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"Social Mobility in America" Audio BloggingGroup Participation and Community using VoiceThread.VoiceThread is a Web-based program that enables users to upload pictures, record accompanying audio or video commentary, and invite others to record commentary as well. Tom's group audio blogging activity calls on students to compare social mobility and social inequality in America today with the "Gilded Age" of the late 19th century. Students read assignments on the issue and interviewed one of their parents or guardians before recording into VoiceThread. In VoiceThread students were asked to discuss their interview with a parent and record their audio in the school's computer language lab or on a home computer. Why VoiceThread? Tom's comments:"VoiceThread provides a wonderful opportunity for student self expression and creativity. The simple combination of visual and recorded media is perfect for creating multimedia presentations in a relatively short time frame using simple tools. It also prompts students to think carefully about what they are going to say before recording themselves. As many educators have discovered, especially language and art teachers, there are a myriad of educational possibilities with VoiceThread. For example, students can practice foreign language skills by describing a picture. They can analyze and comment Note: Since we wrote our VoiceThread tutorial for Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology VoiceThread has limited the number of free VoiceThreads to three and now offers a fee-based "Pro" subscription for $59.95/year. It also offers educational pricing to schools as part of "VoiceThread Ed." For more on blogging visit our Discussion and Communication section. Excerpt from a student contribution:"My mother's answers to my questions didn't surprise me as much as I thought they would . . . What surprised me is that she didn't say that parents were the primary indicator of future social and economic status. She said that education was the most important thing. . . I think that social inequality is much worse today than in the Gilded Age but that social inequality was more recognizable back then by one's dress."
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upon historically significant photographs or architecture. Photography students could present and explain their work and artists could upload and describe their drawings. A class can create a virtual tour of a place or event they are studying. VoiceThread can even be used as a means to debate a topic. For instance, students could analyze and comment on photographs of the crisis in Darfur and debate the appropriateness of United Nation's intervention in the area."