Voicethread

http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com/

I nformation and Ideas taken from: http://digitallyspeaking.pbwiki.com/Voicethread 

Commenting on a Voicethread
[|Handout_Voicethread_Commenting.doc] This handout contains basic information on the kinds of comments that can be added to a Voicethread presentation.

Commenting Language
[|Handout_VT_Comments_Wall.doc]

One of the lessons that students can learn while engaging in Voicethread presentations is the kind of language that is productive in collaborative--as opposed to competitive--conversations. This handout can be used to introduce students to the kinds of actions and phrasing that members of ongoing work teams use while working with each other. (It repeats information shared above in handout form.)

Assessing Voicethread Participation
[|VT_Scoring.doc]

Recently, I've tinkered with a system to assess [|my students' participation in Voicethread conversations]. Essentially mirroring the reflective aspects of Konrad's blogging handouts, I've decided to ask my students the following four questions while we're working with a new [|Voicethread]:


 * //Highlight a comment from our Voicethread conversation that closely matches your own thinking. Why does this comment resonate---or make sense to---you?//
 * //Highlight a comment from our Voicethread conversation that you respectfully disagree with. If you were to engage in a conversation with the commenter, what evidence/argument would you use to persuade them to change their point of view?//
 * //Highlight a comment from our Voicethread conversation that challenged your thinking in a good way and/or made you rethink one of your original ideas. What about the new comment was challenging? What are you going to do now that your original belief was challenged? Will you change yoru mind? Will you do more researching/thinking/talking with others?//
 * //Highlight the strand of conversation from our Voicethread conversation that was the most interesting or motivating to you. Which ideas would you like to have more time to talk about? Why? What new topics does this conversation make you want to study next?//
 * //Highlight the strand of conversation from our Voicethread conversation that was the most interesting or motivating to you. Which ideas would you like to have more time to talk about? Why? What new topics does this conversation make you want to study next?//
 * //Highlight the strand of conversation from our Voicethread conversation that was the most interesting or motivating to you. Which ideas would you like to have more time to talk about? Why? What new topics does this conversation make you want to study next?//
 * //Highlight the strand of conversation from our Voicethread conversation that was the most interesting or motivating to you. Which ideas would you like to have more time to talk about? Why? What new topics does this conversation make you want to study next?//
 * //Highlight the strand of conversation from our Voicethread conversation that was the most interesting or motivating to you. Which ideas would you like to have more time to talk about? Why? What new topics does this conversation make you want to study next?//

The cool part about assessing Voicethread presentations this way is that each question essenitally forces my students to interact with our conversation in a really meaningful way. To craft careful answers, they must truly consider the comments of others---an essential skill [|for promoting collaborative versus competitive dialogue]---and compare those comments against their own beliefs and preconceived notions.

That's metacognition at its best!

What's even better is that when students know that these questions form the basis of our Voicethread assessment from the beginning of a conversation, participation level rise remarkably. While students are looking for project reflection comments, they often end up highly motivated to share their thinking with peers.

Kindergarten Examples: media type="custom" key="1664997"