Voki in an educational context

Press play to listen to my avatar.

            
 My avatar has told you that 'Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars which can be posted on a blog or on your social networking site.Studies show that using technology in education improves students' achievements. Voki is a unique tool which can engage students in creative expressions.

You have to be 13 to have a voki account, therefore this would be used in a secondary school. The voki website states that there are endless ways to use Voki"

Voki can be used in the classroom at can be used for any subject at any level, enabling cross curricular project or assingment work. As you can see I have created my own avatar and it was really enjoyable, it felt like I was just playing on the internet rather than doing any work. As it is fun, but can be used in an educational contetxt, it is a very useful tool, if children are having fun, they will be mor engaged and interested in what they are doing, they will also become more productive. For teachers there is a Lesson Plan database and the Teacher's corner, giving support and ideas.

 

Voki can be used to present work orally, as well as making the work interesting for the student, they can also hear how words are sounded and how they are spoken, it can also build confidence in children who are shy at presenting, it can be a way of introducing technology into other subjects. It can also be used for:-

Classroom Newsletter – Provide information for students and parents using a unique style. Persuasive Speech – Assign a speech and have the Voki avatar give the introduction, three supporting details to defend or rebut a given topic, and the conclusion.
Course Annoucements - Use Voki to create and embed online course announcements for students. It can be a fun and engaging way to present otherwise routine information.
Testing – Give a test with the Voki avatar asking questions or integrate it with a written test to assist students with reading difficulties, second languages, or to clarify questions for all. Merge it with a current online test in order to provide another modality for students.
Vocabulary – Use Voki to present a vocabulary list of words. Using real speech allows students to hear correct pronunciation. Students can stop, pause, rewind at any time.
Foreign Language – Great way to help students learn words through teacher prepared lessons. It also allow students to practice their new language by creating short stories, poems, or content informational pieces.
Poetry and Music Composition – Students create poems or lyrics that can be spoken or sung by their favorite avatar. This can include text-to-speech and real voice. They may even want to include musical instruments.

Information from-http://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/voki-creates-ad-free-site-for-education-plus-20-ways-to-use-talking-avatars/