Like most educators, I view teaching as a process. After implementing a new instructional activity or creating a new online course, I immediately reflect on how effectively and efficiently students achieved specific learning outcomes. What worked well? What failed? Were the students engaged? Oftentimes I can identify and implement necessary changes to an activity or assessment the next time I teach a course, but other times I seek student evaluations and fellow colleagues for guidance. This happened when I taught an online graduate-level instructional technology course during the fall 2011 semester. Although I felt the course was highly successful and engaging, a graduate student's observation let me to a modification that I implemented in the same course for fall 2012: find other ways for students to communicate and interact with others online beyond the common threaded discussion. The threaded discussion form in most learning management systems do a fairly good job of organizing asynchronous discussions among students; assuming the discussions are facilitated by clear directions and expectations for participation. However, I realized that the Web offered so many opportunities for students to communicate and interact with each other both asynchronously and synchronously that extended beyond the traditional text-based platform commonly used in threaded discussion forums. At the end of the fall 2011 semester, the graduate student I referred to above ask me and stated "Are you familiar with VoiceThread? VoiceThread is like a threaded discussion on steroids." After the fall 2011 course concluded, I thoroughly explored VoiceThread and was convinced this was worth implementing as a more engaging alternative to just typing text in a threaded discussion forum.
VoiceThread is an easy-to-use Web-based application that allows students to comment on multimedia content such as video, photos, websites, and documents. Students can comments to these multimedia elements in the form of text or oral responses through a computer microphone, Web camera, or smartphone.
As an instructor, I simply post a VoiceThread prompt, invite students through email or the learning management system, and wait for their comments. VoiceThread offers a simple user interface along with a variety of help guides, sample threads, and many ideas from other educators.
Getting Started
Note: click on an image to view a larger version.
By default, you begin with the free version of VoiceThread when you register using your university/college email address. After you register, follow the three simple steps to create your first thread.
On the "Create" tab, select and upload a prompt to your thread, which may include images, documents on your desktop, websites, or a Web camera video recording.
With a file uploaded, add your comments. Depending on the structure and design of a discussion, I use the comment feature to give students specific instructions on how to comment and/or give my own example of a comment. Occasionally, I'll use the first prompt (think of the first prompt as the first title slide of a PowerPoint presentation) to (a) display an image with a descriptive title along with an audio recording or (b) a quick Web camera recording with my instructions so students can "see" me. You can type in text comments, but students get a more personalized learning experience when they "see" me talking to them as their instructor.
Sharing the Thread
After your prompt and comments have been uploaded, you can now share the thread with your students. There are a couple of ways you can handle sharing. You can place the URL to the thread into your learning management system (i.e. Blackboard, Canvas, etc.) or you can send the URL to your class if the students have an account. Initially at the beginning of the semester, I required students to create their own free account with their university email address. This ensured that I would be able to identify each student who posted a comment to any given prompt. With an upgraded Pro account, you can add your students' email addresses to the "contact list" section saving you from having your students to register with VoiceThread. Creating "orgs & groups" also requires updating to a Pro account.
If you want to stick with the free option, have your student register for their free VoiceThread account early on in the semester, and then share the URL to your thread.
Working with Comments
When each student comments to your prompt, their personal icon appears around the presentation screen. See the image below for an example of what this looks like from my fall 2012 instructional technology graduate course.
Because there a variety types of comments students can post, I make sure to specify which type of comment they are required to use in my audio comment. For audio and Web camera recording comments, students have the ability to listen to their recording and re-record if they are not content with their initial attempt. In some lessons, I gave students the option to pick any comment type they wanted as long as they fulfilled the task at hand.
My Final Thoughts
Before using VoiceThread, my primary mode for student interaction and discussion took place through traditional text-based threaded discussions because that was the tool I was most comfortable using as an instructor. However, I knew I could not limit myself to only using one form of communication in an online learning environment. There are simply many more options for students to engage in structured online discussions in more engaging ways. Ultimately, I found myself giving students more options to participate in our online discussion. In addition to regular discussion boards, VoiceThread, YouTube, and even audio podcasts became options for class discussion participation without losing sight of specific learning goals and objectives. Surprisingly, I received unsolicited messages from graduate students thanking me for using VoiceThread, providing clear instructions, and giving students choices in tools to communicate with their fellow classmates. Know that students were engaged and having an opportunity to enhance their own technology skills, my decision to integrate VoiceThread into my own instructional practice was all worthwhile.
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