Voicethread is a group communication forum. Users can post images, documents, videos and other users can comment on what is posted in five ways. Though written text, a recording from a microphone or telephone, a video recorded from a webcam or an uploaded audio file. The best thing is that those comments can be made separately, but compiled together in real time through the Voicethread. This is great for team members with busy schedules who find it difficult to get together. For it’s versatility alone, I’d have to put Voicethread at the top of my Web 2.0 Tools.
My fellow team members of the Technogals got together to make a Voicethread and show off some of its features. Here’s our work in progress. Feel free to leave your own comments.
Teachers can apply for a special K-12 account for free, that allows up fifty student accounts. An upgraded educator account can be purchased for $60 per year and may be worth the investment if you are going to be using the tool a lot or with younger students. Voicethread takes extra precautions to ensure that students are only communicating with other students, teacher and people that have been chosen by the teacher. For older students, it is probably better to have each student sign up for their own account. Even 100 accounts are sparse in a secondary setting, but there are also issues with moderation of the comments. There is greater control over comments when each person has their own account and more accountability.
I am thinking about several ideas for math. Having review questions worked out with time for students to have questions and answers. I could also create a video challenge problem that allows the students an opportunity to leave their comments on how best to solve the problem. I might post a video related to mathematics for my students to comment on. Or in an effort to give the students greater control over their learning environment, have them create a Voicethread lesson to teach a particular skill to their class.
Here's a good step by step tutorial for educators to get you started.
Here's a good step by step tutorial for educators to get you started.
I enjoyed this post it was interesting and I will considering using this tool with my teacher to share information. I will need to investigate the difficulty level before I use it with elementary students. I may consider using this as a means of sharing training sessions in my Action research project. I will consult with members of your team with training questions.
ReplyDeleteBrenda McGee