Teachers need new and interesting ways to capture student attention. It helps to use tools and techniques that move toward 21st century skills.
Voki gives teachers a tool to speak through an online avatar using their own recorded voice. You can customize your avatar to look like you or something completely different (including animals, monsters, anime, and more).
Teachers can use Voki to share lots of messages while using many digital formats. Vokis can be embeded on blogs, wikis, websites, and sent through email. Teachers create their avatar, record their voice, and share.
Instead of students sitting and listening to lectures all the time, Voki gives students the chance to hear the teacher's voice in a new and interesting way. With embedded controls, students can play, pause, and re-watch any or all of the recording.
This works well with recording short lessons for students to watch (again) at home. It also gives parents the opportunity to learn along side of their children when Voki are added to the class website.
The beginning of the year is a great time for teachers to use Voki. They can use it to introduce themselves, explain how to navigate the class website, and review classroom guidelines.
After the year gets started, Voki is a good tool for introducing a new chapter or content area, highlighting material before a quiz or test, having a guest speaker pre-record a message, having content expert parents record lessons, and fellow teachers assisting in the presentation of a lesson.
Voki is a great resource for teachers. It gives a new and interesting look to a voice that can get worn out as a school year progresses.
