Slide 1
Hello! I’m Lauren Salisbury, and I’ll be reviewing the VoiceThread application in this slideshow.
You can navigate through the VoiceThread by clicking on the arrow icons at the bottom right of the screen or, if you’re viewing this on a computer, by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. You can pause the VoiceThread at any time by clicking the pause icon at the bottom left of your screen or, if on a computer, by pressing the spacebar.
You can add a comment to any slide by clicking the speech bubble icon with the plus sign at the bottom middle of the screen just above the progress bar. You can add a text, audio, or video comment or upload an audio or video file. Please feel free to add comments to these slides and to engage in conversation about the application and review. At the end of this review, there will be a specific slide dedicated to brainstorming ideas and sharing experiences of teaching literacy-based courses with VoiceThread.
Slide 2
VoiceThread is a cloud application that allows users to share media and host discussions in a series of slides similar to a PowerPoint presentation. What makes VoiceThread unique is the way it allows users to create presentations that integrate narration and comments from both creators and audience members.
To compose a VoiceThread, users upload media directly to the application website using the “Create” button. Instructors can, for example, upload existing PowerPoints, PDFs, images, videos, and audio files and organize them in the VoiceThread by dragging and dropping individual icons around the screen similar to how you might organize a PowerPoint in the “Slide Sorter” view.
Instructors can then comment on individual slides through text, audio, or video--just like I’m doing here--to provide commentary, add context, or ask questions alongside the slide content.
Slide 3
Once instructors share the VoiceThread, either by copying and pasting the sharing link or embedding the VoiceThread in their course site, students can add comments of their own to respond to discussion questions, reply to their colleagues, or ask questions of their own on any slide in the presentation.
Since VoiceThread allows users to communicate through multiple modalities including audio and video, instructors and students can interact in ways that more closely mimic face-to-face courses and encourage repeated and deeper conversations than text-heavy discussion boards typically found in LMSs like Blackboard and Canvas. Students can participate in modalities that feel most comfortable to them, and instructors can feel more physically present to their students.
For this reason, VoiceThread can be especially useful for instructors teaching first-year writing and college reading courses online where students are often challenged by not just the content of the course, but the large amount of reading and writing required to navigate course materials in the online learning environment.
One advantage to using VoiceThread for content delivery and discussion is the way it mimics a face-to-face class session’s ebb and flow: lecture and discussion can happen simultaneously, with students adding questions and comments as well as responding to one another at any point in the slides. These slides can be viewed in the order designed by the instructor, but students can also navigate in a nonlinear fashion, meaning they can return to different slides and conversations without having to review a long video lecture or remember exactly where in the recorded discussion a specific comment was made.
Slide 4
When integrating VoiceThread into my courses, I created one VoiceThread presentation for each week of the semester, similar to my previous method of creating a video lecture for each week. I embedded each VoiceThread in a corresponding module within the LMS, which, in this case, was Blackboard.
Immediately, my process for creating weekly content changed because I realized I could speak directly to my students in the VoiceThread and expect them to respond. Instead of a lecture-style video, I could create these slides as conversation starters and avenues to reflections, questions, and discussion. I quickly adopted a format that introduced course concepts but also dedicated specific slides to questions and discussions.
Because the technology was new to my students, I repeatedly reminded them--in comments and slide content--of the possibilities, including the idea that they could comment anywhere in the VoiceThread, ask questions, and discuss content even when I did not specifically ask for them to respond. Reminders like this eventually prompted students to ask questions and comment on slides on which I had not directly asked for feedback, and I heard from more students on VoiceThread slides than I did through email or the LMS messaging tool. Though many students only commented the required three times per week, over half of them consistently commented more than those three times, whether it was to ask a question, respond to a colleague, or provide an additional example.
Slide 5
Many of VoiceThread’s features are ideal for enacting strong online literacy teaching practices.
Drawing on Beth Hewett’s Reading to Learn and Writing to Teach, there are several principles for reading instruction, specifically, that instructors can teach using VoiceThread.
Some features of VoiceThread naturally imitate strategies that we already teach college student readers. For example, VoiceThread slides “chunk” content into smaller pieces, which developing readers can use to help take breaks and digest content. Students can also easily “read” and “reread” VoiceThread content both linearly and nonlinearly, a skill that is especially useful for readers of online texts.
