We wanted to write an intro for Lisa Nielsen, writer and educator, but she kindly went ahead and wrote a better intro than we could ever come up with. So, without further ado, take it away, Lisa!

Lisa Nielsen
I am the author of The Innovative Educator blog (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com) and the upcoming book, Teaching Generation Text which focuses on using basic voice and text enabled cell phones in education to bridge the digital divide. I have more than a decade’s worth of experience in working to help New York City school’s educate innovatively.

Goals
My goal with using Voki is to give every student a voice and a face in a fun and engaging way even if they only have access to a phone.

How I use Voki

Voki is a great tool that allows the 21st century student to capture, publish, celebrate and converse about any topic or subject.  I love helping innovative educators use Voki.  Here are some of the things they are doing.

• Students can use Voki in the revision process of their writing by recording a Voki to make sure it sounds right. If it doesn’t, simply revise and re-record.
• During publishing parties some students are uncomfortable reading their work. Thanks to Voki they can present their work without embarrassment.
• English and Foreign language Learners can use Voki by recording themselves saying dialogue or reading a passage.  Listening to the Voki enables them to hear how they sound and work on fluency.

Some of my favorite things about Voki:

• It enables students who might not be proficient at writing to tell their story or share their message.
• It enables students to publish to an authentic audience in a format where others can comment and keep the conversation going.
• It gives a voice to a student who might not feel comfortable speaking publicly.

What would I add to the Voki product?
The ability to add your own Avatar either your photo or drawing.

My favorite Voki trick
Set up pages at the end of units of study where students can share one great thing they learned. This creates a page of our learning which serves as a great reflective tool.  I also suggest inviting parents, family members and others in the school to community to leave Voki comments for students.

Check out Lisa’s blog: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/

Follow Lisa at: http://twitter.com/InnovativeEdu

Want to be interviewed for this section? Send us a note and a link to your blog/ twitter at submit@voki.com.