Cool Tools – VoiceThread

Are you looking for a way to foster interaction at a distance?  Do you want students to debate, share their reactions, or critique?  VoiceThread may be just the tool you need.

As VoiceThread puts it, the tool “bridges the gap between real-time discussions and standard video lectures or online presentations.”  How does it do it?   VoiceThread provides an avenue for you and your students to have an asynchronous conversation in the cloud around images, videos, or slides.  You select and sequence the media, add your comment/prompt to get the conversation going, post the VoiceThread to Desire2Learn and let the conversation begin.  Students will be able to comment on each slide or media file with video, voice recording, text, and drawing annotations.

Below is an example.  Feel free to add your comments to the VoiceThread:

With VoiceThread you can:

• Have a conversation around your narrated PowerPoint or multimedia presentation
• Have students critique each other’s work in a studio art or graphic design class
• Ask students to explain their understanding or analysis of scenarios
• Create a structured asynchronous debate

For more information on VoiceThread, or other Cool Tools that solve pedagogical problems, contact the Exchange in Library South room 106.

• Email:  exchange@gsu.edu
• Phone:  404.413.4700
• VoiceThread – Getting Started Fact Sheet

Please join us for one of the upcoming Cool Tools sessions in Collaborate.

3/25/14 – MindMeister and MindNode

Organize your thoughts on an idea or project using these easy-to-use mind mapping apps.  Users can explore ideas and the relationships that exist among them.

4/1/14 – Evernote, Skitch, and Penultimate

With Evernote, you can type, create reminders, and access them anywhere. With Skitch, you can take notes directly on images or pdf files. With Penultimate, you can take notes as if you were using a pen and paper, store them, and then, thanks to the tool’s handwriting analysis capabilities, search the text of your notes.  And, by leveraging the syncing capabilities of Evernote, you can view all of these products’ notes and annotations anywhere.

4/8/14 – Padlet, Lino, and Google Drawing

Are you looking for ways to encourage collaboration and interaction at a distance?  Padlet, Lino, and Google Drawings make it possible for your students to brainstorm, plan, and draw using shared online workspaces.

4/15/14 – Lynda.com

Members of the GSU community can access Lynda.com’s entire library of software and programming training at technology.gsu.edu/lynda.  Instructors seeking to integrate technology into their teaching can build playlists and then share them with their students, making it easier than ever to try something new.