Talking+Avatar+sites

[|VOKIS] =What is a Voki?= A Voki is a talking voice character, a computer-generated version of oneself. The more generic term for a Voki is a **speaking avatar**, a digital representation of a person or being. You can customize your Voki to look like you or take on the identity of lots of other types of characters--animals, monsters, anime etc.You can even have your Voki speak with your own voice by adding your voice with a microphone, upload, or by phone. Teachers and educators are discovering some of the unique roles these speaking avatars can play in education particularly in the online classroom. =Why use Avatars?=

For teachers these speaking avatars can add a more "human" element to the online class website or blog. It is especially useful for those of us who may not be all that great with video taping or vodcasting.

Instructors can use a voki avatar to introduce the course or topics. It can also be used to aid in instructing those who are more audio/visual learners. Voki is also a great way to get shy students involved or to share comments with students in other countries.

Many teachers and parents have concerns about having photos of children published online. By having the children create an online character (called an avatar), they can still have a visual identity while not compromising their safety. It also gives children the chance to have a different persona which may help raise the confidence of some children. = =

[|VOKIS]

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Allow you to create an avatar and give it voice. [|Virtual interpreter]

sample rubric for a voki project I created last summer about vokis and daily routines []

Helen Otway offers the following suggestions for ways to use a Voki in an educational context in the classroom. Here thoughts are a summary from a Classroom2.0 discussion :
 * Ways to Use a Voki in the Classroom**

Source: Helen Otway. January 2008. Voki avatars in the classroom. More than just knowing stuff! Edublog. **Using Vokis in the Classroom** Examples of Vokis being used for education. Librarian Kathryn's reflections: Voki, Year Ones and blogging in ... Voki, Year Ones and blogging in education. I fiddled with Voki, which is an online tool to create a cartoon character that appears to speak an audio track ... Adult Education and Technology: My New Voki Keeping an eye on technology for the adult education classroom and beyond. ... My New Voki. Get a Voki now! posted by Marian Thacher @ 10:24 PM 0 comments ... The Carrot Revolution: A Blog About Art Education... and ... Voki allows you to create little animated characters to place on your blog, ... The Carrot Revolution is an art education weblog and a resource page for art ... RETAzens Blog: Innovation 2008: The Real and The Ideal conference Jan 18, 2008 ... Previous attempts to integrate technology into education have met with difficulties because solutions ... Joey's Voki Dos. Get a Voki now! ... Listing of education widgets Voki enables users to express themselves on the web in their own voice using a ... Your Voki can speak with your own voice which is added via microphone, ... Participate Contribute Learn: Voki in a wiki! Jan 24, 2008 ... We included your great blog and in our Voki blog! http://blog.voki.com/ ... Mobile Phones, the Internet and Education in the News! ... Vokis Information about Vokis from Web Two Telegraph - A Collaborative Web 2.0 Environment. Voki Fun - Talking Avatars More fun with Vokis from Crazy For Kids Books. Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom:: Voki - animated avatars to get your pupils talking in a foreign language of your choice Joe Dale offers practical tips and advice on using ICT to enhance the teaching of modern foreign languages
 * 1) Students can create avatars that are similar in looks or personalities and record a message that tells about themselves.
 * 2) Students can exchange these avatars with e-pals either within their own setting or anywhere in the world.
 * 3) Students can generate questions to ask their avatar e-pals.
 * 4) ESL (English as a Second Language) students can use the speaking avatars to practice and listen to their speech. They may use the computerised voice first then record their own voice when they feel more comfortable. Writing, reading and pronunciation are all practised.
 * 5) Students can create an avatar that resembles a character from a story, add a setting and give it speech. The speech could be from the story or a creative point of view (POV) from the character on an event.

Voki - animated avatars to get your pupils talking in a foreign language of your choice Joe Dale looks at using Vokis to get students talking in a foreign language in his blog Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom. Topic 3 Animation and Video uses in Education Alison Saylor from edtc620 takes a look at using French speaking Vokis. Get the kids talking - How using Voki might help Tips on getting shy children speaking in an foreign language from J Picardo at a Box of Tricks. Using Voki and a blog in a sequence of three lessons J Picardo at a Box of Tricks offers three lessons for using Voki and a blog in a foreign language class. Using Voki | A Journey into Learning I have been thinking a lot about ways of exchanging work with our partner school in Ghana. This has been somewhat of a challenge given
 * Using Vokis to Speak Foreign Languages**

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