1. Introduction

​[1] One of the most prevalent challenges we face as online instructors is encouraging interactivity and personal contact in the online learning environment (OLE). Because OLEs often rely on text-based interactions hosted in learning management systems (LMSs) like Blackboard and Canvas, instructors often perceive a “presumption of loss” (Blair, 2010, p. 72) associated with online learning that makes it “less desirable” (Hewett, 2015, p. 2) and lacking in interactivity. Though there are ways to create more interactive opportunities for discussion, doing so can be cumbersome and labor intensive for instructors and require students to use unfamiliar software applications that may or may not integrate with the institutional LMS. Teaching entry-level literacy courses like first-year writing and developmental or college reading can be made even more difficult by these challenges.

[2] In this review, I suggest the online presentation software VoiceThread offers a potential solution for instructors who want to see and hear their students while also avoiding recreating all their course content. Although VoiceThread cannot meet the needs of every online course, it does offer a unique platform for instructors who want to increase interactivity between students and simplify or consolidate the platforms and technologies they already use in their courses. For online instructors teaching literacy education, VoiceThread is a strong way to encourage more meaningful discussion and enhance existing course projects.

2. Using VoiceThread in an Online Course

[3] VoiceThread is a cloud application that allows users to share media and host discussions in a series of slides like a PowerPoint presentation. What makes VoiceThread unique is the way it allows users to create presentations that integrate narration and comments from both creators and audience members. VoiceThread users can create lectures, discussions, and resources to facilitate online courses or even supplement face-to-face and hybrid courses online. Designed for K-12, higher education, and business use, VoiceThread allows users to upload presentation slides, documents, images, videos, and audio files to one location that they can then share with their audience. Creators and audience members, like instructors and students for example, can comment on individual slides with text, audio, video, and file uploads. Users can return to the VoiceThread at any time and add comments and questions to keep the discussion going asynchronously.

[4] To compose a VoiceThread, users upload media directly to the application website using the “Create” button. Instructors can, for example, upload existing PowerPoints, PDFs, images, videos, and audio files and organize them in the VoiceThread by dragging and dropping individual icons around the screen similar to how you might organize a PowerPoint in the “Slide Sorter” view. Instructors or other creators can then comment on individual slides through text, audio, video, or file uploads to give commentary, add context, or ask questions alongside the slide content. Once instructors share the VoiceThread, either by copying and pasting the sharing link or embedding the VoiceThread in their course site, students can add comments of their own to respond to discussion questions, reply to their colleagues, or ask questions on any slide in the presentation. Instructors and students can start public comment threads by posting new public comments publicly or privately replying to existing comments. Each VoiceThread can then become not only a lecture, but also an expansive space for discussion where students and instructors can participate using the same tools.

​[5] Since VoiceThread allows users to communicate through multiple modalities including audio and video, instructors and students can interact in ways that more closely mimic face-to-face courses and encourage repeated and deeper conversations than text-heavy discussion boards, typically found in LMSs like Blackboard and Canvas. For online writing and reading courses, especially, VoiceThread can encourage students to experiment with composing and reading multiple modes of communication. It also allows students to interact in the modes with which they are most comfortable. In both the writing and reading courses that I have taught using VoiceThread, I have left this option up to the students. Sometimes, students choose to participate exclusively through video commenting, especially in courses that are writing intensive already. Other students appreciate the chance to type out shorter responses to questions and take part more often through text comments. An advantage to VoiceThread is that students can meaningfully participate with or without a webcam and can express their thoughts through alphabetic text, audio, or video.

[6] One of the most obvious ways that VoiceThread expands the possibilities of online instruction is through the ability to see and hear students and be seen and heard by students. I have taught both online first-year writing courses (OFYWCs) and online developmental reading courses using VoiceThread in the challenging summer semester when students are often juggling summer jobs, vacations, and other courses both face-to-face and online. In these courses, instructors have between six and eight weeks to get to know their students and can typically do so only through the institutional LMS, email, and the projects students turn in. Almost all of these interactions are text-based and are often questions about assignment requirements or requests for extensions. Shifting away from the exclusive use of the LMS toward VoiceThread integration for facilitating course content and discussion offered the chance for me to see my students and interact with them using text, audio, and video. I could see many of my students weekly through their video comments and hear from students who might otherwise not have contacted me individually. VoiceThread can increase the amount of instructor-student and student-student contact and even eliminate the need for separate lecture videos and discussion boards in the LMS.

