Sunday, January 26, 2014

Voicethread Presentation Tool



Students in Michele Giardano's 7th grade science class, @mteacher33 on Twitter, at the William Davies Middle School, @WilliamDaviesMS on Twitter, were assigned an alternative energy project which requires them to work in groups and create a presentation using Voicethread.  

Since our school has a site license, it is my responsibility to upload all of the student information into the Voicethread database using a CSV, (comma separated values), file. This will grant all of the students access to Voicethread and allow them to have an account. 

Once the students in the class login, I introduce the tool by showing them a sample Voicethread that is in the library.  By displaying a sample, the students can get a better understanding of how Voicethread is used as a presentation tool.

After that, I explain to the students how to create, edit, and share a Voicethread.  In addition, I explain to them that the first slide in the presentation must be a title slide, or cover page that includes, the name of the project, a picture, their name, their teacher's name, class, period and date.

Next, I have them create a cover page using Microsoft Word and then I have them create and upload the file into their Voicethread.  In Voicethread, there are many types of files that can be uploaded, such as: .jpeg, .docx, .pptx, .pdf, .wmv, and videos files that access your webcam.  Once they upload their files, it creates each page into its own separate slide in Voicethread. At this point they must title each slide and comment on the slide accordingly.

Voicethread will allow you to comment on slides in a variety of ways. You can include an audio comment, video comment, typed comment, and use your cell phone to comment.  While you comment, you can also use the doodle tool to point out important details on the slide you are referring to.  This will allow your audience to focus on a specific item or picture on the slide. 

It is important to know that one of the students in the group must be the owner/creator of the Voicethread. This person will create and upload the cover page to Voicethread, and invite other group members by searching the database and grant them edit privileges to the presentation.  Once this is completed, the owner/creator must share the link from their presentation and paste it into their small group in Edmodo.  At this point, all of the students in the small group will have access to the presentation and can start to collaborate on it together. 

So far, it seems the students are utilizing the tool accordingly. They were uploading different types of files and recording audio and video comments on them.  I am happy to report the students were working together and collaborating well.  I hope to bring you a student sample when the project is complete.