1. Save the Day with VoiceThread
April Robbs
Ottawa University
Instructional Designer/Academic Technologist

2. Objectives
Introduce VoiceThread (VT) and the different license options.
Demonstrate how to comment and use the doodle tool in VT.
Demonstrate providing feedback with rubrics and using the LTI Assignment features.
View example introductory activities, discussions, content presentations, collaboration activities, assessment and student presentation projects in VT.

3. Creating a VT Presentation
VoiceThread is not a new tool, however it continues to be a unique tool that is especially beneficial at promoting engagement and interaction in courses. It is an Audio and Video Discussion Tool: VT is set up like a PPT presentation that allows users to make comments on each slide and to have a conversation about the content on the slide. Users have 5 different commenting options. It fosters the three types of interaction that build student engagement. Student to content, Student to Student and Student to Instructor.
Collaborate from Anywhere & Anytime: VT is asynchronous and web-based. VT is available via any web-browser though it does use Flash. VT also has mobile apps for Apple and Android that allow many of the same features as the web-based version.
A VoiceThread presentation is composed of media (i.e. slides) that can be slides from a PowerPoint presentation, images, URL’s that go directly to a file (PDF, image, etc.), webcam video (this allows you to record a video using your webcam that will fill the entire slide screen), or media from Flickr, New York City Public Library, your VT’s or Khan Academy. You can have multiple slides in your presentation and they can all be different media types if you choose.

4. VT at Ottawa University
K-12, Higher Ed & Business Licenses
Free account allows creation of 5 VT’s
Use LTI integration to put VT in course shells
Student accounts are created automatically when they click the VT link in their course, repeat users are prompted to login
Ottawa University has an institutional higher education license. Using an LTI integration we are able to provide VT directly inside of the course shell. We can share a presentation or create a graded assignment that integrates with the Blackboard grade center. Students simply click on the link and their account is automatically created and automatically signs them in each time they click on a VT link in their courses. Students who use VT in multiple courses may be prompted to confirm their account.

5. Tutorial Videos
Watch this VoiceThread Tutorial Presentation that contains tutorials on how to use the following features in VT:
Commenting in VoiceThread Tutorial (Slide 1)
Grading a VoiceThread Assignment (Slide 2)
Providing Feedback with Rubrics (Slide 3)

6. Introductory Activities
Build community in your course and aclimate students to the platform.
Icebreaker Activity
Syllabus Overview
Start with non-graded ice-breaker or bonus activity instead of a high-pressure assignment. This will ensure that everyone knows how to use VoiceThread when it comes time to create graded content. It also helps build community in your class because they can see and hear each other. This makes you the instructor more real and can make their relationships with their classmates more relational as well.
You can also upload a syllabus or discuss class rules and encourage students to participate or simply allow them to ask questions right on the thread. VoiceThread makes presentations an interactive activity because they can comment and ask questions directly on your presentation.

7. Supporting Students
VT allows instructors to support students and to provide valuable feedback quickly.
Providing Feedback on Paper
Virtual office hours with VT
VoiceThread also facilitates teacher feedback really well. Students can upload their work into a VT presentation and share it with you to get feedback and help asynchronously. VT allows you to share your presentations securely with specific users or the entire class or a link that is viewable by anyone.

8. Discussion Activities
Make online course discussions more conversational.
Scarlett Letter Discussion
80-90% of communication is nonverbal, yet many online discussions are still taking place on text-based discussion boards. When students are discussing complex issues, text-only discussions can lead to miscommunication. Encourage your students to break out of those stale conversations and let them use voice and webcam comments to analyze your subject matter.

9. Discussion Activities
I helped design a Critical Listening course. Trying to teach listenting online without a tool like VT would have been really difficult. The SME had some very challenging activities that helped students practice the skills needed for critical listening. This activity asked students to practice mimicking or reproducing nonverbal communication that they witnessed.

10. Discussion Activities
This activity asked students to develop their own personal listening mission statement and to discuss them.

11. Presenting Content VT is great for presenting content to students.
Art Brushstrokes Demonstration
Math Flipped Lesson
Business Law Flipped Lesson

12. Collaborative Projects
Asynchronous and fully online
International interaction
Letters from Internment Camps
eRacism Debate
Since VoiceThread is asynchronous and fully online, it is accessible anywhere and any time.  This creates the opportunity for community, long-distance, or even international participation. These types of projects are more advanced because they involve collaborating with people outside of your classroom, but if you are ready for this type of challenge, these examples may give you some good ideas.
In Letters from Internment Camps students wrote letters as if they were Japanese-Americans held in an internment camp. Actual Japanese-Americans who spent time in these camps commented on the students' work.
eRacism Debate is an international debate between middle school students.

