This presentation discusses ways that individuals can use VoiceThread for facilitating Universal Design. Also provided are recommended guidelines for using VoiceThread along with some strengths and disadvantages of the tool.

1. VOICETHREAD FOR
UNIVERSAL DESIGN
Addressing the
needs of diverse learners

2. Who are we?
Dr. Jaimie Hoffman
Assistant Professor of Clinical Education
University of Southern California
jaimie.hoffman@usc.edu
@jaimieLhoffman
Dr. Jaime Hannans
Assistant Professor of Nursing
CSU Channel Islands
jaime.hannans@csuci.edu
@jaimehannans

3. AUDIENCE QUESTION
Please introduce yourself by typing
your name, position, institution and
one interesting fact about you in
the chat box.

4. “
What are we covering today?

5. AUDIENCE QUESTION
How much have you already used
VoiceThread?
a. Never
b. A few times
c. Often
d. We are besties

6. PRINCIPLES OF
UNIVERSAL DESIGN
http://www.udlcenter.org/

7. ACTIVE LEARNING CREDO
What I hear, I forget.
What I hear and see, I remember a little.
What I hear, see, and ask questions about or discuss with
someone else, I begin to understand.
What I hear, see, discuss, and do, I acquire knowledge and
skill.
What I teach to another, I master.
Mel Silberman (1996)

8. A tour of examples
In what ways can students use
VoiceThread to demonstrate learning?

9. GAIN CONFIDENCE IN
EARLY INTRODUCTIONS

10. CREATE AND PRESENT
AN ARGUMENT

14. INTEGRATE ARTS AND SCIENCES WITH
VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES

16. “We do not learn from
experience…
we learn from reflecting on
experience.”
-John Dewey

17. REFLECT ON QUESTIONS

19. COLLABORATE WITH
PEERS NEAR AND FAR

23. RESEARCH & PRESENT
CONTENT

26. FINDING CURRENT DATA

27. ROLE PLAY

29. SHARE SNAPSHOT OF
LEARNING FOR FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT

32. ANALYZE PEER WORK
‘Cultural’ Group
Presentations with
Peer (Individual) Feedback

33. STORYTELLING Part 1

34. STORYTELLING Part 2

35. AUDIENCE QUESTION
Other ideas for demonstrating
student learning?
Please type your
answers in the chat box.

36. MOBILE IDEAS!
● Collect and share data from the field
● Record sample demonstrations of
work (e.g. student teaching, speaking
another language, etc.)
● Peer-feedback via text or media
● Student-led sessions around artifacts
or current resources related to class
● Weekly check-in’s to facilitate
engagement

37. AUDIENCE QUESTION
What ideas do you have for mobile
use?
Please type your
answers in the chat box.

38. THE REASON

39. Guidelines for use
Recommendations based on our experiences so far

40. ASSIGNMENT BUILDER
● VT works off of percentage
● Only works with LTI
● Students must press submit button (see next
slide)

42. SETTING EXPECTATIONS
Approach from the context
of a conversation - much
like a class discussion.
Set clear, minimal
expectations (e.g. # of
posts, # of minutes, # of
responses, etc.)
● Set two due dates… one for initial response, one for responses to peers.
● Require students to mention other students’ names

43. AUDIENCE QUESTION
Which best represents your
thoughts on setting expectations
for discussion?
a. set specific # of minimums
b. approach from context of conversation
c. other (explain in chat box)

44. YOUR ROLE
● Determine your role in advance
● Share this role with the students

45. AUDIENCE QUESTION
What is one word that you would
use to describe the role you might
play when facilitating a
VoiceThread?
Click on the link to the Google Form
in the chat box to enter your word
http://tiny.cc/VTUD

46. The Debate
VideoVoice Text

47. AUDIENCE QUESTION
Which approach will you take?
a. require video comments from the start
b. eventually require video
c. never require video
d. it depends (explain in chat box)

48. Benefits
What are the positives?

49. AUDIENCE QUESTION
Share one benefit of VoiceThread
(type your response in the chat
box)

50. OUR THOUGHTS
HUMANIZES
Humanizes asynchronous
online discussion
REFLECTION
Allows for reflection
ACTIVE LEARNING
Facilitates active (and
deeper) learning
OPEN-ENDED
CONTRIBUTIONS
Ability to solicit unstructured
and open-ended
contributions
ALL VOICES HEARD
Allows for every student in
the class to be heard
ASSESSABLE RECORD
Assessable record of
student
engagement/interactions
EASE OF USE
Easy to use, low barrier for
entry
MOBILE
VoiceThread has an
Android and iOS app

51. Drawbacks
What are the challenges?

52. AUDIENCE QUESTION
Share one drawback of
VoiceThread (type your response
in the chat box)

53. OUR THOUGHTS
NOT THREADED
No threaded discussion can
make it difficult to follow
conversation
NO LIKE BUTTON
Can’t quickly acknowledge a
contribution with like button
OPEN-ENDED
CONTRIBUTIONS
Ability to solicit unstructured
and open-ended
contributions means there is
lots to listen to
MOBILE APP
Mobile app is not always
reliable, but it is better
ASSIGNMENT BUILDER
Only available with LTI and
“submit assignment” button
is problematic

54. FREE ACCOUNT
● Includes:
○ unlimited voice commenting
○ ability to create 5
VoiceThreads
● Does not include the ability to
create groups*
VOICETHREAD COST
HIGHER EDUCATION
INSTRUCTOR LICENSE ($99 per
year)
● Includes:
○ unlimited voice commenting
○ unlimited VoiceThread
creation
○ ability to create groups*
*Creating a group and sharing a VT with that group is the only
way to create a secure environment for VT

55. ● Support documents
● Support contact
● VoiceThread and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
workshop
● VoiceThread YouTube Channel
VOICETHREAD SUPPORT

56. THANKS!
Any questions?