​[7] When integrating VoiceThread into my courses, I created one VoiceThread presentation for each week of the semester, similar to my earlier method of creating a video lecture for each week. I embedded each VoiceThread in a corresponding module within the LMS (e.g. “Week 1 VoiceThread” was included in the “Week 1: Introduction to the Course” module). Immediately, my process for creating weekly content changed because I realized I could speak directly to my students in the VoiceThread and expect them to respond. Instead of a lecture-style video, I could create these slides as conversation starters and avenues to reflections, questions, and discussion. I quickly adopted a format that introduced course concepts but also dedicated specific slides to questions and discussions. Because the technology was new to my students, I repeatedly reminded them--in comments and slide content--of the possibilities, including the idea that they could comment anywhere in the VoiceThread, ask questions, and discuss content even when I did not specifically ask for them to respond. Reminders like this eventually prompted students to ask questions and comment on slides on which I had not directly asked for feedback, and I heard from more students on VoiceThread slides than I did through email or the LMS messaging tool. Though many students only commented the required three times each week, over half of them consistently commented more than three times, whether to ask a question, respond to a colleague, or offer another example.

2.1. Training and Support

[8] There are multiple options for training and support for instructors learning to use VoiceThread. Users can find short tutorials on the company’s user homepage that include information on creating a new VoiceThread, commenting, doodling, moderating comments, and sharing VoiceThreads. The application website also hosts multiple workshops that include the basic skills needed to start using the tool (e.g. “upload, comment and share”; “VoiceThread and your LMS”) and targeted options for designing online courses (e.g. “Humanize Your Online Course with VoiceThread”). These workshops are designed and hosted in VoiceThread presentation format and are archived on the application website under “Training” for users to access asynchronously. There are also workshops on applying different teaching styles (e.g. “Game Based Learning and VoiceThread”) and teaching specific content areas (e.g. “VoiceThread for Nursing Educators”; “Teaching Languages with VoiceThread”), though there are no specific workshops for teaching writing or reading with VoiceThread. Many of the basic-skill workshop topics are archived in the over forty YouTube videos available on the VoiceThread channel. In addition to these targeted workshops, instructors can earn a VoiceThread Certification by completing a two-week online training course and capstone project. VoiceThread also hosts a growing digital library of resources and completed VoiceThreads, though most existing files in the database are designed for K-12 teachers.

2.2. Cost

[9] Instructors can use VoiceThread for free, but there are limitations on available features and storage in the no-cost version of the application. As of the writing of this review, users of the free version will be unable to create threaded comments and can only create four VoiceThreads before they are prompted to purchase more. Instructors can buy three additional VoiceThreads for $4.99. Users can create more than one account if they have a new unique email address, but they cannot combine accounts or view VoiceThreads across multiple accounts at the same time.

[10] VoiceThread will work best for instructors who are at institutions with existing licenses for VoiceThread or who are able to ask for funding for new licenses. Licenses can be purchased for a single instructor or for site-wide use. Institutions can request quotes from VoiceThread for site-wide licenses while single instructors can buy licenses for one class of up to fifty students for $99. This license expires after one year, meaning students will lose access to existing VoiceThreads in that course. Instructors will also need to buy access for more students at $2 each.

