A Lecturer who doesn’t lecture!
This is an update and report of a blogpost I wrote in September 2019 called I don’t Lecture – I use VoiceThread.
I’m a Lecturer – that is my official title, and yet I don’t lecture. The closest thing I do to a lecture is create VoiceThread slides that provide an audio introduction to the topics of the week.
I’ve been using VoiceThread now for six years. I’ve gotten much more efficient at creating my presentations, so I thought I’d share my process with you. In this post, I’m only talking about using VoiceThread to give students the presentation. I don’t talk about how to use VoiceThread for assignments or class discussions. That is a whole other process.
First, I choose a PowerPoint Template. I use a different template for each course. I use the same template for all the classes within a course so that students see the familiarity. One struggle I’ve had is with students who are taking multiple courses with me in a semester – they tend to get mixed up as to which course is which. I also use a different home page graphic and syllabus highlight colour. That gives me and my students an immediate visual cue as to which course we are in.
Second, I create my presentation in PowerPoint. I create visual slides and write a narrative in the instructor notes. I write out the full narrative. I used to just wing it, but that caused me to umm and ahh too much. The presentation audio is much better if I write a script. I do work very hard when I’m narrating to not sound like I’m reading a script!
Third, I save my presentation as JPG files. VoiceThread will auto-upload a PowerPoint file but I find that it often messes up the formatting. I’m not sure if this because I’m on a Mac or using special fonts or something. Either way, I find that using JPG files ensures that my slides get uploaded the way I want them.
Fourth, I record my audio using Audacity or Adobe Audition. I used to use the built in auto feature in VoiceThread – but it was a much slower process and produced lower quality audio. With Audacity or Audition, it is easier for me to create the audio for a single slide, edit out mistakes, and then run the noise reduction effect to get rid of any ambient background noise. This makes for a much higher quality audio file.
Fifth, I upload everything into VoiceThread. First I upload the slides and ensure they are in the correct order. Then I use the comment feature to upload the audio files. This is a lot faster than recording, as the uploads happen quickly, and you can move to the next slide while VoiceThread is processing the previous slide.
Sixth, I look at VoiceThreads auto generated close captions. I can update them directly from my scripts to ensure that it got all the words correct. I do find that VoiceThread can take a little while to create the captions – so I usually go do something else and then come back to this step after VoiceThread has finished processing.
Seventh, I embed the VoiceThread into the course. I don’t like the way VoiceThread embeds using the Post feature. It is less steps but looks clunky and isn’t as nice for students. I embed using the embed feature and cutting-and-pasting the HTML into my course. Another benefit to embedding is that when copied to a new semester, it still works where using the VoiceThread share means you need to reshare every semester. What my students see is something like this:
A few notes on this image:
- I include the length of time for the entire presentation. This lets students know if they have enough time to complete the presentation – it is especially useful for those who are trying to view/listen to the slide while commuting.
- I attach the PowerPoint slides. This gives students access to the script that I used within PowerPoint’s instructor notes.
- I include a link to the VoiceThread as well as the embed, so that if they have having trouble accessing it one way, they can access it the other. The hyperlink for the VoiceThread is on the text, rather than the URL. This is a good practice for accessibility.
And that is my not so short process for using VoiceThread in my online classes. It is the closest thing to a “lecture” that I do. My VoiceThreads are rarely over 10 minutes, and more often between 3-7 minutes.
Are you a lecturer that doesn’t lecture? What do you do to present content or orient students to the lesson content?
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