Sarah’s UDL Blog

I have really loved VoiceThread since first encountering it last semester, in part for its versatility as a tool for expression and communication, and in part because the visual interface creates such a different, less linear, and more community-based feeling then the experience presented by many other traditional online discussion tools. I posted in the Multiple Means of Expression thread, and chose the audio-recording (computer microphone) feature as my expression-form of the day. In terms of my own expression, I found the experience of using Voicethread both enjoyable and frustrating. It was fun and motivating to be able to see my classmates and read their comments, but I had a hard time following the thread of the discussion, and it didn’t feel as conversational as I might like. I really liked having the option of being able to choose my mode of expression, and found that I was able to express myself differently through speech than I might in text.

From a personal and classroom perspective, I think that Voicethread has some major affordances with regard to action and expression, and presents some substantial challenges and questions as well. I have a lot to say about this, so I’ve color-coded my ideas in this post to make it more easily scannable. In terms of physical response, I love the fact that the video, text, and voice options are flexible, so that a student who is unable or not inclined to speak can write his or her response using the keyboard, and vice versa. However, I’m curious about navigation–I still had to use my mouse/touchpad to click through, and don’t see any keyboard shortcuts to assist in navigation.

The real strength of Voicethread relates to UDL principle 5.1, “Options in the Media for Communication.” The options Voicethread offers are pretty comprehensive, and I can imagine people using the features in really creative ways– for example, a student might actually put on a little performance with the video option, or could express him/herself in American Sign Language.

Voicethread is a really versatile tool, so I think that it definitely can be used creatively to provide options for composition, problem-solving, practice, and performance. However, the tool itself– like any tool– is only effective when it’s used skillfully. In this case, we had some terrific prompts to get us started, but I’m curious about the kind of facilitation/ scaffolding that might be needed to help some learners along the way. One feature I really like is that the user has the opportunity to preview an audio comment before it is posted to the public, which could be really helpful in providing practice to students who are emerging language learners, and in supporting metacognition and revision.

I wonder about executive function– this is an area in which the forms of expression do seem to be qualitatively different, and seem to require different kinds of plans. I chose to express myself verbally, and while I was tempted to write down my thoughts before I spoke, I felt like that might be sort of against the spirit of the assignment, so I picked a key idea and improvised as I recorded my thoughts. However, in several courses this semester, we have discussed the difference in thinking processes between written text and spoken language– written text tends to be more reflective and formal, while spoken language is more improvisational, social, and spontaneous (see Garrison and Anderson, E-Learning in the 21st Century, pp 25-26). If we’re assessing students on their planning and organizational skills in communication, I’m not sure if we can fairly compare written and spoken language– they aren’t necessarily comparable.

My biggest issue with Voicethread is not in the dimension of action and expression, but has more to do with representation, particularly in the realm of perception. I find the experience of viewing/ reading Voicethreads to be pretty jarring, as user comments switch back and forth between video, audio, and text. There wasn’t an easy way to scan the content of comments if I wasn’t able to mentally connect each user’s image to his or her ideas, which made the conversation difficult to follow and which made it difficult to respond to interesting ideas presented by others. In addition, users can’t choose the form in which we perceive the comments of others, and since the purpose of the tool is not just for students to express themselves but to be able to have online “conversations” with classmates, it misses the mark. If the site incorporated tools like a text-to-speech converter or voice recognition software that converts speech into text formats, it would be much more powerful. In addition, Voicethread creators should be prompted to include long descriptions when uploading images to build a Voicethread.

To summarize, here are some suggestions for improvement:

• Provide an option for students to upload other forms of media as comments (e.g., more imaginative videos made with a digital camera, not a webcam)
• Provide exemplars for teachers to help them scaffold effective Voicethread discussions
• Create keyboard shortcuts to assist in navigation
• Give users the option of tag their images with a few key words that describe their comments and that stay visible while other users’ comments are playing, to make the structure of the discussion more visible and scannable
• Add text-to-speech and voice-recognition capabilities to the comments and to the uploaded documents
• Add prompts to remind creators to include long descriptions in the images they upload