Get a Voki now!
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/ also this one for downloading you tube
Multiliterate individuals are aware of the pitfalls inherent in technology while striving for empowerment through effective strategies for first discerning and then taking advantage of those aspects of changing technologies most appropriate to their situations.
Teachers wouldn't dream of giving students power tools without thinking through how they should be used in the safest way possible that still affords the greatest amount of learning and the most powerful outcomes. Likewise, no teacher would set up learning stations throughout the classroom without thinking through how they would embed the curriculum learning objectives in the activity, how they would organize the cooperating learning groups (which students to pair together), where to place which stations (reading stations need to be in a quiet location in the room and not next to the painting easel) and so on. Yet in our excitement of seeing how easily content is created using digital tools we often are so intent on getting students on with creating a web presence, that we do not think through possible pitfalls or most effective ways of connecting the learning to the medium being used. The 21st Century teacher needs to use these tools in his own personal learning before tossing the students the keys. We simply can't give away what we do not own.
The many forms that literacy now takes. This means extending notions of literacy beyond the spoken and written to include multi-modal and multi-mediated forms of communication, such as visual, audio, gestural and spatial patterns of meaning as well as electronic and digital media, on-line and on-screen.
I concurr with Peter's comments below. There are a variety of engaging ways it could be used, however, I am still not enamoured with it.
Voki's are interesting tools, as it sometimes takes some thought as to where they can be used. One example of usage is as you have above, with the voki providing some animation and voice to your blog, so it isn't quite so dull and flat, and another possible use is to present the different viewpoints of stakeholders in a case study. This allows the teacher (or students) to have different voices and appearances for each viewpoint offered.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure about Vokis. One reason is that you can get them to say anything (I know, I've tried). I suppose once you have created one it would be possible to keep using it, and just give it different scripts. I prefer blabberize for younger learners.
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