VoiceThread is an online, multimedia presentation tool that allows you to "talk about and share your images, documents, and videos." It can be used for:
- different forms of language practice,
- presentations, speeches, and debates
- analyzing texts and images,
- storytelling and creating books (see Great Book Stories), and
- portfolios and reflections.
Similar to podcasting, VoiceThread focuses students on considerations of writing, because students need to
- consider their audience and purpose,
- be concise and clear, and
- do research for their presentations.
VoiceThread also promotes writing considerations through the process of storyboarding, as outlined by The Educational Uses of Storytelling (University of Houston) :
- Pre-writing: brainstorming, collecting images, researching, outlining, and storyboarding
- Drafting: creating a script and developing form
- Revising: modifying images and organization
- Editing: timing, images, and narration
- Publishing: the final product
Examples and Introduction
- ESL students from Michigan State University
- Seventeen Interesting Ways to use VoiceThread in the Classroom
- VoiceThread Ties Together Student Voices, Images, and Writing (Shullamuth Smith, NWP)
More examples and Resources on VoiceThread:
- K-12 Solutions
- Getting Started in the Classroom
- Sharing VoiceThreads
- An Educator's Guide to VoiceThread
- Using VoiceThread for Digital Conversations (Bill Ferriter)
- VoiceThread for Educators (a ning site)
- VoiceThread 4 Education wiki
- VoiceThread in Education
- VoiceThread (edtech VISION)
- Suzanne Bonn & Leah Holck's Powerpoint presentations
Digital Storytelling Resources:
- Center for Digital Storytelling
- Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling (University of Houston)
- Digital Stories (BBC Wales)
- Digital Storytelling (The Connected Classroom)
- Digital Storytelling (Helen Barrett)
- The Best Digital Storytelling Resources (Larry Ferlazzo)