Voki is a tool that allows users to craft talking characters
by creating an avatar and providing a script.
There is a basic version of Voki which is free, and there is Voki
Classroom, which is a paid subscription that covers 75 student accounts. The cost is $29.95 per year. It seems the teacher would be able to put
each student into classes, post assignments, and approve avatars before they
are published for the public. If the
teacher is using Voki Classroom, she can also leave feedback on student’s work.
You character can be male or female, and the user can choose
from a range of clothes, heads, and hairstyles. You can also tweak the color
and size of the character’s mouth, eyes, skin, head, and hair. You can type in the dialogue (up to 200 characters)
and the avatar will read it in a male or female’s voice and in various
languages. You can also record your
voice, though only up to 60 seconds for the free version, and up to 90 seconds
for Voki Classroom.
Coming Soon: Ideas on how to use Voki in the classroom
I am very interested in this tool. I think that it would be a great idea for students to do a book talk and practice their summarizing skills using a Voki. It would also make for a great character study in a book. Students would have to describe the character and use evidence from the text as to why they would describe them that way. With Common Core, text evidence is huge and this would be a great motivational way to have students defend their ideas.
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