The Voicethread Process

The Eleventh Hour Blogger here. GOOD NEWS! You should now be able to post a comment on my blog. A couple of test runs later and I was able to post a test comment from my wife's computer.

Speaking of my wife, the Voicethread project was a great way to include her. As a new dad I love talking about our new little girl and how special my wife is. The Voicethread below includes some comments about two adventures we've gone on as a family.

I really liked using this kind of digital media and think it could be a great tool in the classroom. We saw an example in the digital media class of a second grader describing his drawing of a monster. Seeing and hearing what his thoughts were was amazing and captured way more than he could possibly in writing it out. I think some of my students who need encouragement to expand their thinking could really excel with this tool.

I did have a little frustration with being limited on time. Recording throught a computer microphone didn't really constrain me, but I tried the phone feature and was surprise how quickly the time was used us. If I would want my grandma to add some comments via phone, she would need to purchase some minutes. I need to look further into it, but I wonder if there is a way to have others use your account. At least this way I could purchase some credits my grandmother could use.

Mostly though, the use is very easy and straight forward. I have no doubts my 5th graders could do something like this. I also like how anything that could be photographed could be included and commented on. This would be great for reflective thinking about a project, presentation, or even sharing their thinking about steps to a math problem. The possibilities could be endless. I think I'll look at the next math unit to see what I could have some of my more advance student explain via Voicethread that other students could access anytime, even at home.

That's all for now, and remember, “Digital is just another language like English, Spanish, or French. But remember, keep it real”