http://www.flickr.com/photos/anirudhkoul/2814949746/in/set-72157607042629773/
OK! So this is totally unrelated to Voicethreads...but I saw Celine Dion in concert on Tuesday at the MTS center here in Winnipeg, now that woman has a VOICE!!!!!!!!
On that "note"(no pun intended), let's begin my little scientific investigation...
Objective:
The purpose of this experiment is to learn how to use Voicethread (a multimedia sharing Web 2.0 tool), play with the tool and discover how it could be implemented into the 21st century classroom.
Hypothesis:
Based on my prior knowledge and experiments working with Web 2.0 tools that incorporate images and voice, I predict that this tool will be a fun and effective way to integrate technology and learning in a collaborative and connective environment.
Materials:
- Computer with internet access
- Microphone or headset for recording
- Photos or images to upload
- An idea of what you wish to share with the world (or privately)
Procedure:
- Visit the Voicethread site and find out what all the excitement is about! Investigate the Browse section of Voicethread to see examples of Voicethreads done by others as well as checking out the tutorials on how to do a Voicethread presentation. What exactly is a voicethread? The definition I liked best was on the Ed.Voicethread page that described it as "a place for creating and collaborating on digital stories and documentaries, practicing and documenting language skills, exploring geography and culture, solving math problems, or simply finding and honing student voices." Another basic little description on voicethreading was on a slideshare presentation called "V is for Voicethread". Put simply in this presentation, a voicethread is an online application where you upload images and comment on them...simple enough?
- Register for this FREE tool with an e-mail account and password.
- Hit the CREATE button in the Voicethreads home page and follow the steps outlined on the page
- Choose an image or images to upload that you wish to comment on (or have other people comment on!)
- Set up your headset/microphone/webcam to comment on your image (once it is uploaded). The fun part about Voicethread is the ability to comment on your images in 5 different ways...telephone, audio (with microphone), video (with webcam), typing in your comment or uploading an audio file! Due to time (and energy this week), I chose to use my headset and create an audio comment (which seems to be one of the more popular media for commenting).
- Decide what it is you would like to say about your image(s) and begin "recording".
- For fun, play around with your mouse while you are talking to utilize the videodoodler option.
- Once you are finished your voicethread and wish to have others comment on it, you must save your work and decide how you want to SHARE it. I found this very easy to post to my blog by embedding it into the html editing on my blogger site. Be sure to make your voicethread PUBLIC if you wish to have others view it and be able to comment. (I had to post it twice as I forgot to make it public the first time.) The settings for the privacy of your voicethread are easy to adjust and understand, as it gives you a summary of your settings once you have made your selections.
- Visit other peoples' voicethreads using the BROWSE feature on the Voicethread site and practice leaving comments on other peoples' images. I really enjoyed this as it made my "research" of voicethreads more than just reading but I could interact.
Observations:
Through this "experiment", I could see how Voicethreads could play a fun, interactive and authentic learning experience for our digital learners. Playing with this tool myself, I found it extremely easy to use and could definitely see this being my next big "technology" project with my students. I only ran into some difficulty in my "playback" as I had not "allowed" permission correctly for Voicethread to use my recorded voice. A simple fix that took me about an hour to figure out (AAGGGGHHH!) In my "observations" of voicethread, the acclamations for this tool were abundant. Interestingly, I ran across a blogger who seemed a little bit less enthusiastic and actually made me pause for a moment to reflect on this tool. Gary Stager (another educator that promotes technology in education) wrote a blog entitled "Stop the Voicethread! Please!" where he states, "The VoiceThread examples I have seen are little more than digital book reports with images not owned or created by the student (author) and with narrations suffering from too little planning and editing. The audience for such "productions" eludes me.Some of these slapped together multimedia collages are about as entertaining as a slideshow of someone else's vacation photos." It was a bit harsh but made me think that we need to ensure that these new Web 2.0 tools that we are working with are being used in the most effective way possible and not just a "pretty and fancy" way to say we are "using technology" in the classroom. I didn't ponder long on Stager's comment as I continued to look at other examples of Voicethreads that prove how effective Voicethreads can be in our students' learning experiences. Here are a few others I have "observed" that are good examples:
A grade 5 mathcast - http://voicethread.com/share/8753/
An example of a virtual field trip - http://voicethread.com/share/168350/
Color poetry - http://voicethread.com/share/39992/
Art club projects - http://voicethread.com/share/116426/
Let's face it, the list of examples could go on and on... some GREAT , some just OK...but if it serves the purpose you were intending, then it IS an effective tool for you to use!
Conclusion:
I can conclude that Voicethreads ARE indeed another easy-to-use, fun and effective Web 2.0 tool that can open up our classroom walls to the rest of the world through creativity, collaboration and connectivism! Wes Fryer is a big promoter of Voicethread. I accidentally came across my first Voicethread experience in one of his blog postings that showed up on my Google Reader in early October. He was creating a Voicethread with his daughter about the book she was reading in class (Charlotte's Web) to get her "thinking" about the book she was reading rather than doing a worksheet about syllables in the vocabulary of the book. This posting lead me to another one entitled Great Voicethread Resources in which Fryer states some of the key benefits of Voicethread in education. "Voicethread can be effectively used to not only learn and explore the knowledge and comprehension level aspects of our formal and informal school curriculum, but also to delve deeper into higher order thinking skills including synthesis, analysis, evaluation, and creation." Now you can't tell me that's just digital storytelling!
Application:
After this "experiment" with Voicethreads, the possiblities for "applying" this new knowledge in my classroom are endless in my opinion. I already have plans underway to create a community of discussion around our next literature circle theme of Friendship in books. As well, I love the idea of making a class yearbook through Voicethreads! There were so many awesome examples of voicethreads to view and learn from, I found an array of examples and ideas for "application" from the following sites:
A terrific resource I came across on my journey with Voicethreads was a pbwiki done by an e-learning consultant within my own province. John Evans works for MECY and has created this wiki for our Literacy with ICT curriculum continuum. It is full of excellent tutorials and resources for teachers who are making technology a priority in their classrooms. I found it very helpful in my exploration of Voicethreads this week.
Simply stated "A VoiceThread can be managed with little effort, creating an heirloom that can be shared by students, parents, and educators alike. You can hear the pride and excitement in their voices as the students “publish” and archive their work."
Nothing gets me more "pumped" about a new tool in education that makes learning fun and real for the students in which they are able to show pride in their work and can't wait to share it with others!
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