Giving students the option to use their voice as the primary means to demonstrate their learning has educational benefits. Speaking allows for immediate feedback and clarification of ideas, which helps students better understand concepts and articulate their thinking. As technologies advance, the ability to clearly communicate ideas through speaking will become increasingly important. Research indicates that students develop knowledge and thinking through speaking before writing. For young primary students especially, encouraging oral expression over written work can better reveal their understanding.

1. Voice FirstLois Smethurst

2. So Easy but So ImportantGiving students the option of using their voice as the first means of demonstrating their learning has never been easier or perhaps more important than it is in the current world of Web 2.0.

3. So Many WaysIt can be as easy as attaching a microphone to a computer and using one of the multitude of recorders that come with software, or as “new age” as sending a post to your blog with a mobile devise.

4. Global Communication Mobile technologies and global connections are evolving so rapidly that being able to articulate your thoughts quickly and with clarity will be increasingly important for everyone.

5. Most importantly students learn byTALKING

6. WHY?Vygotsky (1978) also highlighted the convergence of the social and practical elements in learning by saying that the most significant moment in the course of intellectual development occurs when speech and practical activity, two previously completely independent lines of development, converge. Through practical activity a child constructs meaning on an intrapersonal level, whilespeech connects this meaning with the interpersonal world shared by the child and her/his culture.

7. WHY?Gordon Wells emphasizes the importance of speech and writing as a means of building and clarifying knowledge.“The fact that the processes of thinking, such as categorizing, hypothesizing, reasoning, and evaluating, are not only realized in language,in the sense of being made manifest in speech and writing, but also actually constructed and improved through its mediating means.”

8. For students in primary school, the processes of thinking are more likely to be realized if the students are encouraged to use speech. Young students are inexperienced writers and we cannot expect them to use written language as the main expression of their thinkingStudents speak before they writeIf we really want to know what they are thinking and how they are thinking, then the first form of communication should be spokenespecially for primary students who are still in the early stages of developing their writing skills.

9. When students speak they get immediate feedback by listening to themselves and their awareness of the meaning of the material is heightened as they articulate it.Writing is more difficult than speaking and so students are much more likely to write things that do not make sense than they are to say them. Speaking first, helps to clarify their knowledge so that they know what needs to be written.

11. Students work in pairs coaching each other.

12. They are expected to listen critically to their buddy and offer constructive advise

13. Uni-directional microphones suppress the background noise. Good sound cards are important.

14. Global Problem – Local SolutionPlanning helped with Livescribe Pen. Students had to articulate their plans in summary.Blabberize

15. Global Problem – Local SolutionPlanning helped with Livescribe Pen. Students had to articulate their plans in summary.Using the Pen Helps students make decisions

16. Provides feedback for the teacher and other team members

17. Keeps students on track in future sessions

18. What Students SayHow I learnt about Global Warming: First we, the LEEP kids watched a movie, but that wasn’t enough because if it did tell us everything about Global Warming and other stuff we would just stay home and watch videos to learn. After that we discussed the matter and our LEEP teacher, Mrs. Smethurst simplified it because it was a bit hard to understand. We all drew pictures about it to help us understand even further because it was still a bit blury in our minds It unblured for me when I explained it to a microphone on Audiotouch. It really helped me to understand what Global Warming is and how to present it.http://berwicklodgeps.globalstudent.org.au/2009/08/21/how-i-learnt-about-global-warming/

19. What Students SayHow I Learn?Posted by: MarnieHow I Learn…I learn best when I am on AudioTouch talking and when we are in a discussion. I need to talk when I am learning to fully understand it. Rather then just reading a whole paragraph that totally means nothing to me.Learning About Global Warming…When I was learning about Global Warming the part where I understand the most was when I was on Tux Panit and when I was on AudioTouch because…When I was on AudioTouch talking about it was easier to understand then researching on the internet.It was easy to understend when I was drawing because I understood what I was drawing.

20. VoiceThreadClass Research Projecthttp://voicethread.com/share/409056/

21. VoiceThreadReader’s Theatrehttp://voicethread.com/share/483703/

22. Student Radio Show

23. Grade 5 & 6 Radio ShowStudents perform a live Radio Show each week. All the grade 5 & 6 students have an opportunity to participate.They collaborate on a script in Google Docs, practice and perform. After the show the students will edit out the music and podcast the show.

24. Online DebatingWe’ve used Skype for an interschool debating competition and also VoiceThread for an international debating competition. Skype is great for synchronous debates and VoiceThread for asynchronous debates when time zones were difficult.

25. VoiceThread Book Reviews

26. Save the Turtle – Don’t Litter

27. Save the Platypus