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Moodle 4.0 Resources for Faculty

Overview

What is Voice Thread?

Voice Thread is a collaborative online tool that integrates visual media, text, video, and voice into a presentation. You can pre-record your narration of images, documents, videos, and power point slides into one thread for students. You can enable video, audio, or text comments for asynchronous discussion with your class.   
There are three types of VoiceThread assignments

  1. Create: Require students to create a full VoiceThread with slides and recorded comments. Creating assignments are best for: 

    • Student presentations 

    • Group work

    • Submitting work to receive asynchronous verbal feedback from peers or the instructor 

  2. Comment: Require students to post comments on a VoiceThread created by the instructor. Commenting assignments are great for:  

    • Discussions about a topic 

    • Quizzes or comprehension checks

    • Speaking practice 

  3.  Watch: Require students to watch a VoiceThread created by the instructor. Watching assignments are helpful for: 

    • Recorded lectures 

    • Reviewing the syllabus 

    • Step-by-step instruction and training


To get started with VoiceThread please visit our guides:

For a general VoiceThread guide for faculty: VoiceThread Faculty Guide
For a detailed guide on how to set up an assignment in VoiceThread: VoiceThread Assignment Guide 
For a general guide for students: VoiceThread Student Guide 

If you have questions about how to set up VoiceThread in your course or would like to speak with someone on our team please reach out to help@brandeis.edu. 

Media Types

VoiceThread allows for multiple types of media to be uploaded as slides. There is a 3GB size limit for each file. You can include: 

  • Presentations (PPT, PPTX, OPD, and PDF) 
  • Documents (DOC, DOCX, PDF, ODT, XLS, XLSX, and ODS formats) 
  • Images (JPEG, GIF, PNG, HEIC, and BMP formats)
  • Websites (via link) 
  • Videos (most formats) 
  • Audio files (MP3 or WAV formats) 

VoiceThread also allows importing media from other services. You can share from the following sources: 

  • Other VoiceThreads 
  • Flickr 
  • Google Drive 
  • New York Public Library 

External Resources

Accessing Previous VoiceThreads

To get started with Voice Thread in Moodle we recommend adding a VoiceThread Home Page in your course.  This option allows you to create a portal for yourself into VoiceThread.  It also provides access to view all your VoiceThreads, and access to additional VoiceThread resources. 

To build a home page link:

1. Turn edit mode on. 

2. Select the topic where you would like to add the VT Home Page and select "Add an activity or resource".

3. Select the VoiceThread Activity

4.  On the next screen click on Select Content.

5.  On the next screen, select VoiceThead Home Page.  Set the name to Voice Thread Home Page.  Select Publish. 

6.  Under Grade settings, uncheck the box to Allow VoiceThread to share grades with Moodle. 

7. Select Save and Display.

Adding a VoiceThread Home page to Moodle

It is possible to reuse VoiceThread assignments that you want students to Comment on or Watch in Moodle. 

To reuse a VoiceThread:

1. Turn edit mode on. 

2. Select the topic where you would like to add the VT Assignment and select "Add an activity or resource".

3. Select the VoiceThread Activity.

4. On the next screen, click on Select content.

5. On the VoiceThread Screen, select “Assignment Builder”.

7. Select the type of assignment you want to reuse; Comment or Watch.

8.. Select the existing Voice Thread that you would like to make a copy of to use for this assignment.  Select the Continue button at the bottom. 

9. Select which content you will be copying over and adjust the settings for the assignment, including:

  • participation requirements
  • comment types allowed
  • permissions
  • instructions
  • due dates
  • assessment type 

10.  Select the yellow Publish button at the bottom of the screen. 

Adding a VoiceThread Assignment to Moodle