Voice Thread for English Language Learners Life Stories

http://voicethread.com/share/2559507/
Description
     Voice Thread is an online sharing mechanism.  Video, photos or simple verbal items can be shared.  You can invite people to look at the information and make comments or open it up to a wider audience. 
Rationale
The program has been used by ELL teachers to give recorded comments to students about their written work and issues or ways to improve on it.  This can be amazingly helpful for students that may not have been able to make enough sense of quick written comments on a paper, or quick verbal comments by a teacher.  The comments can be referred back to over and over if the student has a need.  Students that have been able to make use of this technology in an ELL writing class have found it invaluable to understand writing issues and improve their work.  In addition, students of all ages and backgrounds can use the program to share ideas and get comments from others.  One possible use of the technology is to have individuals record their stories or ideas about their life or issues and others can learn from hearing about the experiences.  I did this with just one student this semester and had him share his experiences about life in Fignido Refugee Camp.  We had done in-class presentations and I decided to have him try this technology to share the same information.  The program will also be an excellent addition to online courses allowing instructors to give the same type of personal verbal comments that help ELL students and would be just as valuable for distance learners. 
Implementation
Initally getting signed into the program was very simple and quick.  The program was fairly self-explanatory as I worked through using it on a simple level.  No cost involved and a user can do as much as their imagination will allow.  The project that I worked on with a Sudanese student is not as polished as it could be, but I am glad that now having tried it once I know that it isn't out of my range.  I could see that this type of project is one that I will try to do in small groups next semester with my adult students.
Bloom's Taxonomy
     Since Voice Thread can be used in many different ways it may touch on many different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy based on the project it is utilized in.  The 2 methods I readily envision Voice Thread being involved in would have students creating a product, evaluating and critiquing what elements to put in the project and analyzing elements of their life story to determine how to organize and compare and show contrast within their own story.  The lower levels of the taxonomy would be part of the project as well as the students would need to recall and remember parts of their life, and summarize and explain things that others might have no background knowledge of such as the term refugee or refugee camp.  They would then need to apply the information about their life story and use their knowledge of English to work on their life story project.
Struggles
     Sometimes the students with the most intriguing life stories are the ones that have had the least exposure to technology and are the most skittish of it.   The act of speaking into a recording device is intimidating to many.  I have students use headset microphones and that could be more uncomfortable possibly than speaking into a microphone.  Accents or lack of clear pronunciation might be an issue with some individuals recordings on Voice Thread, but the authenticity of the recording is very clear if the accent is rather heavy.
Biases/Trade-Offs/Limitations
One of the issues could be that any individuals that are nervous about technology might be bothered a little by this technology but the process is really rather simple.  Speaking into a microphone is one of the limitations as that is also an element that can unnerve some people.  Lack of immediate feedback from an audience of  listeners might also limit a speakers energy in their presentation, but it also can serve to make a speaker more comfortable if they are unnerved by facing their audience.  An additional issue is that the audience of Voice Thread won't be able to see the speaker and watch body language and non-verbal clues as they would if they were face to face. 
Teacher Standards
     Teacher Standards 4, 6, and 8 are addressed with this project because the use of Voice Thread is example of one more intructional strategy that can be used to either facilitate a student's understanding of their paper critique.  If Voice Thread is used to record a life story the technology is used to develop critical thinking and performance skills.  The life story project allows students to take on responsibility for locating and developing resources to flesh out their life story such as images, sound files or photos or realia that support their descriptions.  In this process the instuctor would need to fulfill many roles:  traditional teacher, assisstant in developing their story with technological assisstance depending on student needs and as the audience.  Additionally, if the technology is used in writing critique it can be a very supportive assessment tool that the student can refer back to multiple times.  The critique can be a record of the work.  If this program is used in a life story project it would serve as a different method of judging English skills, presentation skills and the ability to use their own strengths and seek help for their weaker spots.  The project can help build social and community building within the classroom as other students view the life story of another.  This can lead to greater intellectual and social development.
Student Standards
This program really will allow a student to be very innovative and creative, they will recognize many possibilities after a little exposure.  This tool will allow communication world wide and collaboration.  They will have greater exposure to information fluency and research options.  Because they will need to make decisions about how to best represent their speech topic with visual aids they will need to be able to think critically, make decisions and problem solve as they gather their background information together.  In addition, they will realize the importance of having good digital citizenship as they realize that they need to post only appropriate materials.  The students will see the instructor promoting and modeling responsibility and digital citizenship and will model their behavior.  The students will see the teachers engaging in growth and leadership in trying new technology.   As the instructors broaden their horizons with learning new ways to provide learning-experiences and to use this tool for assessment they will be an example for their students.
Research and Citations
Research has been done on Voice Thread stating that the program will allow individuals a voice that may not normally have had a good opportunity to voice their point of view.  Brown and O'dell represented that some populations need to have the chance to speak and may be as good at doing so in front of people.  The article referenced autistic individuals, but I see a similarity with language learners.  Romeo references using Voice Thread with young people in a writing program to develop language writing skills.  This author has been influential in pulling students in writing skills.


ERIC #: EJ621237
Title: Lighting Fires from a Spark in the Middle: Reading and Writing Workshop Alive and Thriving at Green Intermediate School.
Authors: Romeo, William J.
Publication Date: 2000-00-00
Pub Types: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Journal Name: Ohio Reading Teacher
Journal Citation: v34 n1 p45-48 Spr 2000
Publisher:
URL: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ621237
Descriptors: Elementary Education; Instructional Innovation; Language Research; Motivation; Reading Instruction; Writing Instruction; Writing Workshops




ERIC #: EJ751027
Title: Constructing an Autistic Identity: AS Voices Online
Authors: Brownlow, Charlotte; O'Dell, Lindsay
Publication Date: 2006-10-00
Pub Types: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Journal Name: Mental Retardation: A Journal of Practices, Policy and Perspectives
Journal Citation: v44 n5 p315-321 Oct 2006
Publisher: American Association on Mental Retardation. P.O. Box 7065, Lawrence, KS 66044-7065. Tel: 785-843-1235; Fax: 785-843-1274; e-mail: AJMR@allenpress.com; Web site: http://www.aamr.org/Periodicals/index.shtml
URL: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ751027
Descriptors: Autism; Discussion Groups; Internet; Identification; Clinical Diagnosis