Canvas Integration: Benefits
If you are regularly using VoiceThread with a class, we strongly recommend that you use VoiceThread’s Canvas integration. Here are some of the reasons why you might want to do this:
- The integration allows your students to seamlessly pass from Canvas into the VoiceThread application, without being prompted for a login.
- All enrolled students will automatically have permissions to VoiceThreads you share in their Canvas course - no need to set permissions on VoiceThreads, or “invite” students.
- In the VoiceThread application, a course folder for your course will automatically be created, housing all of the VoiceThreads for the course
- VoiceThread integrates with the Canvas Gradebook. You can easily create VoiceThread assignments, and grade them in a grading area in VoiceThread. You can also easily see, at a glance, who in your class did or did not complete a VoiceThread assignment. Any grading you do in VoiceThread will automatically be synched back into the Canvas Gradebook.
Canvas Integration: Create A Connection To All VoiceThreads For Your Class
It is a good idea to create a link to your course’s VoiceThread folder, where students can find all of the VoiceThreads for your class in one place. This is only possible in a Canvas Module.
- Navigate to the “Modules” area of your course
- Find (or create) the Module to which you’d like to add VoiceThread, and then click the Add Item button. It is fine to have a module for the sole purpose of linking to VoiceThread.
- In the “Add Item…” Dialogue Box, choose (a.) External Tool from the Drop-Down menu. A scrollable area will appear from which you need to select the tool (b.)VoiceThread. (c.) Then select Add Item.
- A new box will pop up and present you with four choices; this may take a few seconds, because you are actually getting connected and logged into VoiceThread. Choose the Course View option, and click Save and Save and Continue when prompted.
- You will return to the Canvas “Add Item” Dialogue Box. Scroll down further, and make sure to check the box next to (a.) Load in a new tab. It’s easy to forget this last step - if you do, you can edit the item you just created, and check the Load in a new tab option then. (b.) Then, click the Add Item button (Or Update if you've gone back to edit).
- You have now created a link which will take your students seamlessly to your course’s home folder in VoiceThread
Canvas Integration: Creating VoiceThread Assignments
You can create three types of VoiceThread Assignments:
- A Watch assignment: to ask students to watch a VoiceThread
- A Comment assignment: to ask students to comment on a VoiceThread
- A Create assignment: to ask students to create a VoiceThread
The creation process for all three assignment types is very similar, and is detailed in VoiceThread's How-to Guide to Assignments. The main advantages to using VoiceThread Canvas assignments are:
- intuitive grading interface which syncs with Canvas' gradebook
- ability to grade in percentages or on a pass/fail basis
- ability to grade work in progress
- ability to "reset" an assignment to a student can resubmit
- granular settings for assignment availability
- granular settings for assignment criteria (e.g. number of comments, length, etc.)
- very intuitive interface for students, including a checklist for all assignment components
VoiceThread Resources
VoiceThread maintains excellent documentation on its website. The following three landing pages are the most useful:
Contacting VoiceThread Support
You can contact VoiceThread support here. This will take you to a web form you need to fill out. Be sure to use your Dartmouth email address, so that VoiceThread knows that your question is connected to Dartmouth’s VoiceThread instance.