Category: Guest Bloggers

Interview with Educators | Angelyn Cheatham

Interview with Educators | Angelyn Cheatham

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It’s been a while since we had an interview with a teacher! This week we are featuring Angelyn Cheatham and her favorite Vokis! Angelyn is an elementary technology integration specialist for Garland ISD in Texas. She trains teachers and students on how to use technology tools.

Here are some of the reasons why Angelyn loves Voki:

  1. Engaging for students to use
  2. Safe way to publish student work without identifying faces
  3. Allow students to communicate their messages
  4. Can be integrated into any subject areas
  5. Intuitive for even the youngest students

If you can’t view Angelyn’s Prezi here, click the picture below to open the link!

angel

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Angelyn runs a technology blog: Great ‘Tech’pectations.

Follow Angelyn on Twitter: @AngelynCheatham

Want to be interviewed for the Voki blog? Send us an email at submit@voki.com and we’ll get in touch!

Until next time,

The Voki Team

Guest Blogger: Karen Nemeth – Digital Storytelling

Guest Blogger: Karen Nemeth – Digital Storytelling

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By Karen Nemeth

www.ecetech.net

Have you ever read a word and assumed it was pronounced one way, and then you finally heard someone say the word and pronounce it differently? Then you realize you’ve been hearing it incorrectly in your head?  When you read, it would be easy to think that though and through rhyme, but if that’s what you thought, then when your teacher asks you to write down another word for ‘toss’, you might write “through” instead of “throw”.   Oral language is a very important component of early literacy.  Young children need to say words and hear word sounds to build their vocabulary and to create a foundation for reading and writing.  Technology can play a key role in supporting the connection between oral language and written language.  That’s why voice recording and digital story-telling programs can be valuable tools for early literacy education.  With fun and engaging activities, some serious learning can actually be taking place.

With digital storytelling, children can create their own stories and images and they can record their own voice saying the words.  Think of this as an enhancement of the traditional preschool or kindergarten learning activity when a teacher reads a story to the children then asks them to retell the story in their own words.  With a program such as Voki, children have to think ahead about what they will say and how they want to illustrate it.  They have to practice pronouncing the words and then hearing them back as they play their recorded messages. That’s great oral language practice!.

Now consider how this activity could be a great support for young children who are just beginning to learn English as a new language.  Children who are learning a second language can often be shy or embarrassed about pronouncing the new words.  Rather than asking them to speak aloud in front of the whole class, it’s a good idea to use an app or website that allows them to record their own voice and listen back to the recording to hear how they sound to others.  The teacher can even save the child’s recordings to document their progress.  Another great use of Voki would be to have a parent, volunteer or other staff member record or trade messages with the new dual language learner (DLL) in their home language.  What a welcoming and comforting experience that can be for a new DLL.

Language in the context of brief stories or meaningful interactions makes the strongest connections in a child’s brain.  Rather than have the child practice with random vocabulary words, consider having them record Voki messages that will serve a purpose.  Can they record a message to be shared with their parents?  Can they record a message describing a pattern of beads for stringing and then share with a friend to see if they can duplicate the pattern?   Can they record clues for a treasure hunt? Or can they let the pre- recorded message on Voki become part of a   pretend play scheme?  The possibilities are endless and the value of supporting oral language practices to support literacy and reading success is limitless!

These ideas and more can be found in my book, Digital Decisions: Choosing the Right Technology Tools for Early Childhood Education.  You can share your teaching ideas on the Voki.com website.

Karen Nemeth is the author, with Fran Simon, of Digital Decisions: Choosing the Right Technology Tools for Early Childhood Education.  Karen and Fran share lots of related resources on their website www.ecetech.net.  Karen is also a nationally known speaker and author on teaching young children who are dual language learners. 

Guest Blogger: Mandy Nelson

Guest Blogger: Mandy Nelson

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Dear Educators,

I want to share a lesson that a 1st grade teacher and I did a little before Halloween last year. It worked quite well. As part of her curriculum, Mrs. Stasys gave students a binder that included poems that they would read throughout the year. They gathered together on the rug once a day and read the chosen poem aloud.  For this poem they read it to the tune of The Itsy Bitsy Spider. They read the poem together every day for one week to hone their fluency and expression skills.  Once their week of practice was up we took them to the computer lab to design their Voki character.  They could choose to represent themselves any way they wanted.  Some chose to make an exact cartoon replica of themselves, while others designed dogs, pumpkins, monsters and one student even chose a Santa Claus avatar!  Since the image has no effect on their fluency we decided to let them have free reign.  I would advise you to do the same since it helps them feel more ownership over the final product. The following day Mrs. Stasys stayed in the classroom and sent down students to the computer lab in groups of three.  Using Firefox and Voki we recorded each student saying their poem.  (If you do not have an extra adult who can assist you could always do this during reading centers.  It may take several days to get them all recorded but it can be done!)

