The Power of Voice

by Jamie Drake, Continuing Lecturer in Spanish, Department of International Language and Cultural Studies

Have you ever thought about harnessing the power of your students’ voices? Have you ever had students in class that express themselves most effectively through the spoken word? If you answer “yes” to either of these questions, then a relatively new tool may be for you: VoiceThread.

VoiceThread is a web- and app-based technology that enables you and your students to communicate via the spoken word. As an instructor, you can create a thread consisting of a prompt or specific task instruction. The prompt can be an image, a PowerPoint file, or virtually anything else. In addition, you can leave an audio or video message to attach to the prompt before sharing it with your students, which you can do via URL, social media, email, or by embedding the thread in your personal web page. Once shared, the power of voice is unlocked!

The potential applications for VoiceThread are limited only by your imagination. As a Spanish instructor, I have used threads to enable students to “Describe Katy Perry as you see her in this photo” or answer “What do you like to do on the weekends?” in Spanish. The technology is so user friendly that students can deliver their spoken responses using a PC mic, webcam, or their phones, mobile and stationary.

In language courses, this tool empowers instructors and students alike to spend more time in the target language, enhancing listening and speaking. As powerful as this is for what I do, there is an even greater and expansive potential for VoiceThread. Built into each thread is the opportunity to give and receive feedback. When a student adds a message to a thread, you and all other students invited to the thread can consume that message and respond to it if desired, and therefore the creator of the message can receive timely and meaningful feedback. In history, imagine inviting students to respond to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, or in music, inviting students to respond to the question “Will the Beatles be thought of like Beethoven in 200 years, like Paul McCartney stated?” While specific applications in your discipline would have to be developed, VoiceThread technology can be utilized effectively by any instructor and in any field. It is that flexible.

VoiceThread is easy to get and it is free. Simply point your browser to voicethread.com or access your app store and sign up for a free account. The premium level, which carries an annual fee of $99, allows for the unlimited creation and downloading of threads.

This semester, I plan to use VoiceThread as a vehicle to deliver feedback to students on their writing and speaking in Spanish S112. It’s a new adventure, comparable to an audio feedback journal. How might you be able to use VoiceThread in your courses? Would you like to discuss it? I would love to have others on this journey with me.