Voicethread for Students

Introduction

Voicethread is an online tool that works through the web browser (or a mobile phone app), for uploading images, slides, videos or PDFs and annotating, recording, or having asynchronous audio, video or text-based discussions about them. All students have access to UMB provided Voicethread account using UMID login at https://umaryland.voicethread.com

Here are some examples: a demonstration of interactive Voicethread, a class lecture, a video-based announcement.

For students, the main things you will do with voicethread include:


Getting Started

First: Note that some courses/instructors use the Blackboard Course/Assignment LTI link in their courses to get to view, comment, and/or submit Voicethread assignments. For specific instructions related to the Bb LTI, please scroll down to the bottom of this page (since those are very different instructions). These directions below are for general access to Voicethread.

To get started: go to https://umaryland.voicethread.com and log in with your UMID and Duo. (It's possible if you are already logged in to other campus systems, you will be logged right in.) If you have a previous account associated with your @umaryland email address....

Viewing a Voicethread

Voicethreads can be viewed in a web browser or in a mobile app. Your instructor will provide a link to the thread and/or embed it into a page in Blackboard. When viewing, the basic controls are as follows:

Commenting on a VoiceThread

In VoiceThread, you can comment in several ways: using voice (with a microphone, telephone or, on pro accounts, uploaded audio file), text, or video (via a webcam).

To comment, you click on the (+) comment button at the bottom center of the VoiceThread page,

and then decide which type of comment you want to leave:

Click on the appropriate icon, and then follow the prompts to leave your comment.  

Web browser: *You will need to "Allow" Flash to access your microphone and/or your camera.

If you receive an error notice, such as "It looks like you're on a website that doesn't allow access to your microphone. Please open in a new tab to record your audio or webcam comments" You will need to click the padlock icon in the upper left of your browser, next to the URL in the address bar, and make sure Camera is set to Allow (and microphone). See example:

If you have done that and still get a message stating that your camera doesn't have access, both the Mac and Windows operating systems have system level preferences that may need to be changed to allow the camera to be used. 

On the Mac:

1. Click on the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen.

2. Select “System Preferences”.

3. Click on “Security and Privacy”.

4. Click on “Microphone” on the left.

5. Make sure the boxes for any web browsers (Chrome, etc.) you see in that list are checked.

6. Repeat for the “Camera” option on the left.

Once your comment is recorded, you will have an option to either save, cancel or "record more" which adds to the comment. 

Problems and Troubleshooting Recording Comments

More support on How to Comment from Voicethread.com. 

Please note: you can download the Voicethread app for your mobile phone in the Apple or Android app store, and record audio/video comments on the thread using your mobile phone. This may be the best bet for those who cannot figure out how to record on your laptop, at least in the short term until you can get more support. Or you can use the telephone comment icon option as noted above, when that is available. 

Also see Voicethread Support's list of troubleshooting questions

It is recommended if you are having trouble to restart your browser, make sure you are using the latest, most up-to-date version of Chrome or Firefox, and/or to restart/reboot your computer so that your camera/microphone are not in use with some other application.

If you receive an error stating that "your device is not able to record video. Make sure you have a camera installed" you may need to visit your system preferences. 

If you are using Mac OS X, there is a system-level setting that might be

blocking VoiceThread's access in Chrome. Here are instructions you can follow

to adjust those:

1. Click on the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen.

2. Select “System Preferences”.

3. Click on “Security and Privacy”.

Click on the Privacy Tab

(You may need to click the padlock at the bottom left and log in to make changes first. )

4. Click on “Microphone” on the left.

5. Make sure the boxes for any web browsers you see in that list are checked.

6. Repeat for the “Camera” option on the left.

Upside Down Video?

If this happens please do the following:

Recording Tips

We highly recommend against continuing from slide to slide while you continue to record. Simply record 1 or more comments per slide and save them without moving on to the next slide while recording. 

Some very important audio tips:

To select or change the microphone input and set the volume level for your microphone, control-click or right-click in the VoiceThread box and select "Settings" to pull up the Adobe Flash Settings - then click on the Microphone icon and set the input volume level so that it is an appropriate volume (about 80% on the meter).

Test, test, and test: record a couple comments and play them back to see if the audio is an appropriate volume. It would be a good idea to also listen to something else on your computer, such as another lecture, VoiceThread or video to see if the audio in the VoiceThread comment is at about the same volume level.

Also - get a good feeling for starting and stopping: are there words cut off at the beginning or end? Too long of a pause before or after speaking? Get a rhythm going for starting and stopping so that you don't have these issues.

You can delete and re-record audio or video comments whenever needed - so feel free to do a couple tests before you settle on the final comments.

When using a headset, make sure your microphone is a bit off to the side of your mouth, not directly in front of it. This will prevent too many popping P's and hissing S's. Again, do a test and listen to the recorded comment to see if you are getting popping P's or if the microphone sounds too close to your mouth (and you hear too much breathing, etc.)

Since you can upload an audio file as a comment, you could also record using Audacity and edit/perfect your recording for each slide before uploading. (Note: Only Pro accounts can upload audio files. Speak with your ID if you need Pro account access.)

Plan to not speak more than about a minute or three at a time when narrating. If you seek perfection and mess up 2 minutes into the comment, you will need to delete and start over. Note that you can always save a comment, and add another one. You can add as many comments to a slide as you need.

For detailed instructions on each of these commenting methods, see the help article: https://voicethread.com/howto/category/commenting-web-application/ (We also have a video available to demonstrate commenting on a VoiceThread. )

If your students will be commenting on your VoiceThread, you have the option to moderate their contributions, but understand this requires someone with editing rights to review each comment before it is visible to everyone.