The kids loved this lesson and we got a kick out of listening to them practice their poems over and over so they could record it just right.  By the end of the project our students were reading in a much more natural, fluent way with great expression.  Even those who usually really struggle with reading and get frustrated were motivated and showed improvement over the duration of the assignment.  Once they were recorded, we embedded their Vokis into my website and parents were given the link to listen to at home.  They were also able forward the link to grandparents and other family members.  The students loved their final products and were proud to show them off.

For our step-by-step lesson plan visit my site and click on the Voki link.  Click here for the finished student products.  To save yourself some time feel free to use these videos I made to teach students how to make their Vokis:  Video 1,  Video 2.  On an aside, another 1st grade class used Vokis for the students to report three important facts about a research topic of their choosing.  Click here for the final products.

Enjoy and let me know how it goes!

-Mandy

Mandy Nelson is a K-4 Technology Integration Specialist in River Forest, IL, near Chicago.  She is always looking for ways to partner with other teachers across the world so email her at nelsonm@district90.org if you would like to collaborate.   

Guest Blogger: Lynda Hall – Engaging Today’s Students with Voki

Guest Blogger: Lynda Hall – Engaging Today’s Students with Voki

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Student engagement can be an elusive entity for today’s educators.  There are many possible causes for learner apathy which range from boredom to socio-economic issues to a lack of ability.  The goal for educators is to find resources that inspire students to actively participate in their learning.  One such resource is Voki – a speaking avatar web tool.  Even the most reluctant learners embrace Voki as it gives them the opportunity to express themselves without the need of standing in front of their peers – a very terrifying experience for some.  From an educational standpoint, Voki provides all students with an equal opportunity to earn the best grade possible!

But who is really best suited to explain the educational benefits of Voki?  The students, of course!  Below are some student testimonials that will further highlight the educational benefits of Voki.

  • “I liked it because it was a unique and fun way to introduce yourself to your class and your website.  You could also customize your Voki differently than what you look like … You can have fun!” – Sydney
  • “It is good for Grade 8 introductions.  Students can find things out about their classmates without the stress of being in front of the class.” – Noah
  • “I think it’s a good tool because you can use it to present a project or a speech with it.” – Chase
  • “It’s fun to use and it could be helpful in other ways such as sending it to a family member for their birthday, etc.” – Keisha
  • “I like Voki because you get to know more about your classmates.  It’s fun, new and a good way to start the year.” – Lizzy
  • “I liked it because we can express our creativity and get to know others.” – Shaelyn
  • “It is good for auditory learners.” – Heidi
  • “If you weren’t comfortable with speaking in front of the class, you could use Voki to speak instead.” – Sarah

As you can see, Voki is a fun and engaging web tool that motivates students to creatively share their knowledge.  If you haven’t yet, I strongly encourage you to give it a try!

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Lynda Hall is a teacher and a technology coordinator.

She runs a technology blog: The De-Tech-tive 4 Teachers

Follow Lynda on Twitter: @MsLHall

Guest Blogger: Barbara Jolie – Ways to use Voki in Higher Education

Guest Blogger: Barbara Jolie – Ways to use Voki in Higher Education

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Voki’s speaking avatars add a creative and personal element to any classroom, and they are especially effective in connecting participants of online courses. Vokis are also perfect for communications courses that focus on speech and language.

Connecting in the Virtual Classroom

Students of online courses may feel disconnected from professors who only communicate via chat or e-mail. Speaking avatars are being used by online instructors to introduce themselves in more personalized and engaging ways.

Similarly, students can create avatars to introduce themselves to professors and classmates in an icebreaking routine. This works well for those students who are uncomfortable with video chat, and it also allows everyone to share elements of their personalities through the fun visual elements.