[11] While the licensure is potentially cost-prohibitive, especially for adjunct instructors and graduate teaching assistants whose institutions do not offer access, paid access does come with added benefits including the ability to moderate all comments made on each VoiceThread. Site licenses also allow instructors to create a custom homepage within VoiceThread that students can use to access all course VoiceThreads. Instructors using site licenses can also create groups within that VoiceThread homepage. Instructors might want to create a group for each course since they can easily add and remove members manually for students enrolling or dropping the course, customize commenting and editing capabilities for users, and add administrators for courses where they have a co-teacher or teaching assistant. Instructor-administrators can even create sub-groups within their larger course groups for facilitating small group discussions, projects, or other activities. These sub-groups can create and share VoiceThreads of their own, meaning instructors could ask students to lead small discussions, present on individual projects or papers for peer feedback, or collaborate on VoiceThreads. Administrators of site licenses can require encrypted connections and have added security available including session timeout control and preventing password autocomplete to keep student information private.

2.3. Accessibility

[12] VoiceThread’s integration of multiple mediums including text, audio, and video commenting allows online course communities some of the immediacy and intimacy that critics of online learning argue is lost in translation. VoiceThread offers users multiple points of access, both in terms of how they can participate on VoiceThread presentations and where and how they can view VoiceThreads. These options make it easy for students to choose how they want to be seen and heard in VoiceThread lessons and discussions. Instructors also have the chance to convey information in several modes, meaning they can reach both students who learn best through audio or video and students who learn by reading alphabetic text.

[13] Although VoiceThread can address and respond to what Ehmann and Hewett (2015) call “essential questions as to what distinguishes OWI from composition instruction and learning onsite,” including “the loss of real-time body/face/voice connections” and perceived inferiority of online courses (Gillam & Wooden, 2013), it still has many accessibility limitations. Specifically, although VoiceThread allows students and instructors to be seen and heard, audio and video functions--in addition to limited free use of the application--complicate the instructor’s ability to ensure accessible content and discussion for all students. Although there are limitations to VoiceThread’s accessibility, there are multiple features available to instructors to create more accessible slides for their students.

[14] According to their website, Universal Design principles guide VoiceThread’s application design. These principles are most notably seen in VoiceThread Universal, a version of the application that can be used with screen readers. VoiceThread Universal can only be used on the application website, but users can find a link to this version of the tool in the mobile application. Screen reader users can open existing VoiceThread presentations in VoiceThread Universal and have all text comments, captions, and tags read to them. Instructor-creators should note that VoiceThread slides are image files so, without alternative text tags, students using VoiceThread Universal will not be able to access their content. Instructors might compensate for this weakness by adding descriptions of the slide image content in a text comment on the slide.

[15] VoiceThread users can easily add captions to slides and comments by uploading caption files to the presentation. The program supports DFXP, SRT, SAMI, SBV, and SCC file types and allows users to upload, download, and remove caption files at any time, even after they have shared the VoiceThread. Instructors can add captions to their initial commentary and any follow-up comments they make on the slides. Students can also add captions to their comments; however, they may not be aware of this feature or how to use it without directed instruction. They are also less likely to spend the time captioning their comments unless it’s required by their instructor.

2.4. Mobility

[16] While VoiceThread can be accessed on desktops and laptops, the application is also available on both Android and iPhone operating systems. The VoiceThread app allows users to register for a new account or log in to an existing one and view, comment on, create, and edit VoiceThreads. Users can upload media from their devices to VoiceThreads and edit VoiceThread content and metadata just as they might on the application website. Students using the mobile app can record video, audio, and text comments on their devices, meaning they can not only easily contribute to conversation no matter where they are physically, but they can also use the tools most familiar or comfortable to them. The application works on both Wi-Fi and data, further expanding when and where users can access their course materials and discussions.

3. Incorporating VoiceThread in an Online Reading Course

[17] VoiceThread can expand the possibilities for any online course but can be especially helpful to instructors teaching first-year writing and developmental reading courses. A challenge to teaching these entry-level courses online is the way that the writing and reading communities that instructors try to facilitate become less visible and more fractured. Assignments and projects that work well in the face-to-face classroom might fall short of meeting the needs and expectations of online students, especially those in accelerated course sections.

