VCU CTE - Wimba Voice Tools

Wimba Voice Tools is a comprehensive suite of tools integrated into Blackboard that give faculty and students a broad range of opportunities to communicate and interact within their course sites. Using a simple software interface, faculty can now add verbal announcements, explain complex material, highlight important concepts, send voice emails, or author mini-lectures with PowerPoint or web-based supporting material. Language instruction can be enhanced through the use of online asynchronous threaded voice boards. The Voice Tools suite consists of:

Voice Boards – audio discussion board

Voice Emails – send voice messages via email

Voice Direct – voice conferencing

Voice Recorder – record audio content

Voice Presentation – Integrate voice narration with web content

Wimba Podcaster – Record or import audio and publish as a podcast

Some potentially valuable instructional uses of these Voice Tools in higher education include:

Live discussions with distant student populations

Enhanced communication to support student collaboration

Ongoing debate and discussion without the need for text-based processes

Virtual office hours

Create engaging supplementary course content that can easily be reused

Enhanced foreign language instruction by emphasizing speaking and listening

The CTE offers a workshop to assist faculty members with exploring the instructional uses of these tools: Blackboard: Communication Tools. Faculty members interested in learning more about how these tools might be used in their teaching are welcome to contact Bud Deihl at the CTE (wdeihl@vcu.edu).