Unlike traditional discussion boards that primarily rely on text-based interactions, VoiceThread (VT) discussions offer students multiple ways to participate, including through audio, video, text, or uploaded multimedia materials. Students can also upload their own evidence, such as documents or media, to support their arguments, if permitted. VT provides instructors with tools to moderate discussions, engage with students privately, and tailor participation. Discussions can be designed to be either graded or ungraded, depending on the instructional goals.

Example

The following is an example of a VoiceThread (VT) used for discussions. This asynchronous panel discussion features a single slide displaying the discussion questions and a second slide with the bios of the panelists.

Since VT has the capability to present a person’s likeness through audio and video, it can be used along with the student photos in Student Admin to verify that students are who they say they are and that they are the ones submitting the work.

VoiceThread (VT) lectures are similar to voice-over slide presentations, with the added benefit of overlaying comments directly on top of slides. This feature allows instructors to easily update lectures by replacing specific slides or comments without needing to re-record the entire presentation. VoiceThread also supports seamless import of PowerPoint slide decks as content, making setup straightforward.

One unique advantage of VT is the ability to engage students directly by allowing them to leave comments on the lecture. This interaction provides valuable insights for the instructor, helping to identify areas where students may need additional clarification. Additionally, by utilizing the Assignment feature, instructors can make certain lectures mandatory and graded, ensuring active participation.

Example

This example showcases a “talking head” lecture, where the instructor delivers content directly via video. Students engage by asking questions or leaving comments directly on the video, fostering interaction and providing opportunities for clarification.

In the example below, you will see a common type of lecture where the instructor presents content using PowerPoint slides.

* Kaltura is integrated with VoiceThread at UConn. You can import your own media directly from Kaltura into VoiceThread.

Students can easily coordinate efforts to work on presentations with VT. Instructors can create groups within VT to better facilitate this process. It helps grant every student in the group equal opportunity to participate and contribute to the presentation.

Example

This is an example of a student presentation using VT. Students follow the same process to create a slide presentation and overlay their comments. You can also see other students’ comments throughout the presentation.

• Use a combination of slides, multimedia content, and documents in your VT presentation.
• Keep a VT presentation under 20 minutes. For longer presentations, consider inserting “reflection” slides, such as a discussion prompt or quiz question, to allow students to pause and reflect on what they have learned.
• Record short comments (around 1 min.) on your slides. This also makes it easier when perform updates in the future.
• Use a combination of webcam videos, audio, and text comments to establish sufficient instructor presence while not distracting students from the content of the presentation.
• Take advantage of the annotation tool.
• Enable student comments on your presentations, and periodically respond to some comments to increase teaching presence.
• When reusing a VT for different sections or semesters, make a copy of the VT and retitle it to reflect the section/semester. This way, you will have a clean VT without comments from your previous students, and you can retain your comments when making a copy.

• Finalize your slides and documents before uploading them to VT since you won’t be able to make edits once VT has processed the upload. 
  • Tip: If you want to keep your comment but update the slide, be sure to download the comment onto your computer before substituting the slide as all comments will be deleted with the slide. You can re-upload your comment onto the updated slide.
• Secure a quiet and interruption-free environment for recording. Be mindful of how fast you speak. A recorded soundtrack will generate fewer errors in the automated closed captions.
• Provide specific guidelines on how comments are expected to be made (e.g. number of comments per student, length, acceptable response format; video, audio, or text, etc.). Note that you can pre-set these requirements in a VT assignment.
• Provide netiquette guidelines to students. Create a safe, friendly, encouraging learning community for all the students.
• Model and demonstrate what a quality comment is or provide exemplary comments from other students. 
  • Tip: You can also reorder students’ comments to move the best ones to the top so that they are played first when students open the VT.
• Use Comment Moderationand Private Reply for private interactions or when the comments contain sensitive information. These comments will stay hidden from the rest of the class until the instructor reveals them.
• When recording one comment across multiple slides, make sure to disable Automatically Advance to the next slide in Playback Options to prevent the slides from advancing on their own.
• Consider using different Identities for different commenting purposes. For example, use your instructor identity to record comments for presentations, but switch to a moderator identity to respond to student comments.

• Provide sufficient guidance for students. Depending on how you are using VT, direct students to Commenting on a VoiceThreadand Completing a Graded Assignment.
• Consider creating a “low-stake” activity (e.g. introductions) to let students practice using VT.

Uploaded content

• Slides and documents uploaded to VT are converted into individual images and lose any existing accessibility adjustments. We strongly recommend instructors supplement the VTs with accessible versions (in the form of attachments or links) of the uploaded slides or documents.

Captioning

• Automatic machine captioning is made available for all UConn users. This means that VT will automatically caption your uploaded or recorded videos or audios including video and audio comments. Captions normally take 5-10 minutes to be generated and displayed once saved. Depending on the quality of the soundtrack, accuracy of the captions varies. We strongly recommend instructors review and edit the captions for obvious errors. Viewers can use the closed captions button on the player to toggle the feature on and off. 
• Professional captioning is also available for instructors with official CSD accommodation requests. Please follow CSD guidelines to use this service.

VoiceThread Universal

The default interface of VoiceThread is not screen reader/keyboard accessible. VoiceThread does offer an accessible alternative, VoiceThread Universal, for screen reader and keyboard users.