VoiceThread A to Z: Creating Presentation Content

This is the second post in our VoiceThread A to Z series. In the first post, we discussed ways to use VoiceThread for early semester activities. Now we can move on to the different ways you can use VoiceThread for the week to week lesson design in your course. This post will focus on instructor-created mini-lecture content and student-created presentations. Upcoming posts will focus on other innovative lesson design and assessment ideas. Stay tuned!

One of the big benefits of using VoiceThread to create presentations is the ability to engage in two-way conversations. There are a number of video hosting tools, but none that empower real discussion with students. With VoiceThread, teachers can create on-demand mini-lectures and students can ask questions or respond to their teachers questions all in one place. So how do you get started?

Creating a VoiceThread is always a simple two step process:

1. Add your media

2. Comment

For flipped content, this process may involve uploading a PowerPoint presentation that you already use, then narrating your mini-lecture over each slide. If you don’t use PowerPoint, you can always upload images, movie files, import Khan Academy videos or upload audio files too. Here’s an example of this model:\

The instructor isn’t the only person in the class who can create presentations though. Students can create engaging content and share it with the class too. Using VoiceThread for student projects not only improves the quality of the student work, but it can help teachers reclaim valuable in-class time.

VoiceThread is an asynchronous tool, so student have time to prepare, practice and iterate. When students have to present in a live classroom setting, there are no opportunities to revise and improve what they say or how they say it.

Student presentations take up a lot of class time as well. In a class with 40+ students it might take weeks to finish all of the presentations. With VoiceThread, they can all be delivered and viewed at the most convenient times for teachers and students alike. Here’s an example of how a student presentation looks:

If your institution has integrated VoiceThread in your LMS, the student presentations can be created using our assignment builder tool as well! With the assignment builder, the student presentation is connected to your LMS grade book, so it’s easy to review and assess your students’ work. Here’s how assignment submissions in an LMS looks for your students:

Whether you use VoiceThread for instructor-led, flipped mini-lectures or student-led presentations, you’ll find the ability to review, revise and re-record improves the quality of the work. In the next post in this series, we will discuss more lesson design ideas using VoiceThread as a storytelling tool.