Voicethread Review

 https://voicethread.com/share/3396769/

So I created a Voicethread around a trip that my girlfriend and I took right before the semester started. We went to Niagara Falls. So I pretended I was a student creating a review. I found that it's pretty easy to use (after a little trial and error) but I imagine the population who uses this would be high school or adult students who have their own pictures and a little more know-how with computers. You could use this with younger students with more supervision but I think I'd be less inclined to do so. I'd be interested to hear some ideas for younger students.

There are some many possibilities for Voicethread! You could assign Voicethread as a type of review homework, where students have to review something (really it could be anything: a movie, a restaurant, a book, ect.). Or you could assign it as a video blog where they evaluate or reflect on their own language learning; ask the students: "What is more difficult for you, speaking or writing? Why?". It could be more relaxed, where you assign it as a journal of their time in the United States (maybe one post a week). Really there's a lot a teacher could do.

One of the things that I found as I made my Voicethread was that I kept deleting and redoing my webcam comments! I didn't like the way my voice sounded or the way I said the words or whatever, and I quickly realized that this would be really productive for a language learner; the more we practice, the better we get!

Tech support would be limited. It's something they could learn in class fairly quickly and do at home. But you would have to think about whether the students have all the stuff at home that they need: a laptop, a webcam, a recorder, ect.

Overall, I think the application is very fun to use and would be productive as it requires students to use oral language skills and as I found, they'd probably practice a lot to get it exactly the way they want it. I think it'd be good to use at home and in class.