VoiceThread A to Z: Tips for the First Day of Class

We frequently hear from instructors who use VoiceThread for one specific purpose in their classes, but haven’t thought about how VoiceThread can be a complete solution for online or blended courses. In this blog series, we will work through all the different use cases throughout the school year. Over the next few posts in the VoiceThread A to Z series, you’ll see how to use VoiceThread from day 1 through the final day of classes. In this first post, we’ll show you examples for the beginning of the semester, then in the weeks to come we’ll discuss flipping your class, using portfolios, creating assessments and more. Stay tuned!

Getting Started

Sure, VoiceThread is great for big projects and deep learning discussions during the heart of the academic year, but it can also help with the small and simple early semester stuff. Whether you are an instructor on the higher ed level meeting your new students, or a middle school teacher meeting your new parents, an introduction VoiceThread will help bring the human element back to your digital communication.

With VoiceThread, you can easily record an introduction via your webcam and share it with students or parents and get to know each other without having to schedule meetings. Here’s an example of how an intro might look:

Direct link: https://voicethread.com/new/share/3946192/

Instead of taking valuable time at the beginning of your first class going over the syllabus, you can upload your docs to a VoiceThread and let students listen when they have time. This way, you can use that first class to dive right into content that can hook your students on your subject. Here’s an example of a professor who did just that:

Direct Link: https://voicethread.com/new/share/5873223/

These are two easy, low-stakes ways to get started with VoiceThread. In our next post, we’ll discuss innovative ways to use VoiceThread for weekly content and conversations. We’d love to know how you use VoiceThread to start your semester off, so leave a comment below and share your ideas!