In an online graduate course, VoiceThread was utilized to reflect on course readings. The strategy used is made up of digital powerups (Thurston, 2019), a guided self-connection section, and expressing what they learned from their peers.
A qualitative content analysis of student reflections using this strategy supports these claims: 1) The digital powerup strategy provided an opportunity for rigor and differentiation. 2) The guided approach of the ‘connect to self’ section balanced and complemented the open-ended nature of the digital powerup section. 3) Structured peer takeaways led to a sense of community. 4) The graduate students preferred the three-pronged discussion strategy to other models they have used before.
Presentation sections:
A. Showcasing the VoiceThread discussion (10 -12 min)
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Digital Powerups: What they are and how I designed the three related to the online curriculum leadership course.
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Connect to self: Why it is important and how I connected each of the weekly learning objectives to this changing question.
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Peer takeaways: What it is and how it made the discussion more authentic.
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Student creations
B. Student perspective of VT discussion (10 -12 min)
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Two survey questions
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Rigor and differentiation student quotes
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Balance between DPUs and ‘connect to self’ student quotes
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Confirmed learning, perspective taking, and sense of community student quotes
C. Participants practice using VoiceThread (10-15min)
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How to comment on slides
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Brainstorm ways to use DPUs in their context
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Brainstorm ways to build in course objectives to discussion questions
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Share experiences of how to get students to read what their peers post