UDL-Cornelius

Using VoiceThread Comments in Teaching

By: Ryan Cornelius

Introduction

VoiceThread is a cloud based presentation program with some very unique features. This presentation will show you how to add several types of comments to your own presentations as well as how to add comments to the work of your peers. 

Reasoning- Professional Development

Paul Galbraith and Kris Anstrom discuss the need for peer coaching in their article "Peer Coaching: An Effective Staff Development Model for Educators of Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students." Some of the key elements of the model are peer feedback, analysis and adaptation, all of which are support within voicethread as a professional development tool. 

Read more from Galbraith and Anstrom here :

http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/rcd/BE020224/Peer_Coaching__An_Effective__.pdf

Reasoning- Within the Classroom

In her article "Creativity and Education" Robina Shaheen discusses the need for more creative outlets in education across the curriculum. These opportunities are seen as important to student development as well as critical for ecomonic growth in the future. Programs like VoiceThread can create creative opportunities for students outside of traditional art classes. 

Application

VoiceThread will be used as a collaboration tool for you and your colleagues. The ability to comment on resources others have made will help us all use our colleagues insights to become better teachers. 

In the classroom voicethread can be used as a powerful and engaging presentation tool. More importantly, because the program is free and web based it has great potential for interactive student presentations as well. 

Text Comments

To add a text comment click on the comment button being pointed out by the red arrow. Simply type your comment into the text box that appears. It will be displayed just as the comment does being pointed out by the yellow arrow. 

Text comments are great to add speaking points to your own presentation and are also the primary method to comment on the work of your peers. 

Voice Comments

Voice comments can be added by clicking the record button directly below the red arrow. Once clicked you will get a countdown and all you have to do it speak. The comment will be posted as an audio file on the slide and will play once the slide opens. 

Voice comments can make your comments to peers more personal and can add a nice touch to presentations you use in your own classroom. 

Adding a Video Comment

To add a video comment click on the camera button directly below the red arow. You will get a countdown from three before recording begins. Record your message after the countdown

Video Comments

Your video comment will appear on the side of your presentation. The red arrow is pointing to a video comment. 

Video comments can be great to do a demonstration for the students ahead of time, or even just make the presentation more fun. 

You can even comment on someone's video post. The yellow arrow is pointing to button you would push to post a comment to a video. 

Resources

Galbraith, P. Anstrom, K. (1995). Peer Coaching: An Effective Staff Development Model for Educators of Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students. Directions in Language and Education. 1(3). Retrieved from:

http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/rcd/BE020224/Peer_Coaching__An_Effective__.pdf

Shaheen, R. (2010). Creativity in Education. Creative Education. 1(3), 166-169.