websites with Merlyn Mind
• Searching for content within websites
• Switching between devices
• Sharing a computer screen

Turning the Symphony Classroom on/off

Turn your the Symphony Classroom unit on and off by pressing the power button on the remote.

NB: When pressing the power button while the device is on, you will have the option to restart the Symphony Classroom or put it in Standby (Energy savings mode). When the device is in Standby, it is not listening for the wake word “Hey Merlyn”; the only way to turn it on is by pressing the power button on the remote.

Using the Symphony Classroom and what to ask Merlyn

To use the Symphony Classroom, talk to the unit from anywhere in the classroom. Simply say “Hey Merlyn...” followed by your request.

Or talk to your remote by pressing and holding the Push-to-talk button. You don’t need to say “Hey Merlyn…” when you do this.

There is so much you can ask.

You could start with “Hey Merlyn help” and see how Merlyn can help you.

Or try any of these simple commands to get started.

Find out more about using the remote.

Who is Merlyn listening and responding to?

Merlyn will respond to anyone in the room who begins a command with “Hey Merlyn” while the microphone on the Symphony Classroom is unmuted, so it can respond to your requests quickly.

Once Merlyn responds, your voice recording will be deleted promptly.

You can prevent Merlyn from responding to commands from everyone in the room by turning off Symphony Classroom’s microphone.

1. Press the microphone off button on your remote  or directly on the device .
   Merlyn will then stop listening for the “Hey Merlyn” wake word and stop responding to commands. You will also see a red light illuminated on the top of the device.
2. Use the Push-to-talk button on the remote  to talk to Merlyn. Merlyn will only respond to whoever is speaking into the remote.

To turn the device’s microphone back on, simply press the microphone off button again.

Please note that your Symphony Classroom device has two types of mute: one for the speakers and one for the microphone.
To mute the speakers, press the button with the speaker icon on the unit or the remote.
To unmute, simply press the button again.
There are no LEDs to show this mute has been activated.

Opening websites with Merlyn

Teachers can access any website URL when using Merlyn. Simply say “Hey Merlyn, go to [website name].”

Teachers can also create custom shortcuts to access their favorite websites by voice. To create a shortcut, follow these steps:

1. Go to your Teacher portal at teacher.merlyn.org.
2. Select the menu in the top left corner.
3. Select Shortcuts.
4. Press Add New.
5. Paste the entire URL in the Web Address section and name your shortcut in the Shortcut section.

Once a shortcut is added, say: “Hey Merlyn, open my [custom name] shortcut”.

Open bookmarks

Teachers can open your bookmark manager or any bookmark by name by saying: 

"Open bookmarks" 

"Open my [name] bookmark"

Searching for content within websites

If you want to search for content on a specific search page, ask Merlyn “Hey Merlyn, search for [content] on this website".

From here, Merlyn knows to search for content using the website currently listed in the search bar. 

Switching between devices

Switch between devices by saying “Hey Merlyn, switch display” or by pressing the Switch Input button  on your remote. You'll be shown a switch display screen, where you can select the desired device.

You can label your HDMI inputs to identify them. Press the Switch Input on your remote and highlighting the input you wish to label.

Sharing a computer screen

After pairing your device, just say, “Hey Merlyn, show my computer”.
Please note that you will need to assign the "my computer" label before you can use the command. 
1. Go to the Symphony Classroom homescreen.
2. Press the Input button on the bottom left of the remote control.
3. Hover the mouse over the input you would like to re-label, then move the mouse to the bottom of the page to select the preferred label.

Find out more about sharing screen