VoiceThread - There's more than the name says!

I have just been playing with my new account with VoiceThread which is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate pages and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). It also enables you to share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too (VoiceThread, 2009). I have been searching through the vast amount of threads and I was amazed at the work you can do with them. I can see it being used in my classroom as a story-telling tool, communication tool or even an assessment tool.



I have embedded a thread called VoiceThreads in Education (Packansky-Brock, 2007), which gives some practical ways to use this tool in the classroom. I particularly liked the example of the learning manager posting a discussion topic and having the students leave their comments. I think this is a great way to engage all students especially the ones who learn visually and allows students who may not like to participate feel more comfortable. The digital natives are used to this type of interactions. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age (Prensky, 2001). VoiceThread is therefore, an engaging and useful tool for the classroom.


I am still new to this technology tool but am excited at the possibilities for my classroom.


Til next time,

Cheers,

Bec


Prensky, M (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved August 20th, 2009, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Packansky-Brock, M. (2007). VoiceThreads for Education: Retrieved August 20th, 2009, from: http://voicethread.com/#q.b3352.i28616

VoiceThread. (2009). VoiceThread About. Retrieved August 20th, 2009, from: http://voicethread.com/about