VoiceThread for Educators

A few weeks ago I stumbled on VoiceThread and I keep mentally returning to it as a great model for hosting online discussions. It's an exciting format, and I am considering it for any online course I might offer in the future. Beyond the "sitting around the table" structure that is so smartly structured here, what I like most about it, I think, is the ability to add to the discussion from telephone and via text message, which solves the "I can't afford a webcam" problem to a degree.

Here's an instructor (Michelle Pacansky-Brock) talking about how she might use it in her art history courses:

And here's Brock's recent blog entry on Educause's 7 Things You Should Know About VoiceThread. Classroom 2.0 has a good Wiki collection of links to sources and examples on VoiceThread, including my first introduction to it: a google docs slideshow called "Seventeen Interesting Ways to Use VoiceThread in The Classroom."

I'd love to hear comments from folks who have used it.