Creating opportunities for engaging interaction with course content is a big challenge for online courses. Luckily, there are any great tool to help along the way.
VoiceThread is the tool you’ve been looking for to
- allow students to comment on videos and presentations in real time
- still provide flexibility to make comments anytime, not just during a live class
- quickly create interactive content
- add gamification elements to your course
- easily integrate with Brightspace and your gradebook
VoiceThread allows you to put together a series of image slides or videos with your own comments and audio. Then students can watch and add comments and annotations of their own that will show up within the timeline to correspond to what they are commenting on. Comments can be in multiple formats such as image, audio, video, etc.
VoiceThread is integrated with Brightspace so it is easy to add to your course content, set up assignments, and grade submissions.
There is A LOT possible with this so I’ve gathered a few examples of how you might use VoiceThread in your own course.
Radiology case study
This VoiceThread allowed students to make comments and recommendations as they walked through a radiology real life scenario. To learn about project specifics, challenges, and tips, check out this page from VoiceThread.
Short story discussion
Students could add their own thoughts to the open ended questions for analyzing the short story “The Things They Carried”. VoiceThread also has the option to use threaded comments. If a student has already posted a comment, another student can reply and discuss. To learn about project specifics, challenges, and tips, check out this page from VoiceThread.
Simple doodle games
These simple game ideas can be used to test knowledge and comprehension instead of a quiz. If you have turned on comment moderation, you can view all the comments BEFORE allowing the other students to see them. The same slides can be used for everyone for a interactive quiz without giving away all the answers.
And more!
There are so many more examples and inspiration for creative ways to use VoiceThread in your class. Click the links below to explore more.
Hi Stephanie,
I am a high school teacher and aspiring instructional designer who has found your blog to be useful as I seek resources to help me develop my repertoire of tools and strategies to facilitate learning.
Your recent post on VoiceThread engagement examples sparks my interest for a few reasons. Firstly, before last week I would have never considered VoiceThread, but one of my students referred to it as a suitable tool to facilitate communication between speakers and the audience at large conferences. Secondly, given the transition from face-to-face learning to online learning in this Covid-19 pandemic, it is critical that I find engaging interactive tools to ensure that my students not only process course content but enjoy the learning experience.
While time is not always on my side in terms of figuring out the logistics of new technology, I have found two companion applications of Google Suite platform to be useful. These extensions are Jamboard and Google Breakout Rooms, and they work in conjunction with the Google Meet communication technology.
Jamboard functions like a digital whiteboard in which the teacher can easily present information. Moreover, if students are given the option to edit, they can create their own slides and work collaboratively on projects, creatively respond to questions using digital sticky notes, or images. In addition, teachers can provide real-time and immediate feedback to students work. Moreover, they can save and download the slides for future use.
Given the safety protocols put in place re Covid-19, it is difficult for students to work in groups. I for one love group work because it gives students the opportunity to develop their interpersonal skills and build their confidence and competence in weak areas of study. Fortunately, the breakout rooms provide that space online in which students can work on group projects during the school day and under the guidance of the teacher. For instance, I can create a virtual classroom which has a main room and as many breakout rooms as necessary for the lesson. Students can be preassigned to groups or randomly grouped by the operating system. Using a control panel which moderates the video, audio, the chat box, and presentation of screens, I can engage the entire class or specific groups at my discretion. I have found this extension to be effective in making learning dynamic, engaging, and meaningful whereby students are active learners. Breakout rooms facilitate a learning community where students create knowledge by reading, questioning, discussing, and presenting what they uncover in their course materials.
Perhaps you can explore these two applications and write your own review. Check out my blog below, if you want to follow my journey on discovering the ins-and-outs of instructional design and technology – https://janinelearningandinstruction.wordpress.com/