This article is for VoiceThread users wanting to use the VoiceThread commenting tools.
Overview
There are 2 types of Comments in VoiceThread. Both are displayed in the left-side Comment panel.
“Comments” appear as squares
“Replies” appear as circles
Video Instructions
Recording a New Comment
Whether you are viewing a VoiceThread or are creating a new VoiceThread, once an individual VoiceThread media slide is in front of you, you are able to comment.
To record a comment on a slide, click on the Comment icon (1) to open the commenting panel (2).
The commenting panel provides up to 5 options for commenting on the visually displayed media.
Note: The availability of commenting methods reflects selections made in the Playback settings. 
Text comment: Textual commentary on the slide being displayed.
Audio comment: Record a voice-only comment using your computer microphone.
Video comment: Record a video + audio comment using your microphone and webcam.
Note: If you have multiple cameras installed, toggle between cameras by clicking on the video display window. Upload an audio file: Upload an audio file (mp3, m4a, wav, FLAC, AAC, etc.).
Commenting Features
While recording Comments, there are several features that can assist the creation of a quality recording.
Countdown
Countdown provides a visual cue to help you get ready to record an audio or video comment. Countdown can be toggled on/off at the bottom left corner of the recording screen.
Playback
After recording an audio or video comment, VoiceThread will automatically play your recording back to you. If you are satisfied with the comment, click Save. If you would like to re-record the comment, click Cancel and record again.
Threaded Reply Commenting
To reply to someone else's comment, hover the cursor over the comment indicator in the left side comment pane and click on the reply icon.
This will open up the Commenting Panel and provide the available commenting methods. The Commenting Panel will indicate that the comment is a reply to someone else's comment.
Once the comment has been recorded, it will appear in the left side commenting pane as a circle that is connected with a line to the original comment. Any subsequent replies will continue as circles connected to the other comments in the thread.
Note: Once there is a comment thread with multiple comments, the instructor can only manually rearrange the entire thread (with all comments in sequence) up or down in the comment pane.
Annotation
VoiceThread calls their annotation tool the "doodle" tool.
To use this tool, click on the pencil icon at the bottom of the window while recording an audio/video comment. This will open the annotation panel.
From here you can select a color with which to "doodle" or annotate your slide.
You can toggle on/off Fade. If Fade is off, annotations will remain visible on the slide for the duration of the recording. If Fade is on' annotations will gradually fade away as your recording continues.
Once you have finished recording your comment, viewed the playback, and approved the comment, it will appear in the left side comment pane in the sequence in which it was recorded with the profile picture or initials of the commenter. A new comment is indicated in the comment pane as a square shape with no lines connecting it to other comments.
Note: Instructors can manually re-arrange the sequence of student comments.
For more information or assistance with VoiceThread, contact the Educational Technology Office at edtech@uconn.edu or (860) 486-5052 on Monday – Friday between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm.
For help with technical issues, please contact VoiceThread at support@voicethread.com