VoicetThread Extend the Classroom

The article, “VoiceThread Extends the Classroom with Interactive Multimedia Albums” discusses the idea of using the technology of VoiceThread to spark the interests of students and be able to have them actively participate in discussions that the might not normally be interested in doing.  It allows students to collaborate beyond the classroom in a way that is completely different from a classic class discussion. 

The purpose of the article is to show teachers the power of voice thread and how the success of Bill Ferriter could happen in any class.  They showed how easy the technology is and that it is a fun and easy way to involve students. 

After experiencing  VoiceThread, I might use this technology with solutions for math problems.  Students could be assigned specific problems and show their techniques in solving them by uploading a picture of their solution and using the drawing tool and a voice comment to explain step-by-step their understanding of what they did.  Other students could comment and also explain alternative solutions to the same problem.  I have found that when students are able to explain problems to others that they themselves understand the material better.  This gives students the opportunity to collaborate and see new viewpoints to the math that they are learning, thus giving an overall better experience.

The following are the NETS standards for 9-12 that apply to this article:

#5: By using VoiceThread, students could have the opportunity to work out a global issue and discuss it with comments, as did Bill Ferriter’s class did with issues in Darfur. 

#9: On VoiceThread, students could use the technology to create presentations with voices, pictures and demonstrations. 

Laila, W. (2008, April 16). VoiceThread Extends the Classroom with Interactive Multimedia Albums. Retrieved October 9, 2010, from Edutopia.