Research Category: K-12

Today’s classrooms are definitely changing. While in the past, additional language teachers might have only had target-language newspapers and periodicals at their disposal to create an authentic L2 language learning environment for their students, today’s technological tools erase the barriers that once separated L1 and L2 learners and their environments. With the advent of Web 2.0 tools, additional language educators can extend their classrooms beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar walls to communicate with the world. One of the best ways to do so is to introduce VoiceThread into language lessons. In doing so, students can create conversations that extend across the classroom or across the globe.

The purpose of this workshop is to help K-12 teachers to understand some useful techniques in using the VoiceThread web 2.0 in and out of the classroom. It is also designed to give K-12 teachers good skills that will allow them to use the VoiceThread confidently with their students. In addition, teachers will be able to practice, negotiate with others, and end up with good activities that enable them to have full understanding of this application and how it can be used as a powerful and motivating tool to help students in the learning process. Although the main focus of this workshop is on teaching English as a second language (ESL), all teachers can benefit from attending this workshop and then apply it to their specific classes.

Versatile, easy-to-navigate, and interactive, VoiceThread equips teachers to deploy numerous best instructional practices that engage 21st century students in rigorous literacy activities. Upgrade your current teaching strategies with VoiceThread for Digital Education and create an environment where every student learns every day

This article explores VoiceThread as an online tool for supporting literacy and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) within the top three levels of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.  VoiceThread is a collaborative Web 2.0 tool allowing users to create, share, and comment on images, documents, and videos.  Readers are first provided with an overview of VoiceThread followed by curriculum opportunities for using VoiceThread to analyze, evaluate, and create.

In today’s digital world, Extension professionals are using a wide variety of tools to gather feedback and data from program participants and stakeholders (Rowntree, Wittman, Lindquist, & Raven, 2013). Through online asynchronous discussion boards, chat rooms, and even online live synchronous discussions, the Internet has changed the manner of qualitative data collection forever (Stancanelli, 2010). VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com) is a multimedia platform used by primary and secondary school educators around the world as a storytelling and collaborative tool that also offers promise as a tool for qualitative program evaluation. The unique features of VoiceThread provide a rich backdrop for conducting virtual focus group interviews.