VoiceThread project

This week's assignment was to create an instructional unit using an on-line program called VoiceThread. This free, web-based program offers many opportunities for students and educators to create instructional units that can instruct, inform, and inspire. What I like best about VoiceThread is its accessibility and its relativly user-friendly interface.

For my project I chose the controversial Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X. I am deeply interested in the Civil Rights movement, which profoundly changed the the course of the nation, and in the future I plan to have my students pick a character from this era and present a quick biography using VoiceThread. I created this one as a model for my students, and I purposely didn't try to perfect my narration because I wanted to be able to address this aspect of the project with my students. When it comes to putting my voice on tape, or even on public display (via a speech or a radio/television opportunity), I always get nervous and "choke." I believe relating this to students will help them relax, and do a better job.

One of the most appealing aspects of this technology is its accessibility. Students will be able to work on their projects at home and create their audio text in the comfort (and safety) of their own homes. What I really like is the preparation needed on the student's part just to produce a three or four frame VoiceThread biography. They'll need to do research, create an outline, compose a narrative that gets to the essential importance of their subject, and find pictures that, in the words the poet, are worth a 1,000 words. I look forward to introducing my students to VoiceThread; I'm sure they'll love it.