Sharing Updates and Announcements

In addition to using a Voki for a preliminary introduction, professors can use these speaking avatars to make announcements or pose weekly questions. Professors can record their own voices to promote further personalized engagement.

Communications Courses

Vokis focus largely on speech, making it the perfect learning tool for speech and language classes.

  • Foreign Language Course– Professors can use Vokis to record a number of phrases. By posting them to a project management system (such as Blackboard), students would be able to access the phrases at any time. Students can also use the Voki to record their own phrases or short responses to a question posed by a Professor.
    • Lesson Idea: Play a storytelling game where the professor begins with a 60 second premise. In a predetermined sequence, each student must respond to the story of the preceding student (as told by Vokis). The end result will be a long story, full of twists and turns and all the humor of mistakes. Students should be encouraged to respond quickly and creatively. The goal is to communicate confidently and effectively in the moment – which doesn’t always require perfect grammar.

 

  • Communications/Speech Courses– Using a series of recordings invoking tone, inflection, pace and other elements of speech; students can develop their best speaking voices and share the results with professors and classmates.
    • Lesson Idea: Ask students to create an avatar that represents a famous celebrity or politician (historical figures are okay). Students can then use voice imitation to create a cartoon version of the figure. This will allow students to have fun while studying voice patterns.

 

  • Radio Broadcasting– Radio broadcasting students have the unique challenge of establishing a great speaking voice as well as an on-air persona. Broadcasting students can use Voki to create engaging representations of on-air exchanges that can be shared with classmates and professors.
    • Lesson Idea: Students will create a one-minute recording to align with his or her own radio personality. The avatar, the voice and the material will work together to create a realized character. The goal is to teach students how to purposefully meld voice and content to create a public personality.  Classmates can vote on the most successful “virtual hosts.”

 

Barbara Jolie is a full time freelance writer and blogger. She writes about advantages of online classes and is particularly interested in writing and language education. If you have any questions email Barbara at barbara.jolie876@gmail.com.

Voki for Learner-Center Design

Voki for Learner-Center Design

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Voki Interview with Educators

 Houston Community College, Teaching & Learning Resources

HCC Model Courses Use Voki for Learner-Centered Design

Article by Wendy Maboudian, Ed.D. Instructional Designer, TLR

Houston Community College, 4th largest in the community college nation, is a learner-centered institution. The HCC Teaching & Learning Excellence program systematically supports faculty teams in  building online model courses for all faculty to use. These model courses are learner-centered in many ways to engage learners, including the use of Voki avatars.

Our uses of Voki avatars are learner-centered because they guide students to become stronger learners (see Neal Tannihill’s use of Voki below), they create real-world scenarios, and they provide engaging learning moments. They’re fun! Here are samples of how Voki made a difference for some of our model courses.

(Quick note: Our courses are in Moodle 1.9; we’ve used Labels, Book, Quiz, and the Forum tools to deliver the Voki avatars. We include written script for ADA compliance. Because the courses are models that faculty may want to change, we used the automated voices [mostly Paul and Julie]. But the audio upload and the Voki recording capability are also awesome!)

See for yourself…

Teaching Assistant: In Government 2302, Dr. Neal Tannihill created Avi, the Teaching Assistant. Avi was developed to welcome, guide, encourage and give advice on study skills. The first time the students meet Avi, he doesn’t give a list of to-do’s, but instead inspires them to succeed. (Nationally, 50% of community college students drop out before their second year, so it’s important to engage and support student success. Instead of a list of links, they first hear Avi encourage them.)

Our learner-centered design keeps the student in mind. Assessing what the students most often ask in his classes, Dr. Neal Tannihill (Avi’s author) designed avatar students to prompt Avi’s advice. Avi is always polite, calls them by name, often generalizes to include all students, and gives great study tips.

Avi gives the student study tips and responds to concerns.

A student asks Avi an important question that many students wonder in classes, but may be afraid to ask. She asks if she has to read everything in the course.…***

Avi answers the student, explaining how the course works.…***

Avatar student, Chris may speak for other students. Chris bombed a test. Who knows if this scenario might change a student’s life decision to stay in school.

Avi keeps student, Chris, from dropping out… and gives a study tip. How effective is Avi? Very!

Avi guides students on what to do. Avi may get to answer student posts! Cool!

