Voki

Lesson Title: Creating a Voki Avatar

Subject: Technology/Communications Grade: 6-8 Objective: Students will create an avatar that is educationally informative to others 1.9.7.A 1.9.8.A || Use media and technology resources for self-directed learning, support personal productivity, group collaboration, and learning throughout the curriculum. || Webb's DOK rating: 2, 3
 * PA State Standards: ||  ||
 * **Reading, Writing, Speaking and**
 * Listening** || Information, Communication and Technology Literacy || 1.9.6.A
 * === National ISTE Standards: === ||  ||   ||
 * ** Communication and Collaboration ** |||||| Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. ||

Students may create and embed self-made avatars onto social networking, Wikis or HTML sites rather than embedding their actual student pictures. One free and easy-to-use avatar online creator is Voki. Using Voki students may create avatars that speak or essentially podcast. For a small, yearly fee teachers may create a Voki classroom ([])or each student may create his/her own private, free individual account to create avatars. Voki will provide the HTML script once an avatar is published. Here is a Voki link I created to place on my Moodle pages:

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1. Have students watch the following video to learn about Voki: []

2. Using Voki, have each student create an avatar. The avatar should welcome visitors and speak about his/her web page topic (for example, a podcast statement or Public Service announcement about Cyberbullying). Students may type in text, record, or bring in a pre-recorded sound file--possibly created in Audacity.

3. Using embedded code or links, have students place the Voki avatars on their HTML webpages. wikispaces, or social networking sites.

This is fun and creative way for students to communicate.