What is it?
VoiceThread allows users to upload and then orally comment on photos. The site tour: “What’s a VoiceThread anyway?” provides a decent overview and demo of the application.

How does it work?
Users upload pictures that are added to the flash media player; different permissions can be set to allow the VoiceThread to be public or private and the opportunity to add audio can be limited to specific users. Once created, users may add audio to narrate/annotate each individual picture. The VoiceThread can be linked to on the VoiceThread site or downloaded for inclusion in a different site.

What’s cool about it?
– VoiceThreads may be left open for other users and friends to comment on the image; this enables interesting collaborative and learning community applications of the technology.
– VoiceThreads may be saved and shared, in Flash video format, on any website. This allows portability to personal websites.

How can it be used in the classroom?
Nearly every discipline can benefit from this technology by simply soliciting learner reactions to digital images and photographs.

In an American History course, what instructional and learning value could come of having each learner in the course record their personal reactions to the images in this VoiceThread? What if learners were asked to record their thoughts once prior to in-class discussion or reading assignments and then again after learning more about how World War II ended? How many learners knew of Japan’s interest in surrender; does awareness of that not-widely covered historical fact have a significant impact on learner reactions?

In a literature course, would learner’s recording impromptu reactions to poetry-related imagery add value to their understanding of a poem? Could a group of learners potentially collaboratively create an artistic oral performance describing that imagery?

—— Additional Thought 4/10/2007 ——
How did I not describe the potential for language instruction? Using instructor-specified graphics, learners could create personal VoiceThreads in which they tell a story about each image. Alternatively, an instructor could create a VoiceThread of 2-3 images; for each image, the instructor begins a story. Learners then follow suit by each adding several thoughts or ideas to collaboratively develop a longer story about each image; individuals could be assessed on their speaking skills and whether their contribution fits within the context of the story already created by classmates.
———————————————

I first noticed VoiceThread via Dean Shareski’s blog, Ideas & Thoughts from an EdTech