Using VoiceThread To Create a Free Account 1. Navigate to http://voicethread.com/. 2. Select the Sign in or Register link located at the top right of the main page. 3. Select the Register! button in the pop-up window. 4. Fill in the appropriate information and select Register. 5. Once registered and logged in, you may upload an image of yourself to your account profile. Note: If you have a MacBook, then you can use the internal webcam to take a snapshot of yourself using the OS X preinstalled software Photo Booth. To Create a VoiceThread 1. Select the Create tab in the top left corner of the screen. 2. Select 1. Upload and then choose the source of your image(s) or video(s). Here you should upload all materials that you will include within the VoiceThread. Multiple images and/or videos will automatically be presented linearly within the thread, allowing new comments for each. So, if you are interested in creating a threaded discussion about multiple photographs, for instance, it is not necessary to first put those images into a slideshow. Note: When uploading from My Computer, you may select multiple files at once by holding down the Apple button (Mac) or the Shift button (Windows). Also, if using a free account, be aware that your file size limit is 25 MB per file and 75 MB total. This should only be of concern if uploading large or lengthy videos or extremely large (archive quality) images.
3. Skip 2. Comment for now or move onto To Comment on Threads below. 4. Select 3. Share and note that by default each thread is set to Private publication with comment moderation off. 5. While the thread remains Private, you will be the only one with access to see it. You may change this option now or wait until later by accessing the thread options menu. Publishing options are as follows: o Public, no comments means that anyone can access/view the thread but that your identities alone will be allowed to make comments (see To Switch Identities below). o Public, yes comments means that anyone can access/view the thread and anyone can make comments. o Other publishing options: Comment Moderation: If set to On, any comments left in the thread, though visible to you, will be hidden to all other users until you make it visible. If set to Off, all new comments will be published with the thread as soon as they are made. Listed on Browse: If set to Yes, anyone may browse and/or search for your thread through the Browse feature. If set to No, you will want to use the Add a Friend feature in the middle of the window to invite selected friends who have registered with VoiceThread to the thread. Note: Your thread still will not show up in the Browse section unless you select the Add a title and description link located near the top of the page. Tags are the keywords which will allow users to browse to your thread. To insert multiple keywords, separate them with a comma. 6. If you select Options, you may change some important features of the thread. You may: o Adjust the time between images by altering the number of seconds before turning a page. o Set the thread to play as soon as it is opened. o Set the thread to fill the entire screen instead of the default full-resolution size. o And more. 7. Embed allows you to prepare HTML to insert the thread for viewing into thirdparty sites (like Facebook and Blogger). To do this, select the site, fill in any required info, and then copy and paste the code into the appropriate position within the site. 8. Your thread is auto-saved as you create it, so to view it, select the MyVoice tab and it should be listed (along with a few tutorials). To Navigate a Thread One nice feature of video threading is that it allows media and discussion to be presented in a non-linear way.
1. After opening a thread, you may Play / Pause a thread by selecting the circular button in the bottom center of the thread window. Pausing a thread will pause all comments as well as sound and video. 2. If a thread has multiple media (images / videos), you can move back and forth between them (skipping or reviewing media) by using the large, light grey forward- and back-arrow buttons in the bottom corners of the thread window. Otherwise, the buttons will be an inaccessible dark grey. You will also see a group of four thumbnails in the bottom right corner which will allow you, upon clicking, to browse the media contents of the thread and go directly to a particular image or video. 3. If a thread has multiple comments on a single image or video, you will notice that the scrubber bar (below the Play / Pause button) moves along a segmented line. Each segment represents a different comment, so you can also move between comments within a media item by using the fast-forward and rewind buttons directly adjacent to the Play / Pause button. 4. In addition, each time a new media item within a thread opens, you will notice that the icons of commentators will appear around it. You may jump directly to the comment of any person by selecting his or her icon.
To Comment on Threads 1. Browse to any thread that you have access to comment on. 2. You will notice a comment button above the Play / Pause button within the thread window. As the thread plays, you can add comments at any point by selecting the comment button. You have multiple ways that you may comment: o By phone: Enter your phone number and VoiceThread will call you and record your comment directly to the thread. Free accounts come with 3 minutes of free phone commenting. o Video: VoiceThread will use your web cam and microphone to record you as you make a comment. This video will then pop up next to the media item as it plays. For help configuring video camera settings, see To Adjust Camera / Microphone Settings below. o Record (Microphone): Only records sound and plays back the sound clip next to the media item. For help configuring video camera settings, see To Adjust Camera / Microphone Settings below. o Type: Make textual comments that pop up as the media item plays. o Upload Audio: Only available in non-free accounts, this option permits you to upload other sound files (like MP3 s) as comments. To Adjust Camera / Microphone Settings 1. While a thread is open, right-click (ctrl+click in Mac) and go to Settings 2. To make sure that VoiceThread can use your microphone and/or webcam, you will need to adjust the privacy setting to Allow VoiceThread to do so. 3. To switch to a different camera or microphone, select the respective icon and choose the item from a drop-down menu. Note: By default VoiceThread did not detect my internal MacBook webcam (thus making video comments blacked out). To change this, click on the webcam icon and choose USB Video Class Video from the drop-down menu.
To Switch Identities Each account in VoiceThread is allowed multiple identities. An identity consists of your name and icon/avatar. This is useful if you would like to comment on the same media from multiple perspectives or if you would like to comment with a different identity for different types of threads (one with students, one with colleagues, one with family, etc.). 1. While a thread is open, click on your icon/avatar at the bottom of the media window. 2. A pop-up box should appear with multiple spaces for identities. 3. Select create another identity in any empty box and then Add an Identity. 4. Give the identity a name and upload a picture if desired. Note: Third-parties will not be able to see that multiple identities from the same user are in any way connected. To Upload Office Documents VoiceThread presents images and video and, so, when you attempt to upload an office document (Word, Excel, etc.), VoiceThread attempts to convert it to an image for you. This can be problematic, though, because the VoiceThread converter may not correctly preserve all of your document formatting. To correct this, you will need to first convert your document to a PDF before you upload it. To do this, go to File > Print, and you should be able to access a PDF drop-down menu, which will save the document as a PDF. Then, upload the PDF to VoiceThread and you ve preserved your formatting. To Share a VoiceThread 1. Navigate to your VoiceThread and click on the menu icon at the top left. 2. Choose Edit. 3. Click on the 3. Share icon. 4. Click on the Add a Friend icon. 5. Enter your friend s email address and name and press add. 6. Select your new friend by clicking on his or her picture and click Invite (selected). The person you invite will receive an email, which will allow him or her to view and comment on your VoiceThread. Note: Someone does not need to be an account holder of VoiceThread to be invited to view the project.