Media and Digital Literacy students at Thurston High School in Redford, Michigan include students who range in ability from non-verbal students that receive special education services to advanced placement students with strong verbal and writing skills. Incorporating Voki as a teaching tool allows students of all abilities to have a “voice” for the assignment. Because Voki provides the option for students to deliver their message through writing or through speaking, it levels the playing field for all students.

Our Media and Digital Literacy classes spend a great deal of time analyzing elements of broadcast television as part of a larger news production unit. A highlight of the unit is to use Voki to create a political campaign advertisement. With the upcoming 2016 elections, students had the opportunity to analyze the front runners for the Republican and Democratic parties and then create their own political advertisement that would “air” on an upcoming local news broadcast.

For this assignment, students needed to create a professional looking avatar and write a 30-90 second political ad which demonstrated knowledge of research of campaign issues. I’ve included a few examples of student work below.

http://www.voki.com/site/pickup?scid=12707736&chsm=c23e617970f139e5a2713b7c930847d3

http://www.voki.com/site/pickup?scid=12682215&chsm=e939426918155b661127a427505990cb

http://www.voki.com/site/pickup?scid=12707630&chsm=d534f7486ae841f28acc2a56772f61a7

Kara Clayton has taught media and digital literacy courses for more than 20 years at Thurston High School in the South Redford School District just outside of Detroit, Michigan. She is thrilled to be a Voki Ambassador. She recently earned a Graduate Certificate in Digital Literacy from The University of Rhode Island Harrington School of Communication and will complete requirements for her Masters in Adult Education from the University of Rhode Island in December, 2016. Kara is a faculty member for the annual Summer Institute in Digital Literacy held in Providence, Rhode Island. She is the recipient of the National Council for teachers of English Media Literacy Award (2012), and the Michigan Youth Arts Touchstone Award (2012). Kara also served as a board member for the National Association of Media Literacy Education.