13. The VT Debate
Activity Set Up: 12 slides. The first slide is the video explaining how to use VT. We have started including this in the first VT activity in a class to help prepare students. The second slide is the grading rubric so students see the expectations for the assignment. The next 10 slides are debate topics. The SME decided to assign two students to each topic, one pro and the other con. Each pair would post their initial statement by Wednesday and then would post their rebuttal by Sunday. The next week, everyone had to provide feedback to their peers on their use of logos, ethos and pathos.

14. The VT Debate
On each debate topic slide we have included directions for how to post their VT comments to try and alleviate confusion. On the left hand side, you can see the student comments. AB and PS are the students’ initial statements. The threaded comments after AB’s post are peer feedback. AB and PS’s rebuttal statements appear further down.
This presentation got quite long after everyone posted their initial statement, rebuttal and peer feedback for each debate. The graded assignment feature helped make grading easier for the instructor.

15. Additional Debate Resources
There are several great resources for designing debate assignments.
Purdue's OWL website has a great guide for debates.
Debateable.org provides numerous resources for debates including constructing arguments, rebuttals, training tips and more.
Debate Formats - This website provides suggestions for setting up debates.
3 Ways to Turn Debates into Learning Opportunities VoiceThread Blog post

16. Student-Created Projects
Pecha Kucha Presentation
Presentations are a great assessment because students must demonstrate what they have learned and they are held accountable by an audience. You should have your students share their presentations with the class so that others can see their work. Otherwise, it is no different than a paper. One cool idea I heard from Richard Byrn yesterday was to have peers provide feedback to the following questions: would you watch it again and what did you learn. This could be done with Google forms or other survey tools to get feedback from students to help guide your assessment of the project. One example is a Pecha Kucha presentation. These are when you show 20 images for 20 seconds each. You set the slides to advance automatically and talk along with the images ( The picture is the directions from a critical listening assignment. Students had to create a presentation that persuaded their audience. They shared it with the class using the Blackboard Blogs, but this could be done in the discussion forum, or another way.

17. Speaking Assessments Italian Speaking Practice Comment moderation
Short Answer ESL Assessment
Long Form Speaking Test
Language teachers typically want their students to be able to speak their new language. Vocabulary quizzes and writing are important, but dialogue and pronounciation are central to a language teacher's mission. A VoiceThread is an inherently collaborative and participatory space that easily transforms a standard learning project into a into platform where students can learn and practice those skills.

18. VT Saves the Day Flexibility in slide organization and easy navigation
Available via virtually any internet connection. Mobile Apps are available.
Video and audio comment options allow students to vocalize their arguments.
Students have varied technology and software access.
Debates in a discussion forum cannot utilize voice and body language to persuade.
Online students vary greatly in the comfort level with technology, availability of technology and software and the ability or desire to access support. This makes collaborative activities like a debate challenging. VoiceThread helps ease this problem because it is available through virtually any internet connection (that allows Flash). It also has mobile apps for both Apple and Android devices so students can use whatever device they are most comfortable. There is still a bit of a learning curve with VT and we have had varying results in audio and video quality depending on the student’s equipment.
Online courses often rely on discussion forums to provide interaction. These can promote interaction and critical thinking very well if implemented correctly, however they do not provide a way for students to use their voice and body language to persuade in a debate. VT’s video and audio comment options (and phone or upload) allow students to vocalize their arguments in an asynchronous setting.
The older version of VT just displayed comments in the order they were made. This can make the discussion confusing because replies are not situated near the initial comment. The threaded comment option makes it much easier to follow the conversation because it organizes it better. This feature has to be selected within the VT’s playback settings. It is not a default.
VT provides a lot of flexibility in the slide organization and navigation. We decided we needed 10 debate topics because we wanted to have enough topics for pairs of students to participate on each one. This master template is used term after term and enrollments could be up to 20 students. We made one slide for each topic to organize each debate conversation. Students can use the arrows or use the all slide view to quickly find their topic.
Threaded commenting makes it easier to follow the conversation.
Flexibility in slide organization and easy navigation
Need to be able to provide peer feedback.
Unpredictable Class Sizes

19. References &Additional Resources
Moore, M. (2000). Three types of interaction. In Mantyla, K. (ed.). The ASTD Distance Learning Yearbook. New York, McGraw Hill.
Pecha Kucha. (n.d.). Frequently asked questions. [Web log entry]. Retrieved from
Using VoiceThread for digital conversations. (21 December 2019). Retrieved from the Digitally Speaking Wiki: oicethread
VoiceThread. (n.d.). VoiceThread YouTube Channel. Retrieved from x5ZtrdAw