Creating a Voki!

As part of the activities for Applying Digital Pedagogies 1, I created a Voki! I found this to be the most enjoyable program I have learnt about so far in this subject. There are so many possibilities! This is what I created:


Get a Voki now!



On reflection I realise that I should have checked if the Voki had an American accent first- a koala with an American accent is not very authentic!

In terms of learning design, I believe that Vokis are a good 'hook' to grab students' attention and engage them in the lesson. However, I believe that allowing them to create their own Vokis may also be a great learning tool in terms of the Learning Engagement Theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman 1999). For example, a year seven class may be split into pairs, and given the task of creating a Voki to teach students of the same age, from a sister school in America. They would have to research together in their pairs (Relate), create a Voki that explained the characteristics, breeding habits, habitats and threats to koalas in Australia (Create), and then of course send the Vokis off to a "sister school" in America (Kearsley & Shneiderman 1999).

I look forward to using Vokis in my classroom!



References:

Kearsely, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved March 30 2010 from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm