VoiceThread A to Z: Using VoiceThread for Assessments

This is the 5th installment in our VoiceThread A to Z series. In the first 4 posts, we discussed ways to start your year, use VoiceThread for storytelling, presentations, and as a discussion board replacement. You can find those posts here: VoiceThread A to Z posts. This post will focus on using VoiceThread for formative and summative assessments.

It can be difficult to find the time to give students personal feedback on their papers. Trying to schedule time during office hours, during a lunch break or after class it over is not easy. With VoiceThread, you can ask your students to upload a draft of their paper and securely share it with you. Then you can read the draft and supply feedback when you have time. The student can take that feedback, revise their draft and upload the new version to the same VoiceThread. Not only can you provide that personalized feedback to your students, but you can do it with no scheduling hassles. Here is an example of a teacher using VoiceThread for this purpose:\

VoiceThread can also be used as a summative assessment tool. In the example below, an ESL teacher recorded herself asking questions using her webcam on each slide. In this example, the students can hear each other’s answers, but if you use comment moderation, then you would be the only one to see and hear what they had to say. This example is for a language class, but it could just as easily been an online exam for philosophy, economics, science or any other class. If your institution has VoiceThread integrated into your LMS, you can create assignments like this that would be connected right to your grade book.

You can make your assessments more human and easier to manage with VoiceThread!