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Introduction
VoiceThread is an asynchronous presentation tool that is available in Blackboard. It can be used to enhance student engagement and online presence by providing collaborative opportunities to demonstrate knowledge. Students can create their own 'VoiceThreads' – multi-media presentations with images, documents, and videos. Then, other students (and instructors) can navigate the slides and leave comments at any point in the presentation using voice, text, audio file, or video recordings.
VoiceThread has many potential uses for both in-person and online classes:
- Narrate a PowerPoint presentation with audio or video.
- Pose a question or suggest a topic, and use VT as a visual discussion board.
- Encourage student to student interactions.
- Create digital stories by narrating over images, videos and slides. Or create stories together with VoiceThread's collaboration features.
- Upload video to VoiceThread and gather reflections.
- Practice a foreign language.
- Evaluate, review or critique an idea or a student presentation.
Helpful Links
Note: VoiceThread has implemented a data retention policy. Items created by inactive users will be removed periodically to conserve storage space. For more information, please see the
UND or
VoiceThread policy page.
How to Access VoiceThread
VoiceThread is a web application which can be accessed using any internet browser, so you don't need to download any applications to get started. There are two places that you can access VoiceThread using your browser: directly on the VoiceThread website -or- inside of any Blackboard course (better for assignments). Please see the instructions below for more information about accessing VoiceThread, or skip to the next section to learn how to set up a VoiceThread assignment in Blackboard.
Inside of Any Blackboard Course Site (Recommended)
- The first step to using VoiceThread in your course is to add a link to a module, content area, or page. Log into Blackboard and navigate to your course. Then, follow these steps for adding the VoiceThread integration to Blackboard.
- Once you have added VoiceThread to your course, a new window will open where you can select the type of VoiceThread link you would like this to be. There are several options for instructors including graded and non-graded activities and assignments. Note, if you will be creating a graded assignment, select the radio button next to Enable Evaluation (optional).If you enabled evaluation, enter in the total Points Possible.
Non-Graded Link Options
Graded Link Options - These options are only available if you selected 'enable evaluation' in step 2, above. Select Assignment Builder, then you can select from the three types of assignment. For more information, see the next section.
- Once you choose what type of link you want to show the students, you can create your VoiceThread with Audio, Video, and share documents on your computer.
- Now, users can access VoiceThread by clicking the link inside your Blackboard course.
Outside of the Blackboard System
- Navigate to und.voicethread.com.
- Click Sign in in the upper-right corner. Make sure it says "Your current institution is University of North Dakota" and the sign-in method is ADFS.
- Enter your NDUS username and password, then click Sign In *If you get a screen asking for Federation Consent, click Yes.
Grading Student Submissions
- To grade your students’ submissions, navigate to the course content area you chose in the set up, and locate the assignment. Click the link (similar to the set up process), and you will see the grading interface automatically.
- Learn more about the VoiceThread Grading process in this article.
- IMPORTANT: Editing an assignment that is in progress may make existing student work inaccessible. It is best not to edit an assignment that is already being used, but if you must, keep in mind that selecting a different VoiceThread or even re-selecting the same one can cause student work not to be counted.
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