VoiceThread as a Tool in Online BSW Education

Lessons learned from COVID-19: Being known in online social work classrooms

“…FlipGrid, VoiceThread), flexible office hours, blogs and discussion boards where instructors and students can post and answer each other’s questions, and clear articulation of communication expectations (e.g. reply time for emails, virtual communication guidelines) are all strategies that can be used to allow students to be known (Joiner and Patterson, 2019; Larson, Aroz and Norden, 2019; Rodriguez-Keyes and Schneider, 2013). Proper training about this technology and careful course planning, conditions that were largely absent in the spring 2020 rush, are needed in order to design and implement these systems (Araujo Dawson and Fenster, 2015).…”

Technology-Enhanced Communities of Practice in an Asynchronous Graduate Course

“…The use of VoiceThread's audio and written commenting features has been shown to help students feel more connected to the class and also improves the overall classroom community (Delmas, 2017). Relatedly, Joiner and Patterson (2019) found students in an online social work program felt “known” by using VoiceThread. Based on end-of-course evaluation feedback, our students felt VoiceThread helped them engage with other classmates and learn course content at a deeper level.…”

“…Once on VoiceThread, students could individually annotate slides while conferring with one another about transitions to create a coherent presentation. This version of asynchronous group work has been used in a variety of disciplines, especially in social work (Joiner & Patterson, 2019) and nursing (Hannans, 2019; Kaminski, 2016; Merriam & Hobba-Glose, 2021; Price et al, 2015), where presentation skills are of utmost importance. Last, we reinforced academic writing by having students submit an individual reflection paper on the group activity, where they provided additional insight on workplace application, equity, and implications for diverse learners.…”