[18] One advantage to using VoiceThread for content delivery and discussion is the way it mimics a face-to-face class session’s ebb and flow: lecture and discussion can happen simultaneously, with students adding questions and comments as well as responding to one another at any point in the slides. Students can view these slides in the order designed by the instructor, but can also navigate in a nonlinear fashion, meaning they can return to different slides and conversations without having to review a long video lecture or to find a specific comment in a recorded discussion. This ability to read linearly and nonlinearly is important for students to develop brain plasticity and adapt to the different ways that they must “read, think, and write critically” (Hewett, 2015, p. 53).

[19] VoiceThread slides also “chunk” into smaller and shorter moments, which mimics a reading technique often taught to developmental readers learning to manage academic content. It is important to remember, as Hewett (2015) notes, that reading is the most prevalent accessibility challenge for online students (p. 66), meaning it is important to not only teach students strategies for reading but also demonstrate those strategies in teaching methods we use. Strategies like rereading can be encouraged or even designed as part of the VoiceThread format by duplicating slides or prompting students to return to specified slides and comments.

​[20] Instructors can likewise ask students to show these techniques in activities hosted in the VoiceThread slides. Hewett (2015) offers many strong examples for assignments and activities in Reading to Learn and Writing to Teach that would work well in VoiceThread. One of the underlying principles of these activities is practice-based reading where students demonstrate strategies and techniques for reading. Hewett suggests activities that many of us who teach reading ask face-to-face students to do, like annotating readings and reading aloud. These activities are harder to do, or at least come with the need for more technological intervention, in the online environment. In the VoiceThread, however, students could create video or audio comments where they read aloud to their peers, eliminating the need for additional tools like Skype or Jing. Students can also use these comments to reflect and describe their state of mind when reading to encourage the application of metacognition (Hewett, 2015, p. 106). VoiceThread even seems to combine the elements that Hewett argues best drive home the idea of metacognition. She suggests instructors in the online setting convey the abstract idea of metacognition using concrete images combined with audio and video commentary to explain the relationship between the abstract and the concrete (p. 109). Students can reply to that commentary using text but also audio or video if it is challenging for them to use writing in this way.

[21] We can use images and commentary similarly when talking through annotation. Instructors can create discrete slides that point to passages in a text that have been skillfully annotated, use the comment function to talk through these annotations, and ask students to respond to what they see and hear. Students could follow up by creating their own VoiceThreads that show how they annotated specific passages in a text and by asking their peers to comment on and ask questions about their annotation.

​[22] One of the greatest strengths of VoiceThread is the way it encourages this process of discussion and questioning. For students learning to read academic texts and think like college students, teaching and encouraging questioning can be difficult, especially in an online environment where the opportunities to ask questions might be limited. VoiceThread slides give students the opportunity to interject and ask questions throughout the presentation, making it easier for students to take ownership of the lesson and think critically about the content. Still, it is important that students are given specific opportunities to ask and practice forming questions in the online learning environment (Hewett, 2015, p. 134). Instructors can encourage this practice in VoiceThread slides by creating question-asking intermissions or specific slides dedicated to discussion after a few slides that are content-focused. Students will still ask questions and interject on content-slides, but will feel more encouraged to take part in these conversations if specifically asked and given the space to do so.

4. Conclusion

[23] VoiceThread offers online instructors the chance to interact with and offer feedback to students in multiple modalities through a single application. While converting existing content or creating new materials for VoiceThread might initially require time and labor from instructors, that process can save instructors time later as they reuse, edit, and adapt existing VoiceThreads. Instructors must use the application critically and with attention to potential accessibility issues for students who use screen readers and cannot view or listen to video and audio comments. Though accessibility issues do still exist, VoiceThread has made concerted efforts in the past few years to develop the application through user-centered design practices and the creation of VoiceThread Universal, suggesting the application will continue to evolve. Instructors struggling to or wanting to integrate new applications but who are required or encouraged to use their institutional LMS can use that course site as an entry point by linking or embedding VoiceThread on existing course pages and modules. VoiceThread can help instructors design teaching and learning environments that are equitable, technologically equal, and flexible (CCCC OWI Principle 1) and can expand the possibilities for what online instruction looks like.