Voicethread Notifications 

Note that by default, Voicethread has some notifications that come to you at your email address. For example, if you comment on a Voicethread, you may be automatically subscribed, so that you receive an email each time someone else comments or replies. To manage these notifications, go to: https://voicethread.com/account/notifications OR:

 

1. Log into Voicethread.com and in upper right: click on your email address and go to My Account

2. Click on Notifications tab 

3. Turn off or on all notification preferences, based on what you would like to receive.

Typically, for active students in courses where you do want to receive some notifications, we would recommend leaving on "Subscribed" (but you then have to manage which threads you are subscribed to or not), and perhaps "Commented".

Important Note

If your instructor re-uses a voice thread for the next year, you may begin receiving notifications suddenly a year later, when a new group of students start using the thread. We then recommend you manage your notifications accordingly, either by unsubscribing from the threads or turning off your notifications. 

Email Notifications also contain handy links in them, such as:  Stop sending me emails about this conversation and Adjust my account notification preferences which you can click on to stop notifications.

Subscribing and Unsubscribing to a Thread

Subscribing to a thread means it will send you an email each time a new comment is added. You can manage whether you are subscribed or not by visiting the thread, clicking the three-line hamburger in the upper left and going to Subscribe or Unsubscribe accordingly. 

Creating a VoiceThread

As students, you may sometimes be required to record a presentation for your class.

The 4 basic steps of Voicethread presentations are: Create > Add Media > Comment > and Share.

NOTE: some faculty/courses use the Blackboard assignment LTI link for VT assignments, and this is a separate/different process. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see those instructions.

You'll click Create to create a new VoiceThread presentation. 

Here's how you create a VoiceThread:

Video instructions for creating a VoiceThread are available on their website. Here's a page dedicated entirely to Tips for creating a quality VoiceThread.

Importing Slides from Google Slides

Once your slides are complete, you will want to download them as a PDF for uploading into Voicethread. (Note: animations, videos and transitions will not work in Voicethread.) 

To download: 

Click on File menu> Download as…  and choose  PDF Document (.pdf)

Take note of where you save it and what it is named!

Deleting or Moving Comments

Comments can be deleted by clicking the trash can icon while viewing a comment. 

Comments can be moved (reordered) by dragging and dropping the comment icon. 

Sharing a VoiceThread

Time to get the link to share with the class!

VERY IMPORTANT STEP

Click "Who has access" and select "Anyone can view" (if nobody else needs to comment) (OR if you need other students or faculty to comment on your slides, you need to select "Anyone can comment") using the pulldown menu, and click Save changes.

Note

If you fail to change this permission setting, people will be unable to view your presentation. They will receive an error box and will have to request access to your presentation.

If you want to test that the link is available to others, open a new/different browser, in which you are NOT logged into Voicethread, and paste the URL into that browser to see if it plays when not logged in. You will see "sign in" in the upper right corner, rather than your email address. If you see your email address, you are already logged into Voicethread:

Updating a VoiceThread Slide

Note: The below function requires EDIT access to the Voicethread. If you created it yourself, you have this. If IDEA Team created the thread for you, we may need to provide Edit access instead of just Comment access for you to be able to do this. Please email us for Edit access! Be be careful! Anything you delete is gone - there's no vers ioning! 

With EDIT access, you can update either the slides or the comments on VoiceThreads at any time. Let's say you have a narrated slide with a typo and want to only replace the slide, but keep the audio comment. Here's how:

Part 1: Preparing the updated slides:

Updating In Voicethread

5. Click "Replace" at the top of the image in the center of your screen

6. If there are already comments on the slide, Click Yes to upload a new slide but keep the comments. (You can always replace comments later)

7. Select the individual updated slide file you saved above and click Save.

Attribution: portions of this content reproduced from JHSPH 

https://sites.google.com/site/ctltteachingtoolkit/resources/voicethread/voicethread-how-to-faculty-ta

Voicethread and Screen Readers: Universal Voicethread

Voicethread can also be optimized for screen readers. See how to set it up as the default on this page. 

Also, you can change any VT link into a universal link by inserting /universal/ into the URL like this:

Building a VT Universal share link

A VoiceThread share link takes a viewer directly to a particular VoiceThread. This is often the quickest way to direct someone to an individual VoiceThread. Click here to learn how to obtain a share link.

The share link for a VoiceThread is structured as: http://voicethread.com/share/#####. The numbers at the end of the share link are the identification number for that VoiceThread. This share link will always open in the standard application at voicethread.com.

If a person would like to visit this VoiceThread in VT Universal instead, he can restructure the share link using that same identification number. The link would be structured as: http://voicethread.com/universal/thread/#####.

Sample standard share link: http://voicethread.com/share/409

Sample VT Universal share link: http://voicethread.com/universal/thread/409/

Blackboard Voicethread LTI Assignments

The Blackboard Voicethread LTI makes it even easier for instructors and students to log into Voicethread, view threads, comment, and submit assignments. If you instructor uses the LTI in your course, click the LTI link will automatically log you in using the email address in your Blackboard profile. 

NOTE: If you have used Voicethread or created a presentation by logging into Voicethread.com (not umaryland.voicethread.com) and using a different email address (such as gmail or yahoo), this will be a separate and disconnected version of Voicethread. 

If you have a Voicethread assignment to create a thread, narrate it, and share with the class, here are instructions: