VoiceThread in The Interactive Classroom

       In education, teachers and students have incorporated the extensive use of technology for their own purposes. Likewise, many learners and instructors are satisfied with their learning process after applying technology in the classroom. There are many web tools that we find interesting and helpful for teaching a class. One example is VoiceThread, a resourceful web tool that allows students to create videos using pictures, home videos from their laptops, and audio tracks. Therefore, I will be explaining about this incredible web tool, VoiceThread, including my reflections on this tool as well.

     To begin, educators use VoiceThread for many different reasons, from extending and documenting classroom conversations, online tutoring, virtual class spaces, professional development training, and a thousand things in between. In fact, they might be described as interactive media albums. They are essentially online slide shows of images, documents, or videos that enable viewers to comment on any slide, or at any point in the video by typing, recording an audio or video comment, or drawing on the image itself. 

         Firstly, tutorials on the site help newbies get started or explain more advanced features, such as video doodling, pausing a video, and drawing on the frozen image like a sportscaster commenting on a play. For educators like me that are new to VoiceThread, it is a good idea to experiment a bit before starting with students. This web tool offers free educator accounts on its public site. Teachers can begin there, commenting on others' threads and creating their own practice threads. For my first video, I decided to share an important topic that teachers need to know perfectly clear in order to understand students' behavior in a classroom. I decided to discuss about Asperger Syndrome and its importance in the educational setting.

        Secondly, students are intrinsically drawn to interesting conversations with peers, so structuring opportunities for collaborative dialogue around classroom content is a logical decision. To make the most of our VoiceThread experiences, we must allow students to draft comments in groups of two or three. Likewise, it is always helpful to give students time to work in small groups to brainstorm and draft initial comments together. This ensures that the first comments added to your discussions will be well thought out and aligned with the directions you have given for the assignment. This ensures that all students will have a comment in your conversation to follow, increasing their interest. From my first experience, I decided to let people give their opinion on my first video about Asperger Syndrome and they were completely interested in it. Therefore, I allowed my classmates to post their comments on my video.

     Thirdly, in the early stages of your work with VoiceThread, it is important to join in the conversations with your students because you will be able to create the kinds of comments that are productive and valuable. Be sure to use proper grammar and spelling as well as to elaborate on your thinking. Also, be sure to find ways to respond to other students and to ask lots of questions. Those are the skills that make for high quality VoiceThread presentations. Nevertheless, seeing examples from you will help your classes to learn more about quality additions to digital conversations. As a student, I engaged with my classmates' comments and replied to them appropriately so that the conversation flows effectively. Most importantly, my discussion was very helpful and meaningful for the teacher and students.

     Lastly, after starting a VoiceThread presentation, it is important to revisit the conversation occasionally in class in order to keep the project at the forefront of your students’ minds. Browsing and selecting “Spotlight Comments” a few times a week will provide students with examples of high quality work to model their own contributions after. Be sure to spotlight different kinds of comments to your students, especially those where students are reading and responding to one another. By having students interact with one another, you will begin to see more cross-conversations in your digital presentations. One last thing, be sure to spotlight comments that do not add any real value to your conversation. It is important for classes to begin to recognize that useless comments only serve as distractions in meaningful discussions.

       In conclusion, VoiceThread is a helpful tool that enables learning, creativity, and originality. Students can use it to make videos of any topic they would like to discuss. Likewise, they can invite an audience to post their comments on them in different ways such as texting, voicing or through a video response. Moreover, it allows students to start using this tool for their digital presentations in the classroom. Honestly, this web tool has given me the gift of doing better every day using a wide variety of tools that will improve my creativity, grammar, spelling, and speaking skills. Commenting on videos is another thing that I mostly like because it makes you learn more about a certain topic that you might want to research about.