Voicethread

Okay, here is some information about Voicethread, one of the American Association of School Librarians' Best Websites for Teaching and Learning.

Voicethread is an online network which allows teachers and students to create multimedia slideshows using images, documents, video, and comments (voice, text, audio file, and video via webcam). You can even "doodle" on a slide to make a point or clarify a comment. Take a look at this voicethread I created as a demonstration for a unit on the solar system. It's a little hokey, but you'll get an idea about the potential of this online technology for creating lectures or lessons, collaborative projects, and student demonstrations of learning. Other examples of educational voicethreads can be found at their library.

Home schoolers will really enjoy the opportunities for collaboration. Because Voicethread is an online network, students around the world can work on a project together, each adding and editing content and comments. Here is a voicethread created by students in Utah (2nd grade), Colorado (9th grade) and Texas (5th and sixth grade) using art, creative writing, and music.

Most of the images in my voicethread were obtained from other websites, which was a little laborious, especially when I created the citations page where I provided the web address for each picture. Now, Voicethread has direct access to 700,000 images from the New York Public Library (NYPL), including primary source materials, maps, photos, drawings, and paintings. They also have access to the Flickr Creative Commons Search where you can find images which are not limited by copyright restrictions. Voicethread enables you to search and import images from NYPL and Flickr, and the links are automatically inserted to make citations and attributions.

Voicethread is a social network; however, you, the parent/teacher, control who has access to your account, and how and with whom your voicethreads are shared. You can moderate all comments, and even have the option to disallow comments.

Here's the best part: You can make unlimited voicethreads for free!!! Who believes it? For $10, you can create groups and have access to the controlled K-12 network. And Voicethread provides wonderful support with tutorials, a help manual, blog, and online help. They are very responsive to email requests for help.