At school, we are using voicethread to share our interests, acitivities and other project materials with some schools in USA. The grade 3 and 4 class have been working on this project. Year 8 students have produced a photo album of our school to share with schools in other countries. It is relatively easy to use and there are great tutorials, examples and resources on the website.
Voicethread is like a photo album but it can capture and hold the voices and stories of an entire group forever. It is then stored online. It can be made public or private. Many identities can be created so that each class member will have a separate identity under the umbrella of the teacher. Each identity chooses an image for themselves and records their voiceover. Steps in using voicethread are as follows:-
Goto www.voicethread.com >upload and insert the required photo under browse (or flickr or photobucket) Give a title to your slide. Make sure you give yourself a digital image – photo or otherwise.
Goto comment and record your introduction or voiceover, add an image. Goto the top RHS corner where your photo or image sits>my account>add identity and follow the prompts.
Once in the voicethread, identities can also be added. Follow the prompts until completed. New slides, with different images, can be added etc. Ensure that the microphone settings are correct for the computer that you are using. Choose record and the person records their message. If you need to re-record the voice click on the rubbish bin which appears when selecting the image. See below.
To switch identities, click on your image in lower left hand corner, and choose the one you now want to work with. New identities can be added here as well.
These voicethreads can be shared with other classes, schools and globally. So they are a great collaborative tool.