How+to+create+speaking+characters+using+Voki

Year: 2014
= What is Voki? =
 * Voki is an educational tool that allows users to create their very own talking character. Voki is created by Oddcast and is located in New York City. **
 * Voki characters can be customized to look like historical figures, cartoons, animals, and even yourself! Give your Voki a voice by recording with a microphone, using our dial-in number, or uploading an audio file. Voki characters can be emailed, shared on social media, and embedded on websites! **
 * Voki is a combination of the words “vox” and “Loki”. “Vox” is the Latin term for voice. Loki is a Norse god from Norse mythology. Loki is a trickster who has the ability to change his shape. Fitting name since Voki gives students and teachers the ability to change the character’s appearance and add a voice! **
 * Will Voki always be free? **
 * Yes, basic Voki will always be free for all educators and students! You can create unlimited Voki characters on your account. Basic Voki users have access to basic Voki characters. Characters with a banner notification are Voki Classroom characters. They are only available to Voki Classroom subscribers. **
 * What is Voki Classroom? **
 * Voki Classroom is a student assignment management system for Voki. With Voki Classroom, teachers are able to control their students’ privacy settings. **

=** How to use it **=


 * 1. Go to @www.voki.com and click on "GET STARTED." **




 * 2. Sign up by clicking on " Get Voki FREE." **
 * 3. Go to "Create a new voki" **




 * 4. You can now start customizing your character. You can choose the Character Style; change the look, clothing and accessories; voice: you can add your own voice via phone, microphone, text to speech or upload a file and you can choose a background from the library or upload your own. **




 * 5. If you click on "Customize your character" you'll find what is on the next screenshot. You can scroll down to choose more characters. Once you have chosen one, you just have to click on it and you'll see it on the left. You have to do the same to select the clothing and accessories. **


 * 6. You can also change the colour of the mouth, make-up, eyes, etc and you can decide upon the width of their facial features. Onche you have finished click "Done." **




 * 7. You can now move onto "give it a voice." The first picture allows you to record it by phone. The second one allows you to transform text to speech. The third one is to record it using a microphone and the last one allows you to upload an audio file. **




 * If you select to transform text to speech, you'll see the following: **




 * You can even choose the accent for your character and add sound effects. **


 * 8. Then you can select the backgrounds you want to have. By clicking on "players" you can choose the theme. **




 * 9. Click on "publish" to save your avatar. You can share it, send it to a friend or get a permanent link to see it. You can also copy a code to paste it in a website or blog. **



Activity: create your own fictional character

 * Level: beginners **
 * Age: 8-11 **
 * This activity can be used for Halloween or after reading a horror story. **


 * 1. Students will create a fictional character and give it a name. **
 * 2. They'll customize it and select the background and theme. **
 * 3.They will have to write text and transform it into speech. The text should be about the characters introducing themselves. They'll have a model text as a guide (teachers can adapt the text according to the content that has been dealt with in class) e.g. **
 * //"My name is Agatha. I'm a witch. I'm 110 years old. I can fly with my broom. I like eating kids for dinner.// " **
 * 4. Students will send the code of the avatar to the teacher. **
 * 5. The teacher will create a blog where she will paste all the characters students have created. **


 * Evaluation criteria: **
 * ** Use of the web tool and creativity. Explore deeply into the tools oferred by voki. **
 * ** Correct use of grammar and vocabulary **
 * ** Deadlines **
 * ** Content creativity **