voki avatars

Voki Avatars: What are they?

Laurie E. JarvisInstructional Designer

659-4685Learning Technologies

laurie.jarvis@siast.sk.ca

Avatars1. What is an avatar?2. Have any of you thought about using one for

teaching? How might an avatar be useful for teaching?

Avatars - samples1. http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=691

0057&height=400&width=3002. http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=648

0273&height=400&width=3003. http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=210

9739&height=400&width=3004. http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=308

5940&height=400&width=300

Objectives

1. To create an avatar using the Voki online application

2. To learn some different ways to use an avatar for teaching and learning

Step 1• Go to the website http://www.voki.com/.• Use an email address and register yourself

(top right).

Step 2

• Click on the “CREATE” button (top left).

Step 3 • A window opens with buttons to create your

avatar.

Step 4 • “Start Customizing Your Character”

(Click on the first “head” button on the left).

• Note: Do not choose the characters with the grad cap as they are for the pay classroom version.

Step 5

• Choose “Male, Female or All” by clicking on the circle button.

• Slide the arrow button by clicking it to see different types of characters—Randoms, VIP, Politics, etc.

• Then click directly on the “photo” of the character you want.

Step 6

• Change how your character looks by sliding the “Tweak” buttons under the avatar for mouth, nose, body, height and width.

• There are also “Color” palette options for mouth, skin, eyes and hair to add diversity .

Step 7

• Follow similar steps for “Clothing” or to add “Bling”.

• Click the x button on the top right of the “Customize Your Character” menu (NOT your window).

Step 8 • “Give It A Voice” by clicking one of the

buttons to add voice by phone, microphone, text to speech or audio file upload.

• Note: Try the second button for text.

Step 8

• Type your text in the box.

• Choose the “Accent/Language”.

• Choose the type of “Voice”.

• Click the x button on the top right of the “Give It A Voice” menu (NOT your window).

Step 9

• Choose from “Backgrounds”.

• Note: Your own background image can be uploaded .

• Click the green DONE button on the bottom of the menu.

Step 10

• Note: There is an option to choose “Players” (skins), but you don’t have to.

• Click the “Publish” button to save your avatar.

Step 11 • “Name Your Scene” by typing

a Title in the pop-up box.• Click “SAVE”.

Step 12 • Select the player

size.• Use the embed code

if you know how to put it into a web page or site, or copy and paste the link where you want .

• You can paste into PowerPoint!

Email Avatar

• Email the avatar to yourself or someone else.

• Log off, and you can log in again to see your saved avatar or create more avatars.

QuestionsI hope you enjoyed making your avatar and considered how an avatar might be useful for:• introducing a lesson • a problem• role playing• simulation