Using technology to connect classrooms

I’m using a web-based program called Voicethread to have students record their ideas and memories of what we have been learning about.  The plan is for partner classes to also use this program to record their feedback so we can communicate in an open dialogue regardless of time zones and schedule differences.

I really like Voicethread because it’s very user-friendly (the kids pick it up after a 5 min demo), and it allows for typing, audio-only recording (microphone), and video recording (web cam).  So far I’ve basically made a short slideshow using pictures I’ve taken at school documenting certain activities and then had students work in pairs to help each other leave a comment when they are at the computer center (then they play games linked on our website or complete a typing/art activity using software purchased by our district).  Again, my first graders can all do this independently after practicing as a whole group a few times and with minimal troubleshooting help from an adult.   As they get more proficient with the program I monitor the threads more, but here are some that demonstrate the possibilities:

Step 1: Look through Voicethread’s instructional videos that walk you through the process of creating a “thread” (slideshow) and recording comments: http://ed.voicethread.com/share/8381/  and the online documents that  give a good overview of how educators can best use this tool: http://ed.voicethread.com/help/manuals/

Step 2: Register for an educator’s account at http://ed.voicethread.com

I paid the one-time $10 fee for a Pro Educator account to get more storage space but you can definitely start with the free account and do a lot before you run out of memory.  All you need is a valid email address and your school’s address/website.

Step 3: Set-up identities or profiles for each student/class.   Once you have registered you will receive a confirmation email.  Click on the link in the email and then log in at ed.voicethread.com  then click on your email address in the upper right corner, and select My Identities.

Take a minute to edit your identity.  I use the generic name “Your Teacher” and a random picture of an animal or design for my image.   Now click Add an Identity and, to maintain internet anonymity/safety, enter a student’s initials or a pseudoname they will recognize.

Voicethread will automatically assign them a random black/white icon (most seem to be Monopoly game pieces).  I like to have my students design their own icon either using crayons/markers and then I take a digital picture of their drawing and upload it here, or using an art program on the computer and save a screenshot of the image.  Jpeg and Bitmap files work well, but the icon will be cropped into a small square image so keep that in mind (give them square paper to draw on or remind them that they won’t be able to see many details).

NOTE:  you will not be able to monitor student comments (approve before they go live in the thread) if you create the thread under the same account that you create identities in.  I recommend creating TWO accounts (will need two emails or two versions of your email that work like name@email.com and n.ame@email.com); account #1 will be for creating threads and moderating comments, and  account #2 will be for creating comments.  So you log in as #1 when you are uploading pictures and approving comments for publishing in the thread, and you log in as #2 when you are students are recording their comments.

Step 4: Register for a second educator’s account at http://ed.voicethread.com

I learned the hard way that you want to pay another one-time $10 so you have full access to embed/share threads from ed.voicethread.  If you just go with the free educator account you have to change the embed/share code to be regular voicethread.com instead of ed.voicethread.com which is not worth saving $10!

Total cost: $20.

Total time: about 20 minutes, if you already have your students’ identity jpegs ready to upload.

Once you have registered and set-up your student identities, you’re ready for the fun part: commenting!

Voicethread allows you to use three formats to leave a comment:

1. type

2. voice

3. video

I demonstrate the voice recording to my students first because it’s quicker for students to say their thoughts than to type them out, and hearing their voice play back doesn’t involve quite as much student embarrassment and opportunities for friends to ham it up in the background as the video.

Step 1: Go to the thread you will comment on.  This can be embedded in a blog: http://firstgradesuperstars.blogspot.com/2010/01/jan-18-22.html or you can save the share link as a bookmark in your browser so they can view the thread as full screen: http://ed.voicethread.com/share/850144/

Step 2: Sign in with the account with which your students’ identities are associated.  (Click on the “sign in” gray square in the bottom left corner).

Step 3: View the thread.  You can either click play arrow in center white button for autoplay, or control how long you view each picture by clicking the gray arrow to the left or right.  I typically encourage students to view all of the pictures/videos in the thread and then go back and choose which one(s) on which to leave a comment.

Step 4: Select a picture on which to comment.  You can either use the left/right arrows to go through the thread one picture at a time, or to view a gallery of all the pictures in the thread, click the four thumbnails next to the right side arrow.

Step 5: Choose your identity.

Step 6: Click the word “comment.”  You will now see five icons replace the word comment:

a phone (if your computer/webcam doesn’t have a microphone – I’ve never actually used this feature)

a video camera (for webcam recording)

a microphone and the word “record” (for voice only)

a letter A and the word “type” (for text)

an arrow pointing up (to upload an audio comment – I’ve never used this feature either)

Step 7: Select your preferred method of comment.  Again, I show the students how to record their voice and practice just that for a day.  Then another day I show them how to record a video and let them practice, and finally I show them how to type a comment (typically the most frustrating but very motivational to find those letters on the keyboard).

The first time you select the microphone or the webcam you may have a pop-up window asking if you allow the website to access your microphone/webcam.  Select the green check mark/yes!  In that pop-up window you may see a drop down menu to choose the microphone source.  Usually the right one is selected by default but I have had issues where the computer didn’t recognize the webcam and I had to choose “internal usb” even though it was plugged in to an external usb port (?).

Step 8: Once you select the microphone/webcam it will start recording and you’ll see a red button that says “stop recording” next to a circle of colored dots.  You can use the cursor to draw on the picture (to circle what you’re talking about, for example) and the colored dots are how you change the color of your lines.  Whatever you draw will fade away after about 10 seconds.  This usually merits a mini-lesson with students about what drawings will help illustrate what you are saying (versus random drawings or scribbling just to cover up the picture)!

When you have finished talking press “stop recording” and your comment will play back.  You have a choice to select either “save“  or “cancel” your recording and you can see the duration of your comment by the length of the gray rectangle that the white ball is going across at the bottom of the screen.   This merits a mini-lesson on being succienct (I noticed you said “um” a lot and there were some long pauses while you drew those lines, think you can do it again a little faster now that you have practiced?) but you can always go back and address that once the students are more proficient with the basics.

Step 9: When you save your comment your icon will appear next to the picture.  You can click on your icon to hear/read your comment!  No matter how many comments you save, your icon will only appear once and your comments will play in the order in which they were recorded.

Step 10: You can go back and delete a comment that you saved at any time.  If you are logged in, when you click on your icon you”ll see a trashcan icon under your comment.  When you click on the trashcan it will ask “Delete this comment?” and you can choose “keep it” or “delete it.”  This is different from moderating comments, which I’ll cover in the next post about creating a thread.

After demonstrating how to make a comment and letting students practice on their own or in pairs, I try to leave a few minutes to play the thread and the comments to the entire class.  The first few times we do this I tell them that I want them to have fun and show what they are thinking, but that we’re not here to just be silly.  Then I ask them to think about whether each comment is showing some one’s thinking or just showing someone being silly (indicate with hand gesture like point to head or spin finger by head, or thumbs up/thumbs to the side during each comment).  If the class or I think a comment is too silly we delete it together and I ask the student who recorded it to try to show his/her thoughts next time.  Usually there is a lot of experimenting and goofiness during the first day and then they take it more seriously.  Talking about the thread’s audience (let’s show it to the principal, to the other students in our school, to our families…) helps them make more meaningful comments.