Weekly Discussion #9: VOICETHREAD

Hello readers,

This week we were given the opportunity to explore a new tool called VoiceThread. VoiceThread allows anyone from across the globe to add his or her comments to a power point presentation. In this week’s example, we had to answer questions relating to digital citizenship. The unique thing about VoiceThread is that you can answer these questions through an audio clip, video clip or just simply typing in your message. In this week’s activity, 

(VoiceThread, 2014)

I chose to do an audio clip as well as a couple typed messages. I believe that VoiceThread can be a helpful academic tool because it not only allows you to see your classmates opinions on the subject matter, but also the opinions of others from all around the world. With certain topics, the platform could almost be used for small debates. I also feel that VoiceThread could be used to get others feedback on issues that you might be curious about. For example, I could make a presentation on the political campaign happening right now in the United States. I could have many slides asking different questions, which could spark a lot of conversation and opinions from many people. This is where my point comes into play about how this online tool could be used as a debate platform with people commenting back and forth to each other on a specific issue. Fellow classmate Andrea Marano makes a good point on her blog by making reference to using VoiceThread in her future occupation. She says that when she has her own classroom, it would be a beneficial way to integrate safe communication with technology into the classroom.

As for my weekly article finding, I came across another article on the website "Reddit". The article I found is strangely interesting and is titled "Hope for Lonely Rodents: Rent-A-Guinea Pig Service Takes Off in Switzerland". This article talks about how in Switzerland it is illegal to just own one guinea pig. This is because they are prone to loneliness, however the issue addressed in this article is about what happens when one dies? Well, Swiss animal lover Priska Küng has that covered with her "rent-a-guinea pig" business, a service that has been in high demand ever since the law came into effect. Prism simply rents guinea pigs to families that have recently lost one of their beloved pets. Although this article does not relate to this course in any way, I thought it was very unique and taught me something that I would have NEVER learned otherwise.  

Thank you for reading,

Andy Walker