I have found a fun new tool that I'd like to share with you, pretty much because I am very excited about it. It's called VoiceThread, and it's quite a unique website in terms of what it allows you to do. It allows users to post photos, or groups of photos, videos, mp3's, songs etc and then allows other users to comment on those posts in one or many of five different methods. You can use a microphone, you can type, you can call in, you can record your own audio file or you can use a webcam. You can make your threads public or private, restricting access to a certain group of your friends or family, or it applicable, students. It is extremely cool, and very hands on. Unlike sites like YouTube that also support video uploads and commenting, VoiceThread is specifically designed to support collaboration, sharing and awareness of the fact that the project you're working on is a group effort.
It was created in 2005 by two guys, Steve Muth and Ben Papell, and according to an interview conducted by a blogger who calls himself Mr. Media, the idea was very different when it first sprang to their heads. A few of my favorite highlights from that interview (which unlike your traditional radio interview was quite long) had to do with their original intentions for VoiceThread. They were not trying to make money. To that end, a very useful version of their service is available for absolutely no money. They wanted to create something that would actually be useful and fun to use, rather than something that would get them notoriety and prove a distraction for people using it. They also wanted to be of most use to educators, a characteristic that seems to be lacking in modern commercial production.
My most favorite feature of VoiceThread, though, is that it really is fun to use. The ability to doodle right on the image, as well as comment on it through text and voice makes it interactive, irreverent and very memorable.
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