VOKI AVATARS

Squidoo (2009) describes Voki as

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. Teachers and educators are discovering some of the unique roles these speaking avatars can play in education particularly in the online classroom.

Could you image a digital immigrant having a really noisy class, a class not paying attention and all of a sudden you play an avatar in your classroom to introduce what the next lesson would be about (Prensky, 2001). The students would all of a sudden be engaged into something they know, something they experience daily – digital age tools (Prensky, 2001). Teacher Anne Paterson (cited in Voki, 2008, p. ) believed, "I think having an avatar for each student and each student being able to use that avatar on a wiki or a blog is a great way of engaging them. Great fun!" I have found this form of technology to be easy. It is straightforward application that I feel a digital immigrant would be able to grasp. The device fits neatly into Oliver’s (cited in AUTC, 2003, p. 1) learning designs framework as he “argues that a learning design comprises the following key elements : tasks the learners are required to do, resources that support learners to conduct the task and support mechanisms that exist from a teacher implementing it.” An example is the use of avatars to support ESL (English as a Second Language) students’ learning experiences. The task for these students is to learn five simple sight words (mum dad, boy, girl and teacher). The student along with the LM employs the resources - Voki avatars to practice and listen to their speech. The support mechanism is the LM helping the student by giving instructions and a procedure to follow, follow up with feedback from the LM (AUTC). Voki are a wonderful tool for students who are visual and verbal learners as visual learners learn the best from what they see: pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations (Felder & Soloman, n.d.). Voki are also brilliant for students who are shy as it can achieve and facilitate involvement from these students (Voki, 2009). Here are a number of avatars could also be employ educationally into the classroom to support student experiences:

• Students can have e.pals from a different speaking background and talk using the Voki and change the language to suit (Voki, 2009).
• Students can add them to their blogs or Wiki describing themselves or talking about their blogs or Wikis.
• LM can utilise them to introduce a new subject into the classroom to grab students attention particularly verbal/visual learners.
• LM can employ Voki in the classroom to teach a new language or part of a new language.

Note: for LM employing them into classroom: According to Voki's terms of service children below the age of 13 may not use Voki under their own accounts (Voki, 2009).