VOKI                                                                         

Updated by Alison Brase (11/2012)

By Wyndie Campbell, Jeff McMartin, and Sandy Ward

 An Introduction to Voki

Voki is a free online service that allows students to create personalized, speaking avatars and then share them by posting the avatars on their personal websites, blogs, profiles, or email messages.

Advantages in the Classroom

Voki provides an engaging activity for students to become personally involved with content material. It allows them to link creativity with factual knowledge, improving comprehension and allowing for personal interpretation. Voki allows students to share their creations with their peers, which allows other students to learn about that content material.

Voki 101

Click here for a fun tutorial!

And another!   

Steps and Features of Voki

• Users must first register in order to create their own Vokis. This is a very quick process. After registering, the student needs to login using their e-mail address and password.

• From the home page, voki.com, students can click on "Create Your Voki " to start designing their avatar.

• Students can begin using the features in “Customize Your Character” box to choose their character, dress their character and add bling if desired. 
• There are many styles of characters they can choose from including classic, animals, oddballs, politics, holiday, monsters and many more!  
  

   

  

  Images from: Google Images and links below  

   

  Find John Adams here 

   

  Find our friend, Moose, here  

            Find the nurse here

By selecting a Classic style, students can manipulate the settings to make a character of their own.

                                                                                                                                                                               Image from: Google Images here...

• Students may first choose the gender of their character. They can then change the color and SIZE [through the tweak tool] of various facial features.

• Students can then choose from clothing options, ranging from casual to uniforms and costumes. Students can further add accessories such as glasses or jewelry under the "Bling" tab. 

• Once students are satisfied with their character’s appearance, they should exit out of "Customize Your Character" by clicking the orange X in the upper right hand corner or the green “Done” square located in the bottom right corner of the box.

Next, click on "Give it a Voice."

• Students have many different ways to record their Voki's voice, including "Record by Phone," "Text by Speech," "Record with a Microphone," or "Upload an Audio File."

• The most convenient way to record voice in the classroom would be "Text by Speech." This way, many students can add sound to their character without disturbing others and trying to talk over each other.

• In the text box, students can type what they want their Vokis to say. Students may push the "play" button to hear their Vokis speak.

• Students can alter the accent/language of their avatar with over 25 different language options!  

• They also have the ability to choose the gender of the voice. For example, their character can talk like Paul from the U.S., Alan from Australia, Bridget from the U.K. or Fiona from Scotland. Just to name a few!

• If the character isn’t pronouncing words correctly, students may need to spell them out phonetically or fo-net-ick-ly.

• Again, choose the orange X or the green “Done” button to get out of "Give it a Voice."

• Now students are ready to choose a fitting background for their Voki. They may choose from "Nature," "Indoors," "City View," "Travel," and many more. Students may also upload their own background image from downloaded pictures on their computer. This way if they have a favorite scenic picture from their most recent vacation, they can let their Voki visit!

• Don’t forget to click “Done” to save changes!

• Finally, students can change the color of their Voki's frame by clicking on "Players." Here, they have a choice of several different colors.

• When students have created their Voki, click on "Publish." Students can then select a name for their character at the "Name Your Scene" prompt.

Here is where you will be directed next.

• Students can then share their Voki by posting it to an almost endless list of websites such as Facebook, WordPress, an e-mail service or blog.

• Another option is to send it to your friends through e-mail. Students can share with several friends at once by entering their e-mail addresses and pressing send.

Voki makes it easy!

Tips

Although, registering with the site is optional, it provides students with many more options when it comes to customizing their Voki. When they have an account, they can visit the “My Voki” tab to revisit their past characters and send them on to teachers and friends as well as edit them.

Voki Classroom is a resource specially made for teachers. Registering for this service allows educators to manage their students’ creations, review students’ Vokis, showcase their students’ work and get support from a support team.

According to the user agreement, children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use the website. Elementary students would technically be unable to use the site within these parameters.

To hear from students and teachers that are using Voki and LOVING it, watch here...  Or   here!  

For Teachers

Vokis may be used in the classroom in a variety of ways:

• Teachers may introduce lessons by sharing content material or activity instructions through a created Voki. Students may find this more interesting than merely hearing the teacher instruct them.  The example given below, Abraham Lincoln, was created to give a brief overview from Abraham Lincoln himself rather than just reading from a text book.