This paper investigates student responses to two tools used to create learning environments that encourage the sharing of ideas and discussion in online asynchronous university courses.

Using the community of inquiry framework proposed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000), this paper examines how to use a Web 2.0 tool – VoiceThread to support online learning communities for professional development in teacher education. In this paper, we discuss the unique features and affordances of VoiceThread, and propose possible learning activities to enhance social, cognitive and teaching presence in online learning communities.

This paper discusses how synchronizing Web 2.0 technologies, particularly by using VoiceThread, is able to help English speaking teachers to improve their formative feedback in the teaching of speaking skills. This study shows that the use of VoiceThread able to become one of the solutions to help teachers who want to provide specific, clear and accurate feedback on oral performance activities. This study is an action research, which involves six EFL learners at one of the universities in Indonesia. Before VoiceThread can contribute to improving teachers’ formative feedback, this study found that teachers need to do the following five matters, they are: (1) Making learners profile; (2) Making lesson plan; (3) Understanding formative feedback; (4) Determining assessment rubric, and (5) Implementing VoiceThread. Implementing VoiceThread is not only designed to help teachers improve their formative feedback, but also make their students able to notice and learn their teacher’s formative feedback afterward. To achieve these objectives, the result of this action research study indicates that giving formative feedback by using VoiceThread is worthwhile since it is a mechanism that combines the asynchronous learning and face-to-face. Thus, this can be considered as an action research on blended learning.

Although there is a vast research base on the literacy practices of adolescents and the issues surrounding the integration of technology despite current widespread access to tools and the Internet (Cuban, 2003), very little has been completed on the attempts of teacher educators to integrate technology within a specific content area to prepare future classroom teachers (Boling, 2010; Bruce & Hogan, 1998; Goodson & Mangan, 1995; Koehler, Mishra, Yahya, & Yadav, 2004; Pang & Kamil, 2004). Based on the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework, the current study explores how technology can be used to improve teaching within the content area of English/language arts by examining the artifacts and reflections of 21 pre- and in-service secondary English teachers at a large university in the Southwestern United States. It explores how the digital medium VoiceThread could support their efforts to teach poetry. Results indicate that these future teachers found VoiceThread to be an effective tool to prepare, implement, and teach poetry to secondary students. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

The current study investigated the effects of the use of VoiceThread (VT) on the listening comprehension and attitudes of college students of Arabic as a foreign language. Thirty-five students in two 10-week classes of beginning Arabic participated in this study. The instruction in both classes was the same except that, for one group, the instruction was supplemented by the use of VT to enhance listening and speaking skills during the 10 weeks. Upon completion of the class, students using VT showed superior listening skills. Moreover, an Attitude and Engagement survey showed that the students enjoyed using VT and viewed it as a valuable tool that enhanced their language learning.

This article describes a VoiceThread /FTC project carried out with advanced ESL students at the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute in the National Capital Region. This project is the culminating activity of a series of tasks created with the “backward design” approach in mind. Backward design is a method of designing educational curriculum by setting goals before choosing instructional methods and forms of assessment (Wiggins & McTighe). In this unit, the overarching goal is an oral presentation on Art, which will be recorded by the students using VoiceThread.

Many challenges that preschool children with disabilities encounter in the curriculum can be addressed by identifying AT support as part of a child’s individual family service plan (IFSPs) or individualized education program (IEP). These solutions, however, are specific to the child and connected to specific goals and objectives, rather than connected to steps in planned classroom activities designed for typical peers (and to associated benchmarks and standards). Flexible participation is a way for teachers to incorporate unique AT solutions to help young children participate in steps of a planned, technology-supported preschool activity along with their typical peers. Because many preschool teachers are just beginning to understand UDL and to implement its principles into planned, technology-supported activities, using flexible participation should be viewed as a work in progress.

This action research study was conducted on a fourth grade rural classroom in Orange County, N.Y. for the purpose of determining if the use of the VoiceThread program will affect student performance in mathematics writing. A baseline of student performance on this measure was administered in the fall of 2010 using the NYS Holistic rubric of a 3 point total value as provided from the NYS 2009 4th grade Math Test. Four questions on varying topics were pulled from the same test as the rubric mentioned here. In addition, a graphic organizer was utilized to support organization of student thoughts on the problem. A survey was administered to the students at the end of this study which demonstrated positive attitudes towards the use of graphic organizers and the VoiceThread Program to communicate in math. Other results of the data provide positive results with an increase in student performance. Implications from this study’s results should lead educators to try VoiceThread as a way to increase communication in mathematics and also to increase 21st century skills in their own classrooms. Recommendations for further studies in this area include; making the sample size larger, paying more attention to the type of question the participants work on and having the parties conducting the study someone different than the teacher of the participants. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure, and an appendix.)

The development of technologies such as probeware requires training, not only in its use, but also in its integration into the curriculum. It is a common practice for schools to spend large portions of their budget on purchasing technology while neglecting to provide funding for the much-needed professional development. The availability of online professional development has provided in-service teachers opportunities to overcome traditional barriers of distance and time and allowed them to seek out and participate in much needed training. In recent years online instruction has incorporated the use of Web 2.0 tools to facilitate professional development for science teachers. While research on the use of Web 2.0 tools in professional development have been conducted, research on newer tools, such as VoiceThread, that can be used to deliver instruction is limited. In light of the increased use (purchase) of probeware in our schools the question of whether or not professional development can be effectively delivered through the use of VoiceThread has been the focus of this research.

A sense of belonging to a learning community has been identified as one of the factors contributing to greater student satisfaction and persistence in online education pro-grams. Using the community of inquiry framework as a theoretical guide, the purpose of this study was to explore the role of VoiceThread, a web-based platform that facilitates cloud communication, in creating a sense of community for U.S. adult learners in the online environment. This study surveyed 39 students in a College of Education fully online master’s program and in a blended doctoral program regarding their experiences using VoiceThread in their courses. Results indicate that students perceive VoiceThread positively in the creation of online community. Students reported feeling more connected their classmates due to the tool’s ability to add voice to online activities. Students also felt more connected to their instructor due to VoiceThread’s ability to humanize, or make the instructor seem real.