Voki

I am BEYOND enthusiastic to share with you a new site I recently learned about!

What is Voki?

This site allows you, and your students, to create speaking avatars that you can use in your very own classroom!

Why Voki is so Fantastic

·      It motivates students to participate

·      Improves message comprehension

·      Introduces technology in a fun way

·      Is an effective language tool (with text to speech functionality in over 25 languages)

·      Is simple and easy to use

·      Most importantly = it’s a FREE service!

How does it work?

1.     Sign up for an account

2.     Customize your avatar

·      Select a character

·      Change the look, clothing, and accessories (kids will love this!)

·      Add your own voice message and content via phone, microphone, text to speech, or upload a file

·      Choose a background for your avatar or upload your own

3.     When your avatar is complete, click PUBLISH. You can then play your avatar from the website, email it, or get the code to take the avatar anywhere you want (like to your own blog!)

Click here to get started creating your avatar!

Or for more information on how to create an avatar, watch these tutorials!

How Can I Use these Avatars in my Classroom?

The site is filled with ideas and lesson plans for how to incorporate Voki into your own classroom. This user friendly site even allows you to filter your search by content or by grade level.

View the Voki Lesson Plan Database for ideas!

An Added Bonus:

There is also a Voki Classroom that you can purchase for an annual fee (they do run pricing specials). Some of the features of Voki Classroom include:

·      Creating and managing class accounts

·      Managing student work

·      Creating and managing your own lessons

·      Providing feedback for students

·      Customizable lesson pages

  

How I would Use It:
While I haven’t used this in my own classroom just yet, (I was too excited to share it with you first), my mind is already flooded with ideas just thinking about my own students.

1.     Presentations

Students could use the text to speech feature of the avatar to present information. I have a lot of students who are very shy or insecure about speaking in front of others; the avatars would be a great way for the kids to occasionally share their ideas and their work without the added anxiety of presenting in front of the class.

2.     Debates

It seems to be a problem in middle school that when students are asked to score one another based on the quality of their work, they tend to favor their own friends. Assigning students to create avatars to present different opinions for debates or various classroom contests would deter students from voting for their friends and help them to focus on the quality of what they are actually hearing.

3.     Student / Parent Communication

Mrs. Zimmerman, an elementary school teacher in Spencerport, NY, recently had her students use Voki to send mother’s day messages to their moms. The students created avatars and recorded a special message to their parent that was easily sent via email. Parents could click the link and watch and listen to the recorded message. I’m sure you can imagine how surprised and honored these mothers were!

I’m sure you’ll want to take the time to peruse the site yourself, but let me direct you to a few more key features:

Check out:
Voki’s Own Blog

Browse Voki Newsletters

Visit the Teacher’s Corner to find answers and tips or see how others are using Voki 

Check out my own personal Motivating Minds Avatar below!