Some activities that we might commonly assign in reading courses can also find new life in the VoiceThread space. For example, students can use video and audio comments to “read aloud” to their colleagues and to reflect on their reading. Talking through these observations of their reading and writing practices rather than writing them in alphabetic text might allow some students to more fully practice metacognition and critical reflection, which are skills we encourage in courses like these.
Instructors can also combine concrete images and text in the slides with more vivid and abstract description in their commentary, encouraging students to explain the relationship between these concepts. Granting students the chance to respond in the mode they feel most comfortable in also encourages students to respond more deeply and ask more questions than they might on a text-based discussion board or over private email where their colleagues can’t benefit from the dialogue.
Slide 6
One way to make student work more visible in the VoiceThread format is to include visuals that students can respond to directly. In this example slide, I uploaded a PDF of a student project. While making a video or audio comment I can also draw on the slide using the markup/pencil menu. This means I could annotate the project and could also have students annotate the project.
Instructors could easily adapt this example for peer review or students’ reflections of their own work. Students can create VoiceThread presentations by uploading their complete drafts and either add comments and annotations that explain and reflect on their rhetorical choices or ask colleagues to give feedback in comments.
An advantage to this method is that the projects are automatically “chunked” into smaller pieces, allowing students to focus on specific parts of the project. It also means that students can see each other’s comments and respond in conversation rather than repeating the same feedback.
Slide 7
VoiceThread offers instructors an opportunity to move beyond text-based interactions with their students while still encouraging those students to choose the means of communication most comfortable to them. With many features available to help instructors develop accessible materials and discussion venues, VoiceThread is an application worth experimenting with for both online-only and hybrid or face-to-face courses.
For more information on issues of accessibility, mobility, cost, and training and support, read my full review of VoiceThread in ROLE.
Please feel free to use this slide to brainstorm ideas about using VoiceThread in your own courses or ask questions about the application. Please comment here. Really! I’d love to hear your ideas and your thoughts
Hello! I’m Lauren Salisbury, and I’ll be reviewing the VoiceThread application in this slideshow.
You can navigate through the VoiceThread by clicking on the arrow icons at the bottom right of the screen or, if you’re viewing this on a computer, by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. You can pause the VoiceThread at any time by clicking the pause icon at the bottom left of your screen or, if on a computer, by pressing the spacebar.
You can add a comment to any slide by clicking the speech bubble icon with the plus sign at the bottom middle of the screen just above the progress bar. You can add a text, audio, or video comment or upload an audio or video file. Please feel free to add comments to these slides and to engage in conversation about the application and review. At the end of this review, there will be a specific slide dedicated to brainstorming ideas and sharing experiences of teaching literacy-based courses with VoiceThread.
Slide 2
VoiceThread is a cloud application that allows users to share media and host discussions in a series of slides similar to a PowerPoint presentation. What makes VoiceThread unique is the way it allows users to create presentations that integrate narration and comments from both creators and audience members.
To compose a VoiceThread, users upload media directly to the application website using the “Create” button. Instructors can, for example, upload existing PowerPoints, PDFs, images, videos, and audio files and organize them in the VoiceThread by dragging and dropping individual icons around the screen similar to how you might organize a PowerPoint in the “Slide Sorter” view.
Instructors can then comment on individual slides through text, audio, or video--just like I’m doing here--to provide commentary, add context, or ask questions alongside the slide content.
Slide 3
Once instructors share the VoiceThread, either by copying and pasting the sharing link or embedding the VoiceThread in their course site, students can add comments of their own to respond to discussion questions, reply to their colleagues, or ask questions of their own on any slide in the presentation.
Since VoiceThread allows users to communicate through multiple modalities including audio and video, instructors and students can interact in ways that more closely mimic face-to-face courses and encourage repeated and deeper conversations than text-heavy discussion boards typically found in LMSs like Blackboard and Canvas. Students can participate in modalities that feel most comfortable to them, and instructors can feel more physically present to their students.
