The long wait is over…and the irony of the Voice”Thread” name has been put to rest! VoiceThread has released the following new commenting options.

• Direct reply. This feature enables only the owner of a VoiceThread to leave a direct reply to any comment left in that VoiceThread. A direct reply appears as a regular comment, but is inserted directly after the selected comment. This eliminates the need for an instructor to “move” a comment into proper sequence. Students do not have the ability to leave direct replies. Click here for more information about Direct Replies.

• Private reply. All users with access to a VoiceThread may leave private replies in response to a comment. This will be particularly useful for sharing important feedback to students that isn’t appropriate for a group setting. Click here for more information about Private Replies.

• Threaded comments. This feature is turned off by default. It can be enabled in a VoiceThread in the playback settings.  To leave a Threaded comment, click the comment to which you want to reply and click the threaded icon. Threaded comments are represented by a circle instead of the usual rounded rectangle. Threads cannot be built off of threads. Click here to learn more about Threaded Comments.

These are new to me too, so I created a VoiceThread so we can try them out together. Feel free to participate in the VoiceThread above (this will require you to log-in to your existing VT account or create a free one).