BP9_Voice Thread

The video above is a sample of a voice thread created about Voice Thread. It's an incredible tool that I've never explored before, but I can certainly see its usefulness. It allows individuals to view the same thread and record a comment, and within that comment they can pause, draw on the screen, and even archive the thread for future use. There are a number of key features of Voice Thread . . .

v Comments can be made at the website or by phone. There's a place to enter a phone number and Voice Thread will call the person and record their comment, much like leaving a voice mail message.

v Doodling is really useful for calling attention to specific items or actions in a video. The video can be paused to draw on the screen and adds focus to the threaded comments.

v The Embedding feature allows you to directly embed your voice thread to social networking and communication sites like Facebook, iGoogle, Xanga, Live Spaces, and Pageflakes. You can also copy the embed code to post the thread or copy the URL link. It is also possible to resize the voice thread by manually altering the embed code to a different setting. This is available wherever you see the embed button.

v Threads can be archived for future use in any way one likes. This would be particularly useful for business and classroom use.

v Identities allow a number of individual to share an account, which would be very useful for a business group, classroom group, or any other group that wishes to share comments. without exiting and entering the site repeatedly.

v Threads can be linked to other pages with the “Copy a Link” button and are quickly pasteed into an email or Facebook page. There are ways to set up other groups you frequently share with, but the copy link feature is the quickest and easiest. To share securely, you can click on a Group and decide if they can view and or comment on the thread. To send secure invitations, you can select the people you want to share with and an invitation will be sent to them. You can select multiple people who can view, comment, and edit your threads.

v Moderation allows the creator to preview and approve comments before others see them. “Publishing Options” opens the window and “Moderate Comments” can be enabled. The moderator will need to listen to and allow/disallow it. This is good for public threads to control spam or inappropriate comments.

v Identities are alternate personalities that allows you to share an account without logging out and in again for each one as with a work group, classroom or family. The only caution is that everyone is on the same account, so there is no privacy. Just click on the lower left avatar and add new names and corresponding avatars.

v Get a link by clicking “Copy a Link” and paste it into an email or Facebook page. There are ways to set up other groups you frequently share with, but the copy link feature is the quickest and easiest. To share securely, you can click on a Group and decide if they can view and or comment on the thread. To send secure invitations, you can select the people you want to share with and an invitation will be sent to them. You can select multiple people who can view, comment, and edit your threads.

v LMS (learning management system) integration is available to paid customers. At this point, only Moodle is integrated, but others are being created and custom integration is possible.

It’s just so remarkable that people anywhere in the world can join the conversation by viewing a thread, commenting, and listening to the comments of others. Even though I struggled a bit with trying to create my own thread. VT didn’t like my picture or video format, and something produced an error when I tried to embed some pictures from my Facebook page. I guess I need a non-pressure setting to do my exploring. After viewing all of the feature videos on the VT site and watching a number of threads, it’s obvious that there are as many uses as one can think up for business, education, or group work of any kind.