Using Voicethread Successfully
Posted by Jamin Lietze on August 31, 2008
This is a quick post to share some of the ways I have been using Voicethread lately to enhance my teaching and the students learning (because that is exactly what matters when it comes to using ICT in the classroom…lets not get carried away by the tools but focus on using them effectively).
1) My class, E3, has begun a new relationship with a school in Nelson, Room 8 from Ranzau School. We have been collaborating together on our speeches. Below is one of my students who was going into the semi finals so we used Voicethread so that our buddy class (and others) could provide some positive support and critique her speech to help her better prepare her for the semi finals.
Click on the picutre below to be taken to the Voicethread. (I had some trouble embedding it.)
2) We have recently finished an inquiry into “How Great is Our God?” with the focus being on Space. Here is a link to a Voicethread where Bono’s Thinking Hats were used to reflect on the inquiry.
3) At the end of last Term I set up a Voicethread so that students could record collectively their thoughts on the question “What would school look like in 100 years?” Tony Ryan’s ‘Prediction’ Thinkers Key was used to provoke this thought.
4) I used Voicethread at the beginning of this year to help teach internet safety to my Year 6 (Grade 5) students. It has proven a good source to go back to when we need to remember how to be safe on the net.
5) Last year I was teaching a group of Year 2 students about “How Things Move”. During this time we used Voicethread to reflect on and celebrate what we had learnt during this topic.
Please share other ways you have used Voicethread to enhance teaching or learning in your class.
September 1st, 2008 at 12:11 am
Good to see you working with aligning thinking tools and social learning to engage learners. I have been looking to comments and interactions as the start point for reflection. The voicethreads are almost an extension of our personal learning networks into a community frame. I am sure the speech was helped along by the feedback.
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September 7th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I really like the ideas you have above jamin – in particular the one on Web Safety. Would become a good year long reference point.
When I was learning to use voicethread we used it on World Maths Day for the students to share how they spoke numbers 0 – 10 in their native language. Also gave family an opportunity to share – I sent home a slip explaining how to comment on it. The kids were really excited at sharing their knowledge and other students were practicing different languages. I would like to get into using it more in the class – thanks for the tips!
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September 14th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Hey Dave and Amanda
Thanks for your encouragement :+)
Amanda – I like the idea of the using VT for Maths. Hence I set up an extension to what I have been doing in class to develop basic facts. Here is a VT on the 24 Game http://e3eclat.blogspot.com/2008/09/brainer-5-24-game.html My kids love it and so we put it on our blog to see if our buddy class could have a go. I hope that students will be able to record the different strategies they find to solving a problem. Thanks again!
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