Using VoiceThread for Creating Group Presentations

Here you can view my group's presentation on " What are some major trends (the future) in distance education?"



http://voicethread.com/share/3222572/

To create this VoiceThread presentation, first we everyone met through a brief series of emails to introduce each other and select a method (GoogleDocs, DropBox, email) for sharing our presentation document.  Everyone in the group seemed amenable to whatever choice was selected, with no strong objections to a particular method except that we should use a Web2.0 tool for the experience. Ultimately, we used GoogleDocs because that was how the first series of slides was shared with everyone.

The presentation was created as a PowerPoint style slide show, where each member of the group created a few slides to contribute to the effort, and others were free to make edits and/or share additional information.  Deadlines were intermittently set throughout the week for creating slides & editing, with a goal of getting the slides posted to VoiceThread with sufficient time for each member to contribute comments throughout the weekend.   One member of the group got the slides posted up to VoiceThread, and we thought we were off & running...

VoiceThread was a little frustrating/quirky to use because of the changes it made in posting the slides. The slide had some changes in the formatting that were made, and one slide was even eliminated by VoiceThread. Since the slides were posted on our self-imposed timeline, once our comments started going up, we could no longer go back to edit the slides without reposting and recommenting on everything, so we had to improvise a little bit to get some of the information that had been deleted. In the end, it created a more informative presentation with fewer slides.  VoiceThread had default settings in how it was moderated, so initially we could not see each others' comments.  Nonetheless, it was relatively easy to provide commentary for enhancing our slides, and I'm starting to think I need to buy a WebCam to make the experience even more well-rounded.

For medical education, VoiceThread would be a great way for an educator to present a series of slides on a topic and allow students to provide comments and ask questions, that can then be answered back on the slides for the benefit of all participants.  The format allows the users access at any time, in any place.  For resident & fellow education, this would be a great tool when taking into consideration different rotation locations and different schedules/shift hours.

A possible new use of the tool could be creating an online research symposium, where learners present slides of their work instead of a poster presentation. Viewers could interact with the presenters through comments, possibly during scheduled windows of time.  In a blended format, in-person participants could interact with the presenters, as well as with the VoiceThread comments.The end products would be interactive and long-lasting, allowing users to benefit from the presentations beyond a 1-2 days in-person symposium.