VoiceThread for Individual Student Presentations

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• IMPORTANT--READ FIRST 
• Create a VoiceThread for Your Presentation
• Comment on Slides in Another Student's VoiceThread
• Need Help? 

IMPORTANT--READ FIRST  

• These instructions only apply to courses in which an instructor has assigned VoiceThread for individual student presentations.  
  
• Use the web version of VoiceThread on a desktop or laptop computer. The VoiceThread mobile app is not recommended. 
• If you need to use Chrome, please consult this information on how to adjust Chrome settings to work with VoiceThread: Microphone-Access Issue in VoiceThread via Canvas (Chrome)
• Firefox is the best web browser to use with VoiceThread in Canvas. There is a known issue with using VoiceThread in Canvas via Google Chrome that can affect microphone access. If you do not have Firefox installed, you may do so by using the instructions for you brand of device:
  • PC
  • Mac

Before you try to use Voicethread, please do these 2 steps:

I. Check your Canvas user account settings to make sure you have an email address listed. If not, add an email address to your Canvas user account and make it your default email address in your Canvas user account if you do not have one. 

95% of access issues with Voicethread are resolved when students do these two steps.

Create a VoiceThread for Your Presentation

You can create a presentation in VoiceThread by following these steps:

1.) Create your presentation slides in the program of your choice (for example, PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, etc.). Don't add audio to your Powerpoint/Google Slides/Canva slides at this point - you can do this inside VoiceThread with the steps below.

2.) Then go to your VoiceThread Assignment in Canvas. Create a VoiceThread by following these instructions:

• First, Click on the green plus sign that says "+ Add Your Own" in the top right corner:
• Then select, Create a New VoiceThread:
• Then, select My Computer and find the PowerPoint/Google Slides/Canva slide you previously created in Step 1 to upload.

IMPORTANT: When you upload a PowerPoint that has multiple slides, a new slide will be created in VoiceThread for each of the PowerPoint slides. If you are attempting to upload a PowerPoint that has audio added to it, the audio will not transfer over with the file. Thus, it is recommended that you record audio using the comment function in VoiceThread.

• Title your presentation and add a description.
• Continue adding images (slides from PowerPoint, video, etc) with the big plus sign until you have every frame you would like to discuss in your presentation (picture below).
• Then select "Comment," select which slide you would like to add a comment to, navigate to the center of the slide where you can find many options for adding a comment (circled in red below). We recommend providing a Voice or Text comment for each slide in your presentation.
• 
• When you are happy with your slides and comments, select the blue button "Share and Return to Course" when you are ready to share with the class.

3.) After you set your VoiceThread up and share it, you may want to edit or perform additional actions. We have created a list of common actions with instructions below:

• Adding a Slide to VoiceThread
• Delete a Slide from VoiceThread
• Comment on a VoiceThread Slide

Comment on Slides in Another Student's VoiceThread

If you need to comment on another student's VoiceThread, you can do so by following these instructions: 

Comment on a VoiceThread Slide 

Need Help? 

• 9am-5pm EST, Monday-Friday: email online-learning-support@sas.upenn.edu
• After 5pm EST Monday-Friday and Weekends: contact VoiceThread support--click the Contact VoiceThread Support button that appears at the bottom of the page in the preceding link.
  
  • Please note: If you have contacted VoiceThread support and the issue is not resolved by 9am on the next business day, please email online-learning-support@sas.upenn.edu. In your email, please send the same information you shared with VoiceThread support, and, if applicable, the response you received from VoiceThread support.