Accessing Voki and exploring its' features, I was highly amused at being able to create and edit 'My Voki' with a few clicks of the mouse. Straight away, the possibility of using Voki as a way to engage students or as a 'hook' at the beginning of a unit of work or learning experience became obvious. The use of Voki by students may also be a possibility as an interactive literacy task as students are able to hear what they write.
There is no doubt the 'voki' has the potential to engage the students. I believe, however , its usefulness would diminsh as the learners' ages and level increased. Whilst it does have the facility to incorporate aspects of sound pedagogy, its real value is in its ability to (hopefully)'hook' the learner and then have their learning enhanced by a 'meatier', less gimmicky tool.
ReplyDeleteI support this in that learning managers need to look at ICT tools as a way in which to enhance student's learning rather than just for the sake of it. As an engagement tool, this technology would be greatly effective. If this takes away from the learning or the experiences however, another 'hook' may need to be considered.
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