Voice Thread Start-Up Guide
VoiceThread – You can think of a Voice Thread as a conversation around a slideshow of your own media files. These media files can be your PDFs (you can export your PowerPoints, images, video files, audio files and more). You can mix the media so your VoiceThread could include, for example, four presentation slides, two images, a video, and three more presentation slides at the end.
Once you have your media curated, you simply add your own comments in voice (using your computer’s microphone), video (using your computer’s webcam), or text (using the keyboard on your computer). You can share your VoiceThread securely with the module or give access to anyone you want with a link.
Link to your Blackboard Module Site
There are two different ways of doing this. One way is through books and tools and the other is the preferred way of selecting where you would like the voice thread to go in the content structure.
So for example:
Select where you would like the VoiceThread presentation to go and click on the + button and select content market
It will launch the LTI integration tool and after a few seconds you should then see the following screen below:
You have Course View and Individual Voice Thread and Assignment Builder. Course View basically shows all the voice threads you have ever created whilst individual VT shows just one that you want to show.
There is also an Assignment Builder. We won’t go into this with too much detail but just so that you are aware you can also create an assignment in Voice Thread.
The assignments can be for a student to create a VoiceThread, to comment on a voice thread or to just listen to a voice thread from start to finish.
So for now let’s choose Individual Voice Thread and show how to create one…..
Click on Add Media and select the type of content you want to add.
The permitted file types to upload from your computer are:
Images – JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, and SVG
Audio – MP3 or WAV
Video – MP4, WMV, MOV, AVI
Documents – DOC, DOCX, PDF, XLS, XLSX, ODT, and ODS
Presentations – PPT, PPTX, Keynote, ODP, and PDF
N.B. Maximum file size: 3GB
In this example, we have used the My Computer option to upload a PDF. Once the file has been uploaded, it will be displayed like this:
The file(s) you selected will be uploaded and you will see the Thread Settings pop-up screen.
Title and Settings
When you add the first piece of content to your VoiceThread, you will be prompted to give the VoiceThread a title. Type your preferred title (and optional description) but don’t click Save just yet!
Next, click on the Playback Options tab.
N.B. The telephone option is not available for the University so you can ignore that box. You can amend these settings as you wish. You can save your settings as the default for any future Voice Threads you create. There are lots of different settings which you can experiment on.
When you have finished selecting your preferred settings, press the Save button.
TIP: You can amend the Playback Settings at a later time by clicking on the Options button to the right of the slides (in Edit view) and selecting Playback Settings from the drop-down menu.
Add Comments
The next stage of creating your VoiceThread is to add Comments.
Press the X in the top right-hand corner of your VoiceThread to close it.
N.B. VoiceThread automatically saves everything as you go along.
Press the Comment button on the toolbar.
Hover your mouse over the bottom middle of the VoiceThread to reveal the commenting options. Click the + sign at the bottom of the slide and select which sort of comment you want to make.
The comment type options are:
Text
Record audio
Record video
Upload file (pre-recorded audio or video only)
Comment with Text
Press the ABC icon to type a text comment and press the Save button. Your comment will appear on the left.
Comment with Audio or Video
When you select to comment using audio (microphone) or video (webcam) for the first time, you will be asked to allow your browser access to your microphone and/or webcam. In each case, click the Allow button.
With both audio and video comments, you will see a
4-second countdown before recording begins.
The recording will start once the countdown has finished. There will be a Stop Recording link underneath the slide you are commenting on.
Press the Stop Recording link when you have finished recording your comment. Your comment will be uploaded and played back to you. You will have the option to Save the comment, or Cancel it and re-record.
If you choose to save your recorded comment, it will appear in the Conversation Channel on the left.
Upload a Comment
This option is for pre-recorded audio and video files only. You can upload recordings you have made elsewhere, e.g. your mobile phone, tablet, etc. that have been transferred to your computer.
How Comments Are Displayed
When you have finished adding comments to your slides, they will appear in the Conversation Channel down the left-hand side of the screen. Each comment shows your initials or your profile picture (if you have uploaded one).
When you have finished adding comments, close the VoiceThread by clicking the ‘X’ in the top right-hand corner.
Share Your VoiceThread
When you have finished adding content and comments to your VoiceThread, you can share it with your module.
Click on Share with Class
It will bring up the link you can either copy or Click on Share with Class
It will then bring up a box to name your presentation for your students.
Press Save and Continue and then close down that browser and return to your module page.
Once at the module page refresh your Blackboard module site and the new Voice Thread presentation will then appear.
Last updated January/2022