V OKI I NTRODUCTION W EB 2.0 T OOLS EDTC 6340 Technology Advances in PK-12 Classroom Presenter: Blanca E. Pena

O VERVIEW What is a Voki? Educational use Classroom Ideas Examples Become a member Join Fees Threshold rating Quick Start Instructions Add to Webpage Add to Blog

W HAT IS V OKI ? Voki is web 2.0 application used to create cartoon animated talking characters known as “avatars” that you can embed into myspace, blogs, wikis, websites, s, mobil phones and presentations. Great to convey messages. Interactive environment Motivate and engage students of all ages Improve students’ speaking and listening skills.

E DUCATIONAL U SE Teachers can use Voki’s to provides human interaction to on-line education. Voice communication is instant and direct and it provides a face for to the student and a face to the teacher. Instructors can use Voki to introduce the classroom instructions and assignments. Great to provide instructional aid to those who are more audio/visual learners. Teacher can get all student to interact, especially the really shy ones that do not talk much.

H OW TO BECOME A MEMBER Log-on at: Click on Register (top corner) Fill in required info. Agree (terms & condition) Finish

V OKI - F EE Registration is Free (never a charge) Company is based in New York - Oddcast Special offers may be made available by company Downloading fee for phone may apply Use for personal, non-commercial use only.

T HRESHOLE R ATING Low threshold User friendly Easy to use

C LASSROOM U SE Students can create avatars for introduction. Classroom introduction Website introduction messages to friends, family, epals around the world Student can embed their avatars to their website, blog or it to their friends in character form and keep their identity safe. Students can improve their speaking and listening skills. ESL (English as Second language) students can benefit by listening and practicing their speech. Spanish student can record and listen back to their conversation for modifications. Speech students can create story character, add story setting and give it speech. Music student can practice lyrics to a school song.

E XAMPLES Introduction Pre-recorded message Singing message Introduction

Found some links that will show you how to use this tool for instruction? Trigonometry ESL Foreign Lanuage Introductions on a Collaborative Project Science Music Students and teachers alike don't really know how they sound when they speak. This would give them an occasion to hear themselves. (from KarrieWeb2004_Voki) First Grade Spelling Kindergarten and ELL More integration ideas and lesson plans Trigonometry ESL Foreign Lanuage Introductions on a Collaborative Project Science MusicKarrieWeb2004_Voki First Grade Spelling Kindergarten and ELL More integration ideas and lesson plans Source: E XAMPLES - I DEAS

Q UICK START INSTRUCTION

S IGN -I N Review Terms of Agreement ( Note: According to Voki's terms of service children under the age of 13 need to get parents consent before using program.

C USTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR Oddballs Random VIP Politics Holidays Digimon Dogs Cats Classic Toons Anime Animals Edgy

G IVE IT A V OICE Languages: English, Bassue, Catalan, Chinese, Czeh, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Valencian Recording time limit is only 60 seconds.

A DD B ACKGROUND AND P LAYER Background choices include: City views, outdoor, travel, animated, Holidays, descure, sports, and night Life. Click on Done. Player selection: you have several colors to select for the outside border. Click on Done.

P UBLISH YOUR AVATAR 1. Click on Publish button 2. Title your avatar 3. Save your scene 4. Select the size and choose How and where you want to send your Avatar.

C HOOSE A DESTINATION Select Standard Web Page Copy code “Ctrl C”

E MBED IN W IKI InsertMore PluginsInteractive MediaVoki speaking avatar

I NSERTING P LUGIN “Ctrl V” to paste code Select “Next” Insert Plugin Loading phase

H OW TO ADD TO B LOG Once you finish you avatar, click on the dropdown menu #1 to select where you want to publish your avatar. Select #2 to select the size of your avatar. Next: Copy Code

O PEN Y OUR B LOG Open your blog, click on “add a gadget” Select HTML/Javascript Paste code, Save

F INISHED P RODUCT

Thank you! Any Questions?

R ESOURCES Helen Otway. January Voki avatars in the classroom.Voki avatars in the classroom Updated and adapted from Julz How to Create and Add Your Voki.How to Create and Add Your Voki