Guide for the course journey: Dr. Cammy Shay, well-grounded in engaging students, used a small-sized avatar, Sam, to guide to deliver an introductory lecturette in the model course topics throughout the students’ journey. Try this one out. Doesn’t it make you want to learn more? Dr. Shay selected blue jeans, shades, and the capitol background to set the tone.

Discussing norms for each stage of life, Dr. Jane Cirillo and Dr. Irv Lichtman add humor with an older Voki avatar couple, Norm and his doctor wife, Norma. Voki gives us neat options to age, add weight and height, and change clothes. Here is an example where Norm and Norma discuss aging.

Norm states his observation and opinion….

Norma answers with her logical fact-based explanation….

Create a scenario: Drs. Susan Grigsby and Mahtash Moussavi wanted real-world experiences in their online class. To design scenarios in the model course for nutrition, the students become intern nutritionists. In the clinic, avatar – Nurse Tara – guides them. The students ask the avatar patient questions using a script and then click the Voki to hear the answers. The student then filters out the conversational comments to fill in the clinical questionnaire. Below you can hear samples of Nurse Tara and two of patient answers. See how Nurse Tara takes the student through the assignment of a virtual intern. (Each rendition of Nurse Tara is in a different location in the scenario as the students work.)

Tara greets the students. She praises them for being on time.

Nurse Tara directs students to go see the patient….

Nurse Tara reminds the students that they are making a difference for the patient.

This patient is asked to describe what she eats. There’s humor in her answer.

This patient also describes her diet, which is different. She has diabetes and wants to control her blood glucose. The student-dietician will develop a diet recommendation for her.

You can even partner with an avatar team member instead of giving an assignment in which the learner is given links to write a short paper on child hunger. The assignment is set in the context of contributing to a special council and is assigned a partner to help. On the next page, the partner is an avatar whose share of the work is actually what the student would have been given anyway. The student learns about team roles and child hunger.

The avatars in our model courses engage and promote confidence and a perception of warmth in the course. They help students know what to do, encourage them to stay, help them practice in scenarios, advise them, and offer nuggets of info that are memorable. Does this support student success in our online model courses? (For more on Learner-Centered design, visit http://hccs.edu/tle)

***We’ve been working with around five Voki classic avatars to build our characters. Great news! Just went to the Voki site last night and saw that the wonderful follks who give educators Voki have supplied more classic Voki’s.

Educators in Texas Work to Improve Student Writing Skills with Voki

Educators in Texas Work to Improve Student Writing Skills with Voki

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Last week, when we came across a video of students using Voki to edit their writing, we had to find out who was behind the great production, interesting lesson, and big smiles found on every student’s face. The search led us to Chase Young, a second grade teacher, and Lynda Swanner, the language arts coordinator for McKinney ISD.  Chase and Lynda are from McKinney, Texas  and have worked together to create interactive and informative environments for students to develop as confident writers. We got in touch with Chase to find out more about how he uses Voki to motivate and improve literacy and he was more than happy to share his and Lynda’s tricks of the trade. Check out the great ideas below!

Conferring with an Avatar

Teachers can use this 21st century method for proofreading when students do not read over, or are unaware of revision or editing needed in their stories. Lynda Swanner and I devised this strategy to motivate students to actively revise and edit their own writing. This strategy helps students discover what they need to revise and edit and also empowers student as writers. They become aware of their own problems in writing, and they can self-regulate the writing process. Students use this self-discovery strategy of revising and editing to privately critique their work before conferring with the teacher. Here are a few brief steps to get you started using this strategy.

1.  Students create an avatar using Voki.com. We suggest limiting the time because students and teachers could spend all day creating the perfect avatar.

2.  Students type a sentence, paragraph, or section of their stories into the Voki text box.

3.  Students listen to the speech and read along several times.

4.  Students make corrections.

Consider the following example. The student noted a lack of punctuation after conferring with an avatar.

Mr. Young:  What changes are you going to make?

Student:  I need more periods.

Mr. Young:  How do you know that?

Student:  …It wasn’t very good, because it went in one fast glob.

This next example shows how a student caught a spelling error from listening to the avatar.

Mr. Young:  What changes did you make?

Student:  I needed to fix some spelling errors.  I needed to spell “grabbed” correctly.

Mr. Young:  How did you know it was spelled wrong?

Student:  It sounded wrong.

Mr. Young:  Do you remember how the avatar said it?

Student:  “grabed” (Student uses a long a sound.)

