VoiceThread

I do love VoiceThread. It is one of my favorite things to have come out of last year's workshops. There are so many ways to use a VT, and I'm hoping to collect more ideas as the year goes by.



What is a VoiceThread?



If you don't want to click the link, I'll recap in a nutshell. It is a mixture of images, video, and/or audio submissions. You can comment, using a microphone or your keyboard, on an image or video that is on display.

So why would an elementary teacher want to use it? First, it is incredibly easy. I needed little of my technical knowledge to get a picture and an audio comment on the screen. Next thing I know, I have all 26 of my students with self portraits and self read poems onto a VT. There were a few technical glitches that I worked through due to the number of photos and comments I worked on at one time. The glitches were usually solved by restarting the app. I embedded it into our classroom blog, and now parents can see what their children and friends are working on. One mom told me it brought her to tears. I assume that was in a good way.

Second, it is an easy way to incorporate technology in a one computer classroom. A teacher could post a few pieces of artwork (either culled from the Internet or scanned from an art book), and have students comment on the art. In the beginning, by that one computer, a teacher could have some comment starters to help students know what to say.

Students scrambled to hear what their classmates had to say online, so there's another reason to use it. We want our students to listen to each other, but how often do they zone out in class? Now they are actively listening to their classmates, and can even respond without interruption. Shy students can type their response as they build up the confidence to post orally. Ahh, differentiation.

Differentiation!! Just as in blog comments, this offers an opportunity for success for all students. Some comments are shorter, some are longer, but you can recognize growth throughout the year in everyone. Plus, students will surprise you with their ability to orally analyze something that they may struggle to write about.

So, we will be doing some more VT's this year that I hope to post! Here is my first VT from last school year. Enjoy, and comment if you like!