Technology Tips VoiceThread

Joyce E. Reid Technology 7477 Fall 2011 Dr. O.P. Cooper

www.voicethread.com

What Is VoiceThread?
VoiceThread is an online collaboration tool that allows you to upload multimedia presentations and broadcast them over the internet. During an interactive broadcast, other users can leave comments using a variety of mediums, or doodle on top of the presentation. Users can also create groups of friends to share presentations with.

Why Use VoiceThread?

VoiceThread has multiple uses in the classroom. Even if you dont want to create an account or upload any presentations, you can still view and interact with the presentations that others have created. In fact, many of the presentations hosted in VoiceThreads digital library relate to educational standards! You can find the VoiceThreads Digital Library at the following link: https://ed.voicethread.com/about/library/ However, if youre feeling innovative, you can try using VoiceThread for the following ideas: Creating and sharing podcasts or vodcasts Creating a portfolio of student work Sharing advertisements for the school, media center, or classroom Sharing book talks or online story books Depicting solutions to academic problems (i.e. creating a science experiments, depicting math problems, debating historical issues, etc.) Creating tutoring videos Sharing students artwork, music, poetry, or other forms of creative expression

What Do I Need To Know?

1. There is a special VoiceThread website specifically made for education.
The website is http://ed.voicethread.com. This website is designed much like ThinkQuest where only educators are granted access to content. Students can not publish unless they are invited to do so. Comments and content are easily monitored and moderated.

2. Getting Started is free.

VoiceThread allows one user to host 3 presentations at a time. Each presentation can have up to 50 slides. You are also allowed unlimited voice and text commenting. However, if you want to have more storage space or the ability to add multiple users to a class account, you have to pay. Adding multiple users to one account allows for individual students to upload their own work (instead of having the teacher upload the work their free account).

3. Purchasing an Extended Subscription

Individual classes can purchase a subscription to this website for $15/month or $60/year. Entire schools can purchase subscriptions as well, although the manufacturer must be contacted to receive a price quote. Whenever a subscription is purchased, the supervising teacher or administrator is automatically made an editor of student work. Therefore, comments and content can be easily moderated.

4. You only need to set up one class account

VoiceThread allows you to have one account with multiple users. Therefore, you only need to set up one account for an individual class. Each student will have a username that is listed under the main account. The teacher controls the settings for each user and can specify whether the user is allowed to publish, comment on, or share presentations.

Getting Started
Today, I will be showing you the basic features of VoiceThread, including the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Quick Start Guides for educators Setting up a free account Uploading a video Leaving a comment Doodling

Step 1: Quick Start Guides For Educators

A. Go to www.voicethread.com. This is what the main page should look like:

B. Next, choose Support from the gray menu tab, you will see a few Quick Start Guides for educators. These guides will give you an overview of how VoiceThread can be utilized in the classroom and how to get started setting up a paid account. I would suggest scrolling down to K-12 Pro Educator Quick Start Guide. This pdf file will give you instructions on how to set up a class account.

Step 2: Registering For A Free Account

A. Choose Create from the gray menu tabs. This will allow you to create a new account. Next, make sure the blue bar is set on Register. Then simply enter your information.

B. Once you have registered, you should be at the dashboard screen which looks like this:

Step 3: Uploading A Presentation

A. On the dashboard, make sure you are on the Create tab. The screen should say Upload from Choose the location of the file to be uploaded (whether its being taken from your computer, a particular website, or from a webcam).

B. Since most files come from personal computers, I will demonstrate how to upload a file of this type. Once you have chosen My computer, choose the correct file, and click Open.

C. If the upload is successful, you should see a yellow bar appear on the screen depicting the time it will take to upload the file.

D. Here you can see that the upload was successful. If it is a powerpoint, all slides should be displayed. If it is a movie, you should see the title screen displayed.

E. Type in the title for your presentation, a brief description, and any tag phrases that will help in a search for your presentation

Step 4: Leaving A Comment

A. You should now be back at the dashboard. Click on the MyVoice tab at the top of the screen. Select the upload that you would like to comment on. Hint: You can practice on one of the presentations that you have already uploaded before you start commenting on the presentations of others.

Select Presentation

B. When you select the presentation you wish to open, it should open up to a multimedia player that says comment at the bottom of the screen. The multimedia player should look like the one pictured below:

C. Select the area of the video that you wish to comment on by pressing play and moving the timer bar to the correct location. Next, select Comment. You should see two options pop up: Record and Type.

Timer Bar D. Press the Type button. A text box will appear next to your personal icon (which is a picture that you choose to represent you. Type your comment in the textbox and click Save if you are satisfied.

E. Again, press comment, and you will see the two options of Record or Type. To record a comment, press Record.

F. You should see some red text that says Ok, Start Talking. Talk into the microphone (if you have one externally plugged in). Or if your computer has internal speakers, you can simply speak loudly and the speakers will pick up your comment.

G. You should see waves next to the microphone which indicates that the sound is being picked up. Once you have finished your comment, hit Stop Recording.

Step 5: Doodling
A. Unfortunately, its rather difficult to explain how to use the doodling tool using screenshots. So Im just going to tell you the basics. First, begin by hitting record to record a comment.

B. Once your voice is recording, you can hover your mouse over the screen and a white pen will appear. You can mark on the screen with that pen, while talking to the audience at the same time. When you have finished marking on the screen and commenting, press the Stop Recording button and then save your comment like normal.

C. This is an example of how your screen might look once you play back the presentation. Both the writing and comment can be played by clicking on your personal icon as the presentation is viewed.