VoiceThread - Add New Dimensions to Online Forums

02/25/2014
Social networking forums exemplify one of the transformative qualities of the internet. People from across the globe can connect and exchange ideas and engage in ongoing discussions.  They have also become a provocative tool in the hands of teachers as we can have our students generate and share meaningful and authentic work with their peers and community.

VoiceThread - a Unique Platform

Most of these social forum platforms are based on textual interactions. VoiceThread, however, is a unique exception. In addition to text comments, it allows asynchronous audio or even video comments about the topic under discussion. Designed originally for online course delivery and engagement, it also serves as an excellent platform for student homework assignments, collaborative projects and even in-class commenting in a computer-enabled classroom.
Much like a PowerPoint presentation, a VoiceThread project consists of a series of slides. Each slide, though, can contain any combination of text, images, audio clips, videos or uploaded files (PowerPoint, charts, etc.). As students move from slide to slide, they can respond to teacher prompts or to each others’ remarks with text, voice, or video comments. These responses form a collection of icons associated with each slide. Future viewers can click on the comment icons to read, listen and/or watch an earlier response.
Image: VoiceThread - Example of student project
Sudents set poems to images of the Great Depression

Slide Mark-ups
An interesting feature is the ability for participants to doodle on the slide as they add audio or video comments - the markings are recorded and synchronized with their audio commentary. These markups fade away after a few seconds, leaving the original slide clean, ready for the next comment. If the slide contained a video, comments and doodles are aligned with the timing of the video playback.

It makes this a powerful tool for engaging in online discussion of any visually-based content. Great for discussions of art, visual historical primary sources, film commentaries, science visualizations, etc.

For example, while recording a comment on a video, a user can stop the video playback and markup the now-still image on the screen. Subsequent viewers will see the markups correctly aligned with the original video.

Take a look at the fun example of video commentaries on the right. Click on the icons surrounding to video to see commentaries. (Full version here)

Easy-To-Use Platform for Student Projects

Used in the classroom, it adds an interesting dimension to assignments. In this 5th grade project, ‘The Great Depression: Poetry for Two Voices’, the audio enriches the delivery of the poems written by two students that accompany a series of photographs from that era.

It’s a nifty tool. Check out this basic overview of VoiceThread to learn more.

Features:

  • Ability to add voice, text, video or image comments to slides of a presentation.
  • Includes a 'doodle' tool to mark-up slides.
  • Allows sharing and permission setting: view and / or comment.
  • Can select to share with groups or individuals within groups.
  • Send link to invite participants without requiring sign-up.
  • VoiceThread presentations can be embedded in websites to allow viewing and commenting without leaving the site.
  • Easy integration into your schools LMS.
  • Allows moderation of comments to provide option of pre-approving comments before being made public.
  • Free version requires all content to be public. $15 / month pays for teacher account offering more privacy options for up to 50 students.

How might you use this tool in the classroom? Please add your comments below.
(Tip - check "I'd rather post as guest" if you don't want to create a "Disqus" account)
comments powered by Disqus