The Wizard of OT

VoiceThread in Occupational Therapy Education

10-9-24

Heather Kuhaneck, PhD OTR/L

What is VoiceThread (VT)?

VoiceThread is a tool designed to enhance communication and collaboration. It allows users to upload and share a variety of media (images, documents, presentations, and videos) and engage in asynchronous discussions about and with these materials. Unlike discussion boards, VoiceThread enables students to comment using audio, video, or text, making it an excellent tool for promoting varied interaction. The platform supports collaboration in a flexible way, giving users the chance to communicate in their chosen style making it comfortable for students no matter their preferred form of participation.

How to Use VoiceThread (VT)?

Go to Voice Thread and sign up.  There is a free version that is limited, or an instructor can sign up and pay for the year. Either way students will be able to post/use VT without paying. However the free version limits the number of threads you can create and the length of the posts/comments. The paid version is unlimited and provides a variety of features that allow better instructor control.

Getting started with VT is simple:

• Create a Thread: Begin by uploading a piece of media, such as a PowerPoint presentation, PDF, or video. This becomes the central object for discussion. You click on the plus (+) sign at the top left to create a new thread. Then you can select and drag media into the new thread.  Each piece of media gets added, almost like a slide in a slide presentation. 
• Edit as needed:  You can change the order of the media you have posted, or click on images and add audio for example. You can add URLs to cite media as needed. You can type descriptions for accessibility purposes. When done, you click OPEN THIS VOICE THREAD / or click play.
• Add Comments: You and/or others can then comment on specific sections of the media using text, audio, video, or even by drawing directly on the media (a feature called “doodling”).
• Invite Participation: Share the link with others, invite participants, and set permissions for who can view or comment.
• Moderate and Engage: As the creator, you can moderate comments, organize discussions, and respond to others’ contributions. Participation doesn’t need to happen in real-time, making it flexible for different schedules. You can change settings to control who can comment, how they can comment, and who can access to view the thread as well.
• Review and Reflect: Discussions and comments are easily reviewable, allowing learners to revisit material, engage in deeper reflection, and build on feedback over time.

If you would like to see an example of VT being used in a class, here is one video example from a higher ed course.

Why Use VoiceThread?

VoiceThread offers several compelling reasons for use in education:

• Engages Different Interaction Preferences: VoiceThread’s comment feature caters to those who prefer to respond by text, or with image, or with drawing, or with audio/video. It creates a richer experience than typical text-based interactions, which can feel impersonal.
• Promotes Asynchronous Collaboration: Students can contribute at their own pace, without needing to meet in real-time. This flexibility is especially useful in online courses or for student group work outside of class.
• Enhances Reflection and Critical Thinking: By allowing learners to comment on media and respond to one another’s insights, VoiceThread promotes reflection. Students also have the chance to revisit ideas before responding, encouraging thoughtful contributions.
• Builds a Sense of Community: VoiceThread’s use of voice and video fosters a more personal connection among participants. This can be key in creating a learning environment where students feel heard, seen, and valued.

Additionally, there are a variety of papers in the literature from many different professional areas that suggest potential benefits to this form of collaboration (Chang, & Windeatt, 2023; Chen & Bogachenko, 2023; Ching, & Hsu, 2013; Delmas, 2017; Mardi, 2022; Sharoff, 2022). VoiceThread has been shown to create a more personal feel for online discussion, to influence the depth of the discussion, and assist in forming community within a group of students. While there is no specific evidence for this tool in OT, there is one paper available that briefly discusses its use (Bachman, 2020).

Applications for Occupational Therapy Education

VoiceThread can serve as a powerful tool in occupational therapy (OT) education, offering innovative ways to enhance learning:

• Case Discussions: OT students can collaboratively analyze and discuss text, image, and/or video cases, commenting with their observations and intervention suggestions. VoiceThread enables a rich discussion where students can draw on clinical reasoning skill.  Instructors can also join in to offer feedback throughout and can upload relevant images or videos to further support or enhance their learning.
• Practice with Professional Presentations:  Students can record brief presentations as practice prior to a live event, in order to receive peer and faculty feedback on their presentation skills during a low stakes preparation session.
• Interactive Assignment Feedback: Students can engage in peer review, using audio or video comments to explain their thought processes and offer suggestions for improvement.
• Role-Playing: VoiceThread can be used to simulate client interactions or role-playing. Students can upload videos of themselves conducting assessments or interventions, and peers or instructors can comment on specific techniques, suggesting alternative approaches or reinforcing strong practices.
• Interprofessional experiences: Given the collaborative nature of OT with other health professions, VoiceThread offers an ideal space for interprofessional learning. OT students can engage with students from nursing, physical therapy, or other fields on shared projects, using VoiceThread to collaborate asynchronously while building interprofessional knowledge, understanding, and team communication skills.  Interprofessional case discussions could also occur (see above).

Author’s note:  I have decided to use VoiceThread to replace my use of FlipGrid (which is no longer available in its original form).  VT works differently but it can be used in many of the same type of learning activities and assignments and in many ways it is even better. So, if you were a FlipGrid user and are saddened by its loss- this may be your perfect replacement.

References

Bachman, S. (2020). The Use of Video in the Occupational Therapy Graduate Classroom. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 4 (3). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2020.0403182

Chang, H., & Windeatt, S. (2023). Using VoiceThread for extended independent practice in giving short academic presentations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 36(8), 1528-1557.

Chen, J., & Bogachenko, T. (2023). Stakeholder perspectives on the use of VoiceThread as a multimodal alternative to conventional discussion board in distance education. Education and Information Technologies, 28(8), 9935-9955.

Ching, Y. H., & Hsu, Y. C. (2013). Collaborative learning using VoiceThread in an online graduate course. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal.

Delmas, P. M. (2017). Using VoiceThread to create community in online learning. TechTrends, 61, 595-602.

Mardi, F. (2022). Providing rigour, differentiation, and sense of community using a three-pronged VoiceThread discussion strategy during the pandemic. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 31(5), 637-654.

Sharoff, L. (2022). Innovation and learning with VoiceThread: A pilot assessment of students and educators’ perspective. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 12(9).