VoiceThread

= Communication Tool: VoiceThread = Group Members: Lindsey and Ronit


 * Screenshot or logo**



Brief introduction of the tool
VoiceThread is a very beneficial resource to communicate. VoiceThread allows you to have conversations based on media. You can use any form of media such as videos, pictures, and documents and people can comment on what you have created in many different ways. These include using your voice, either through a microphone or a telephone, text, an audio file, or a video. You can have group conversations that are all shared in the same place. VoiceThread is a very beneficial tool that anyone could gain benefit from using it.


 * ===//Advantages of the tool//===
 * //I think one of the advantages of VoiceThread is knowing that this communication website would be beneficial for any age group. It would be effective because it eliminates students from having to sit there and listen to their teacher talk; they can make stories and be creative and showcase their talents.//
 * //This tool allows students to have the opportunity to gain more experience in their language development and then as an educator you can listen to your students speaking and leave comments that talk about their strengths.//
 * //When students are working on something they enjoy, it raises the bar of how much time and effort they want to put in it. If they don't like what they are doing, then the time they put in the project goes down. VoiceThread is something that students will enjoy and can have fun creating.//
 * //VoiceThread allows students to engage in virtual communication and will challenge them in different ways.//
 * //There is VoiceThread specifically intended for K-12th graders that is a secure collaborative network. This makes the classroom safe and secure.//
 * //VoiceThread allows more than one student to comment at the same time and students and parents can use this site because it's easy and enjoyable.//


 * ===//Disadvantages (limitations) of the tool//===
 * //VoiceThread allows students who are shy and become easily embarrassed to let their nerves go and be open to what they want to say. However, this could be considered a limitation and disadvantage because it takes away from gaining social skills and public speaking skills. Skills like this are vital in the real world and VoiceThread takes away from gaining these skills.//
 * //I think that another limitation would be that you can only delete comments. I wish they would offer the opportunity to gain approval before it being posted on there because if the teacher doesn't see it right away and it says something that would hurt the other student then that could decrease their chances of wanting to do it again.//

Application of the tool in your subject area
VoiceThread would be great to use at anytime however I think that a perfect way to integrate it into your classroom would be to use it at the beginning of the year. The teacher can introduce the students to this resource and then we can all make an introduction video of ourselves. This video will include pictures, images, video, narration, etc; anything that the student feels like describes them and what they like to do. The students would also include what they enjoy about school and what their favorite subjects are. The teacher would make a video as well and this way, it gives the class a sense of their peers in their class, it gives the teacher an idea of who their students are and what they like, and it also gives the students an idea of who their teacher is. It will allow the teacher to gain a sense of their language skills and their skill with technology.

Find a tutorial on YouTube
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//List of key features showed in the YouTube video://
This tutorial guides the first time VoiceThread user through the process of making a VoiceThread. One key feature that the tutorial explains is commenting on a picture. The tutorial states that the creator can either comment solely using his or her voice (microphone) or he can use the webcam. The tutorial also demonstrates how to draw on a picture to highlight a specific portion of it. Finally, the tutorial shows how to make the VoiceThread public for students to see.

Useful Resources
[] This is a VoiceThread FAQ site. It answers questions that users may have about which types of images are compatible with VoiceThread, and almost every other type of question the user may have about creating a VoiceThread. [] This article comes from edutopia.org, and explains how one teacher used VoiceThread in his classroom. It provides great ideas for teachers looking to use this tool in their classroom, and also may convince skeptics that VoiceThread is a productive tool to use in the classroom.

[] This website specifically talks about how useful VoiceThread is in the elementary setting— an area where some teachers think that integrating technology is the most difficult.

[] To convince even more skeptics, this VoiceThread gives 100 ways to use a VoiceThread in education.