voicethread

Feedback

VoiceThread

Using pre-recorded audio files for feedback allows instructors to provide thoughtful, targeted comments — and gives students the opportunity to process them at their own pace.

In Zoom’s Main Session mode, an instructor can respond to student output with commentary, explicit interventions, conversational recasts, or metalinguistic cues, much as one would in a F2F classroom. Breakout Rooms afford a more private space for feedback, and are particularly well-suited to personalized attention to pronunciation.

In addition, instructors can provide asynchronous oral feedback using VoiceThread (embedded in Canvas), which provides a streamlined process of creating, organizing, storing and posting audio files for students.

Ko & Rossen suggest using audio files in lieu of traditional written comments to convey tone and intent more precisely — which is especially true if the L2 is used as the feedback medium.

“Use audio for feedback on assignments — this can range from comments on papers to projects to insertion in online gradebooks. It is especially helpful for delivering sensitive criticism — your voice can easily soften what might seem like hard criticism in text.”

Ko & Rossen, p. 256

Girons & Swinehart (2020, pp. 39-40) cite several advantages to making use of audio feedback:



VoiceThread audio files can be embedded in PDF files, using Adobe Acrobat Pro — and also into a Word document, using the command: Insert > Audio from file (or Audio Browser, from a list of files in iTunes)

Audio files can also be sent via email, but be aware that a file can be too large for this; if so, keep it in Canvas and direct your student(s) to listen to it there.

In addition, you can use VoiceThread to:

Instructors who are new to VoiceThread can consult the tutorial videos below, and contact the McGraw Center for one-on-one consultations.


References & Resources

Ko, S. and Rossen, S. (2017). Course design and development (Chapter 9, pp. 244-290). Teaching Online: A Practical Guide (4th ed.). New York and London: Routledge.

Girons, A. and Swinehart, N. (2020). Teaching Languages in Blended Synchronous Learning Classrooms. Georgetown, VA: Georgetown University Press.


Creating a Voicethread: [1:42]

Using VoiceThread with Canvas: [6:47]

How to use VoiceThread LMS Assignment Submission: [3:31]