Voki is an online, educational, management tool that enables teachers and students to use speaking animated characters to enhance their learning experience. As a teacher, we can create videos to explain topics, give instructions and assignments in an engaging way to capture students' attention and add fun to the classroom.
Voki can be utilised effectively at any grade level.
You can convert text to 25 different languages.
Students can practise and enhance their speaking skills through Voki.
Each student should be able to succeed with this tool because it is non-threatening and speaks for them. In this sense, they will not feel exposed, so their affective filter will be low.
Students may get bored of the app if the teacher does not apply different strategies and lesson plans to change the experience over time.
There’s free access but it’s quite limited to use. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay a monthly or annual subscription.
You have only 30 seconds for giving instructions through the video for the unpaid version.
According to Erin S (2022), writer and editor, “Voki gives homework assignments a twist, but it doesn't replace true teacher-student communication. The experience doesn't change much over time, so you may need to provide diverse assignments so it doesn't feel stale.”
Joel S (n.d), a Technology Specialist at Village East Elementary says: “Voki takes creating avatars to the next level. Not only can students customise how their avatar looks, but they can also make it talk! Using the text-to-speech feature also helps students see the importance of spelling and grammar when communicating online. It's well worth spending the $40 for a subscription, since it's good for two years. Managing lessons and activities is a little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's relatively easy. And the paid version allows teachers to review every project students create before allowing it to be published online.”
Crissy W (2015) states: “This is a great resource to use for creativity and digital story telling. Students get to create a character of any type (animal, person, object, etc.). Then, they can have the character speak for them. The students can type in what they want the character to say even changing the speed, pitch, sound, etc. of the voice. The character "comes alive". Students become very engaged with it.” (W.C 2015)
Rachel M., a teacher at Bronx Leadership Academy High School says: “Voki is a great way to get students talking in a world languages classroom. Especially early in the school year, creating an Avatar and making it speak really helps to get students out of their shell. I found that it did take a REALLY long time, however, to enter student names into the roster so that they can all have accounts in my virtual classroom. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to import preexisting lists.” (M, 2015)
Log in using an email account
Choose from the different feature to create a avatar
Write the message you want to record and choose your favourite voice. Next, press Save.
Now you're ready to use your avatar and record yourself!
Watch this tutorial on Youtube to learn more!
References
Erin, E. B. (2022, August 24). Voki Review for Teachers | Common Sense Education. Common Sense Education. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/voki
M, R. M. (2015). Community Review of Voki | Common Sense Education. Common Sense Education. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/voki/teacher-reviews/4050796
S, J. (n.d.). Community Review of Voki | Common Sense Education. Common Sense Education. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/voki/teacher-reviews/3962976
W, C. (2015). Community Review of Voki | Common Sense Education. Common Sense Education. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/voki/teacher-reviews/4038181