VoiceThread
VoiceThread is a 3rd party learning tool for enhancing student engagement and online presence. With VoiceThread, instructors and students can create, share, and comment on images, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, videos, audio files, documents, and PDFs, using microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload.
Using VoiceThread in Blackboard
1. Adding VoiceThread to your course
VoiceThread is integrated into your Blackboard environment by your administrator, so you can simply follow the steps below to pull it into your course.
a. Navigate to the “Content” area for your course.
b. Click on the “Build Content” menu.
c. Select “VoiceThread” from the menu.
d. Give the link a title and description if you’d like.
NOTE: The description cannot contain any line breaks or multiple paragraphs.
e. If you will be creating a graded assignment, remember to enable grading and select Outcomes. When the options are correct, select submit.
2. Setting Up your VoiceThread Link
After you have added VoiceThread to your course, you’ll need to decide what you want students to see when they click on that link. Start by clicking on the link you’ve just created. This will show you the VoiceThread Setup page, where you can select the option that best fits your needs. These options are detailed below.
Note: If you want VoiceThread integrated with your gradebook, you must use the Assignment Builder.
For specifics on these 4 options, please go to: https://voicethread.com/howto/blackboard-2/
3. Student Assignment Submission
When students click on the link for a graded assignment, they will see the assignment you’ve created. They can immediately create or select a VoiceThread to submit for the Create Assignment, record comments on your VoiceThread for the Comment Assignment, or watch the VoiceThread for the Watch Assignment. As soon as they click on the “Submit Assignment” button, you will be able to grade their work.
Click here for the assignment submission guide for students.
4. Grading Student Work
When you’re ready to grade a VoiceThread assignment, simply return to your course and click on the VoiceThread link again. This will display the grader.
Click on a student’s name on the right to see that student’s submission. You can click on each comment below his or her name individually to jump directly to it. Enter a grade and hit “Enter” on your keyboard. This grade will immediately be entered into your Blackboard course gradebook.
If you have students who have not yet submitted their assignments, click on the “Remind” button to send them an email reminder. Click “Remind all students” to send an email to everyone who has not yet submitted.
Each VoiceThread you create is specific to a course and contains student activity in it. To re-use the same content in different courses or different terms, you will need to create a new VoiceThread for each course. VoiceThread cannot currently be added to Master Courses. If you are a Course Coordinator and wish to add a more engaging discussion to a Master Course, please consider adding a video discussion board instead.
*VoiceThread Inc. VT in your Learning Management System - Blackboard. Retrieved from https://voicethread.com/howto/blackboard-2/.
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