Using VoiceThread to Enhance Lectures and Discussions

Originally presented for CAT+FD on 16 February 2023 by Ms. Janice Florent and Dr. Jason Todd

“Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning.” (Chickering & Gamson, 1987).

VoiceThread is a web tool that allows you to humanize interactions in an online environment. VoiceThread transforms stale, text-based discussions and feedback by infusing your content and conversations with human presence, just as if the instructor and students were all sitting in the classroom together, but without scheduling a specific time to meet. VoiceThread can also make video lectures dynamic and engaging by embedding questions that must be answered before proceeding.

VoiceThread adds a more personal element to the experience when utilizing the features of commenting via voice. By hearing and seeing the instructor and classmates during a VoiceThread, a familiarity develops that feeds deeper participation. Utilizing VoiceThreads can give you and your students a "voice."

This workshop, the thirteenth in our #LEX Advanced series, builds on the skills you learned in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course and shows you how using VoiceThread can enhance online lectures and discussions through the addition of voice.