For this reason, VoiceThread can be especially useful for instructors teaching first-year writing and college reading courses online where students are often challenged by not just the content of the course, but the large amount of reading and writing required to navigate course materials in the online learning environment.
One advantage to using VoiceThread for content delivery and discussion is the way it mimics a face-to-face class session’s ebb and flow: lecture and discussion can happen simultaneously, with students adding questions and comments as well as responding to one another at any point in the slides. These slides can be viewed in the order designed by the instructor, but students can also navigate in a nonlinear fashion, meaning they can return to different slides and conversations without having to review a long video lecture or remember exactly where in the recorded discussion a specific comment was made.
Slide 4
When integrating VoiceThread into my courses, I created one VoiceThread presentation for each week of the semester, similar to my previous method of creating a video lecture for each week. I embedded each VoiceThread in a corresponding module within the LMS, which, in this case, was Blackboard.
Immediately, my process for creating weekly content changed because I realized I could speak directly to my students in the VoiceThread and expect them to respond. Instead of a lecture-style video, I could create these slides as conversation starters and avenues to reflections, questions, and discussion. I quickly adopted a format that introduced course concepts but also dedicated specific slides to questions and discussions.
Because the technology was new to my students, I repeatedly reminded them--in comments and slide content--of the possibilities, including the idea that they could comment anywhere in the VoiceThread, ask questions, and discuss content even when I did not specifically ask for them to respond. Reminders like this eventually prompted students to ask questions and comment on slides on which I had not directly asked for feedback, and I heard from more students on VoiceThread slides than I did through email or the LMS messaging tool. Though many students only commented the required three times per week, over half of them consistently commented more than those three times, whether it was to ask a question, respond to a colleague, or provide an additional example.
Slide 5
Many of VoiceThread’s features are ideal for enacting strong online literacy teaching practices.
Drawing on Beth Hewett’s Reading to Learn and Writing to Teach, there are several principles for reading instruction, specifically, that instructors can teach using VoiceThread.
Some features of VoiceThread naturally imitate strategies that we already teach college student readers. For example, VoiceThread slides “chunk” content into smaller pieces, which developing readers can use to help take breaks and digest content. Students can also easily “read” and “reread” VoiceThread content both linearly and nonlinearly, a skill that is especially useful for readers of online texts.
Some activities that we might commonly assign in reading courses can also find new life in the VoiceThread space. For example, students can use video and audio comments to “read aloud” to their colleagues and to reflect on their reading. Talking through these observations of their reading and writing practices rather than writing them in alphabetic text might allow some students to more fully practice metacognition and critical reflection, which are skills we encourage in courses like these.
Instructors can also combine concrete images and text in the slides with more vivid and abstract description in their commentary, encouraging students to explain the relationship between these concepts. Granting students the chance to respond in the mode they feel most comfortable in also encourages students to respond more deeply and ask more questions than they might on a text-based discussion board or over private email where their colleagues can’t benefit from the dialogue.
Slide 6
One way to make student work more visible in the VoiceThread format is to include visuals that students can respond to directly. In this example slide, I uploaded a PDF of a student project. While making a video or audio comment I can also draw on the slide using the markup/pencil menu. This means I could annotate the project and could also have students annotate the project.
Instructors could easily adapt this example for peer review or students’ reflections of their own work. Students can create VoiceThread presentations by uploading their complete drafts and either add comments and annotations that explain and reflect on their rhetorical choices or ask colleagues to give feedback in comments.
An advantage to this method is that the projects are automatically “chunked” into smaller pieces, allowing students to focus on specific parts of the project. It also means that students can see each other’s comments and respond in conversation rather than repeating the same feedback.
Slide 7
VoiceThread offers instructors an opportunity to move beyond text-based interactions with their students while still encouraging those students to choose the means of communication most comfortable to them. With many features available to help instructors develop accessible materials and discussion venues, VoiceThread is an application worth experimenting with for both online-only and hybrid or face-to-face courses.
For more information on issues of accessibility, mobility, cost, and training and support, read my full review of VoiceThread in ROLE.
Please feel free to use this slide to brainstorm ideas about using VoiceThread in your own courses or ask questions about the application. Please comment here. Really! I’d love to hear your ideas and your thoughts