Mr. Young:  We know that you have to do WHAT to the consonant?

Student:  Double it!

Based upon the avatar’s rendering, students were able to reflect and make changes to their work without teacher direction.

*The full chapter is currently being published by Corwin Press and will available soon in Writing Strategies for All Students in Grades 4-6: Scaffolding Independent Writing Through Differentiated Mini-Lessons.

Chase Young is a second grade teacher in McKinney, TX. He holds a MS Ed with a specialization in literacy. He is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of North Texas. He has written for the Reading Teacher and Education Review, published a book entitled Teaching Texas History through Readers Theatre, and contributed several chapters to educational books.  When he is not teaching, studying, or writing, he is wondering where his free time goes. He enjoys playing the guitar, paintball, racquetball, grilling, concerts, billiards, pools, and golf carts (not to be confused with golfing).

Lynda Swanner has been a teacher, library media specialist, and literacy staff developer. She is currently the English Language Arts and Reading Coordinator in McKinney Independent School District in McKinney, Texas.  She coordinates the curriculum, instruction, and assessments for all elementary teachers in the district.  She is also a literacy consultant for many Texas school districts.  Over the years, she has presented many workshops that integrate technology and literacy for the International Society for Technology in Education.

If you would like to share your tips and tricks on our blog, please email us at submit@voki.com. We always love to hear how Voki is being used to enhance students’ experiences in the classroom!

Voki in the Languages Classroom

Voki in the Languages Classroom

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José Picardo

The ability to speak the foreign language in question can safely be described as the principal objective of learning foreign languages. However, it can often prove difficult to assess your pupils’ ability to speak the foreign language in the classroom, as time and numbers often conspire against us.

If you do find them time, for many pupils, speaking in the classroom involves being put in a very tricky spot. Not only do they have to say something of consequence in front of their teacher and fellow pupils, they also have to pronounce all those strange sounds correctly, while ensuring that they get the grammar right. Rather them than me!

As a foreign languages educator, Voki has provided me with a fantastic way to assess my pupils’ speaking ability, whilst providing them with a means to speak the language in a way they find both engaging and motivating, and that builds their confidence. Speaking in the foreign language is no longer stressful or fear-inducing, but rather an activity they look forward to.

Lesson planning with Voki

My pupils don’t use Voki in every lesson. Approximately once every half term, I plan a series of lessons that culminates in my pupils using Voki as a means of assessment. I generally follow this pattern:

  • Our first lesson in the sequence focuses on revising the appropriate vocabulary and/or grammatical structures. At the end of the lesson, I set a relevant writing task for homework, with the aim of basing our Vokis upon this task.
  • In subsequent lessons we develop the topic further and I return their exercise books with highlighted errors and corrections to their homework. You may prefer to do this digitally using blogs or wikis.
  • Eventually, I will take the class to an ICT room and set the speaking task, explaining very clearly what the expected outcome should be. As Voki is available online, the task can also be finished for homework.
  • Finally, I collect all the Vokis by email, import them into my own account and assess them. If you have your own classroom blog, you may want to publish your pupils’ Vokis in your blog for further peer-assessment, which your pupils could do by leaving comments for one another, as my pupils have done here in our blog.

Voki’s Advantages

As mentioned above, Voki can be accessed both at home and at school, facilitating the transition from teacher-centered, classroom-based learning to personalized learning in which the pupil begins to acquire individual responsibility.

Voki is a Web application, and the Web is where our pupils are spending more and more of their time. Voki is also inherently fun and engaging. All this serves a powerful motivator to our pupils and should not be disparaged.

Still, for me, one of the most striking and unexpected advantages of using Voki in the languages classroom is that it has made it possible for the quieter pupils to make their presence felt and be heard. In my experience, it has often been the case that it is indeed these pupils who have produced the most remarkable Vokis, often outshining their more lively and vociferous counterparts.

In addition to providing me with both a fantastic way to assess the speaking skill and with evidence of learning, all my pupils have gained confidence in their speaking ability as a result of using Voki in this way. Voki has catalyzed pupils’ interest in all things Web and has helped to increase my pupils’ self-assurance when it comes to speaking in a foreign language by allowing them to role-play and become someone else: a more confident self.

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José Picardo is Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Nottingham High School.

He also runs two popular blogs: Box of Tricks and JosePicardo.com.

Find José on Twitter: @josepicardo