Module 4 Group project on VoiceThread

Our group project VoiceThread presentation on Future Trends in Distance Education can be accessed at the following:

https://voicethread.com/share/5880114/

Our group was pretty easy to work with, except that it seemed 3 out of the 4 of us had a tough week and difficulty assembling material early in the week.  John was able to locate 3 articles online that he sent to each of us, and suggested a direction for the project.

By Thursday, I had located 2 articles, and decided to contribute material on increased demand as a future trend in distance education.  I culled information and found images on Google as well as the websites to create slides.  I emailed them to the others, and then revised them according to feedback from the group.  I also gave feedback on others' slides, and they made adjustments as well.

We met online on Friday night, using GoToMeeting.com, which I organized using my manager's account, so I didn't have to create/buy an account.  We use this tool for webcam consultations in our clinic, and it's really easy to use.  We discussed our progress and planned out how we would complete the project by the deadline.

By Sunday, our slides were uploaded onto VoiceThread by our group leader, Trevor.  He did a great job of organizing them to flow well.  We then recorded our comments.  I had used VoiceThread for Modules 1 and 2, so I knew how to use it, but it's different adding to an uploaded presentation, rather than creating one from the beginning, so I recorded all of my comments on the first slide.  I had to go back and record a separate comment for each slide that I contributed.  I had difficulty deleting the long comment, but Trevor was able to do it and not lose the short one that I recorded.

In retrospect, we should have communicated more earlier in the week, since Sobia used the same article that I did, and if I had known that she was using it, I would have made an effort to expand and use more varied resources.  However, Sunday evening is a little late to fix things, and Trevor and Sobia did make adjustments to make the presentation flow without duplications.

Currently, I don't think I would use VoiceThread in my professional life, since most of the teaching I do is one on one F2F, with students and clients.  I could possibly see myself creating a VoiceThread in the future to cover material that is commonly used and repeated with many clients.  They could then refer to this resource at home.  I could also possibly make a VoiceThread to refer mothers to when doing telephone consultations.

Module 3 Web 2.0 Tool Review

I chose to review a tool called Stormboard.  The URL for the site is www.stormboard.com

This seems to be a collaboration tool, though it could be seen as a critical thinking/problem solving tool in that it is meant to be used for collaborative work.  The name was derived from combining the terms “brainstorm” and “whiteboard”.  It has a free account, and also paid accounts that offer more options.  I have never used stormboard before, and I didn’t find it user-friendly.  Perhaps a person just needs more computer savvy or time than I have to find it usable, but I was not able to create a storm successfully.  When I clicked on “Help” I didn’t find anything to help me figure out how to create a storm properly, and it just wasn’t intuitive for me.  I did not need to download anything or install any programs for the tool to work properly, I just needed to set up an account.  In order to use this tool one needs basic computer skills and the ability to drag and drop, I think.  I did not need any devices other than a computer and internet connection. 

I got an email from the website asking how I liked the site and whether I needed help.  I responded that I couldn’t figure out how to use it effectively, but have not yet received a reply.  I think part of my problem is that I didn’t have a specific topic in mind for the storm, and I had no one that I wanted to include in the brainstorming process.  When you log onto the site, you see a prompt that asks you to sign in or make an account.  After I established an account, I could not get back to the initial page to do a screenshot.  Below is the greeting page, which gives you options for joining a current storm, accessing a storm you have created, or creating another storm, if you have a paid account.

 

There are three levels of accounts:

I could not locate any examples of educational resources created with this tool, but here is a shot of the storm that I attempted.  It is just sticky notes on a “board”

I don’t know of many educational or teaching environments that could benefit from using this tool.  Possibly a group that is collaborating on a project, and is in the beginning stages of planning might find this useful.  I can’t think of any cases in my work that I would find this useful, simply because it requires collaboration between several people.  I’m sure there are plenty of good tools to help one keep notes for projects or teaching exercises.  I can’t really think of any advantages in using this tool in a formal or informal teaching environment.  It seems cumbersome to me, though a more computer savvy person might really enjoy using it in collaboration with others on a team.  It’s not really designed for a single instructor to use in a normal teaching situation.  I could see it being used in distance learning for student feedback. 

I would not recommend this tool to others, I think there are probably better tools out there.