Sharing VoiceThreads on Moodle

With the latest version of Moodle, adding a VoiceThread (VT) link to your course page is even easier. The video above walks you through the process. It focuses on linking to an individual VT, but it’s relevant for creating all kinds of VT links. Written instructions are also below, if you’d prefer them in text.

Creating a VoiceThread link

1. Log in to Moodle and access the relevant course.
2. Make sure editing is on in the upper right hand corner of the course page, and then select ‘add an activity or resource’ in appropriate section of your course.
3. Select ‘VoiceThread’ from the Activity Chooser and click Add.
4. In the the new menu that opens, give the VT link a name. E.g. “Lecture 1.”
5. Click the blue “Select Content” button right beneath the name field.
6. In the new dialogue box that opens, choose one of the four options for the kinds of VT link you can to create:
   • Course View – Links to the collection of VoiceThreads that have been shared with your course. Anything that has not yet been explicitly shared with your course will not appear here. This is a good option if sharing each VoiceThread individually (see below) seems like too much work, but make sure your videos have legible names (and match those on your syllabus) if you take this route.
   • VT Home – Links to all of a user’s (faculty or student) VoiceThread content in a single view. This includes all VoiceThreads and all courses that belong to them. This option is useful if you want to create a simple portal into VoiceThread without directing students to any specific content.
   • Individual VT – Links to an individual VoiceThread that you have created. When students click on the link, they’ll see just the one you select–a particular lecture, say. This most mimics the experience of linking a particular video on Youtube. For this option, you’ll be further prompted to select the individual video. Navigate to it, choose it, and click save.
   • Assignment Builder – Creates a graded assignment for students to complete. You can require them to create a VoiceThread of their own to submit, to comment on a VoiceThread you’ve created, or simply to watch a VoiceThread start to finish.
7. If this is a graded activity–useful for Assignment Builder links–you’ll need to expand the Grading submenu, and add (or edit) the relevant values such as grade type, maximum grade, passing grade and category.
8. Finally, scroll down and select ‘Save and Return to course’ when you’re finished.

That’s it! In addition to being simpler, this workflow also can make it easier to move content from semester to semester; links to content that are created this will continue to work when copied into a new course.