Four years ago I was a first-year teacher with 27 students in my 4th grade classroom. I had managed to get through 2/3 of the year with my head above water. Barely. I knew my students well- they had a wide range of skills and diverse needs that you cannot prepare to meet from any textbook in an undergrad methods course. I struggled to find interesting ways to reach them using the prescribed curriculum, help from wonderful mentors and my own ideas. I had set up an archaic website in Dreamweaver with a few random links that had been shared in college classes or New Teacher Boot Camp. We went to the computer lap once or twice a week, but with a T1 connection it didn't usually end up being a positive experience. 

And then I went to the MACUL conference and everything changed. I learned about del.icio.us, wikis, and Web 2.0... and VoiceThread! Fast-forward three and-a-half years and we have a fiber connection, a netbook cart, IWB's & a few iPads. I have about 3,300 websites tagged at my fingertips on delicious/diigo and there is no doubt that I have found my passion. It's written all over this website. 

Despite the ever-changing web and world, a growing PLN, new ways to connect and share ideas available every single day..... one thing has remained constant:

VoiceThread is the highest quality, most dynamic and empowering web tool available to teachers and students for learning projects. (In My Opinion) And I have tried everything. 

I began to spread this gospel around my district in 2008 and that year I used $60 from my allotted PTO money ($100) to pay for a class subscription. I watched as students created amazing projects with their writing, staying in at recess to work in groups. They taught math problems to their peers, who used that to study from before a test. They posted science research and their friends left comments from home. 

I decided that all the students in my district (and everywhere) deserve a chance to be this engaged. They deserve to become the teachers and to practice 21st Century skills.  That belief fueled my energy to write a district-wide grant for VoiceThread access and to give presentations at three conferences (including MACUL) encouraging its adoption. The grant was approved in the spring of 2010 by our local Educational Foundation, so last school year was the first full year with VoiceThread accounts for every teacher and every 3rd-12th grade student. If you are interested in the details of the project you can read it for yourself, but essentially I recognized that the two biggest barriers to getting an innovate tool like this into the kids' hands were:

1. Access
2. Teacher comfort level using the tool

And so I set out to break those walls down. The access issue was solved as VoiceThread unveiled district-level accounts. Encouraging teachers to try something new, on the other hand, is a work in progress. Starting last summer and throughout the school year I facilitated optional/after-school training sessions for teachers who were interested in implementing VoiceThread. Although administrators have endorsed the project, no district time or money has been used to increase adoption. Our computers in many buildings are also very old and unreliable, which really discourages forward-thinking with technology. But this post is not about what hasn't happened. I want to share what has happened, with the hopes that you might take a second (or first) look at how and why investing in this tool can bring a huge return for learning and engagement. 

(Yes, I know there are plenty of FREE tools out there that do a nice job in a variety of areas. We use those, too. But you don't get this level of security, sharing and individualized features on an education-friendly platform without paying something. It isn't sustainable, and VoiceThread has done a nice job of positioning itself to be around for a while, which is an important factor when considering ROI.)

We seemed to reach a tipping point at the elementary and middle school level last year as teachers had positive experiences and others followed their lead. A sample of some projects from other classrooms include:

• 3rd grade research for a "Wax Museum"
  
• 7th grade RAFTs in science
• Kindergarten animal projects
• Middle school math Mathcasts

A few favorites from my classroom:

• Student-led conferences
• Students teaching idioms with illustrations
• Publishing in the writing process/Digital storytelling

That is just a glimpse of what a few thousand dollars has done in a district of 3,000 students. It's not hard to find similar impacts elsewhere on the web. Check out my VoiceThread Resources, the nicely done Digital Library page or head over to the VoiceThread 4 Education Wiki.

And the VoiceThread that started it all... my A-HA moment from back in early 2008: A Mathcast from a 5th grader in NY who TAUGHT ME a little rhyme for how to round decimals that I have in-turn shared with hundreds of other teachers and students. Cameron now has 14,000+ views on that thread..talk about an authentic audience! 

Still not convinced? Here is some closing food for thought..

Like no other:

• A 1st grade teacher and a college professor will both get equally excited about a project they can use VoiceThread for when first introduced.
  
• Similarly, a math teacher and an english teacher have just as many options. Art, PE, you name it. 
• Students as young as 2nd-3rd grade can interact with the interface by themselves, while there are enough features and new options added each year that even I, after hundreds of projects, still find new tricks.
• You can use just about any file (pic, movies, pdf, ppoint, docs, etc) and put them just about any place on the web.
• The layers of sharing are customizable so that it can be seen by no one or by everyone in the world (and every option in between). Have your class groups participate or open it up for the whole school community!
• VoiceThreads can be individual or collaborative projects from students in the same school or between students in different parts of the world. 
• Entire states, universities & large public school districts have chosen to adopt this platform.

It's easy. People "get it" with minimal training. It makes a huge impact. And oh yeah, VoiceThread Mobile will be launched SOON!  Take the power of group conversations anywhere/anytime. Just think how well that will work out as your school starts to (if it hasn't already) opened up BYOT/D policies. And I can't wait to see how amazing the learning will look with students using VoiceThread on the iPad!

I am not associated with or employed by VoiceThread. Founders Ben Papell and Steve Muth have proven that they are committed to serving educators and students with their innovative products and that is why I hope you check it out. Follow them on Twitter @voicethread 


How have you used VoiceThread for learning? Has your district considered purchasing an account or have you used a teacher account? Have you had to pay out-of-pocket for that or any other web subscription? I invite any questions and comments!