Voki in the K-12 Classroom

As part of my research into Web 2.0 resources for possible use in our school district, today I looked into Voki, a website which allows users to create talking avatars. There are many options for creating the avatars, ranging from realistic looking people to fanciful animals. The speech of the avatars can be typed speech that is then spoken by a computerized voice, or it can be the recorded speech of a live person. Voki also has a portal aimed specifically at using the tools in education.

The tools for creating the avatar are quite intuitive. In about half an hour today, I was able to create the Voki you see below. (It would have taken far less time if I had not cared so much about my wardrobe and hair color!) I played with the computer generated voices, but in the end decided to record the Voki's message in my own voice. Take a listen, then read on for more on Voki, because I have some questions and resources for you!

I had fun making my Voki! :-)

How Are You Using Voki?

If you are experienced in using Voki with students, I would appreciate your responses to any or all of the questions below in the comments section of this blog:

• Do you just have the students create Vokis without creating an account on the site, and then immediately copy the link or embed code to access the Voki later?
• Do you allow students to create their own Voki accounts and save their own avatars? Or do you create a master account for yourself or the class and let the students save all of the avatars under that account?
• Voki's Terms of Service allow users under 13 to use the site with parental consent. Do you get signed permission from parents for students under 13 to use Voki or do you simply act "in loco parentis" and oversee the students' accounts? Do you have different policies for students who are 13 and older?
• Do you have examples of ways you have used Voki for teaching and learning? If so, please share! If any of your Vokis or Vokis your students have created are posted somewhere on the web, please provide a link!

More Ideas for Using Voki in Teaching and Learning

If you would like to explore using Voki with your students or would like more ideas for how to use Voki, here are some resources I have found:

• Podcasting in the Classroom with Voki
• Create Personalized Speaking Avatars with the New Voki for Education
• Voki Creates Ad Free Site for Education...Plus 20 Ways to Use Talking Avatars
• Voki Lesson Plan Database
• Voki Teacher's Corner - Discussion Boards for Sharing Ideas and Getting Your Questions Answered About Using Voki in Education

And last but not least, K-6 technology teacher and integration specialist Mary Beth Hertz shares how she used Voki with her 6th grade students:

Please don't forget to share how you approach Voki account management and use Voki with your students! Thanks in advance for contributing to the learning!!

Do You Use Animoto With Students Under 13 Years Old?

Photo Courtesy of MorgueFile User mzacha
http://mrg.bz/mQL8bg

There is no doubt that multimedia creation is an engaging activity for students who have grown up in a world saturated with video games, MP3 players, and videos and music everywhere they turn on the Internet. I am researching a few Web 2.0 tools that teachers in my district want to use with students. One of them is Animoto, a multimedia video creation tool. I've read a great deal about Animoto in the past couple of years and even seen presentations on its use at education conferences. I must admit, I've never used it myself, but the videos created with it are pretty snazzy.

Part of my research into Animoto included looking at the site's Terms of Service. I could not get past this glaring detail as I thought about using the site with K-5 students (generally ages 5 - 11 in the US):

You must be 13 years of age or older to be a User of the Site. By continuing to use the Site, you are warranting that you are at least 13 years old and you have the authority to enter into these Terms of Service. If you do not agree with these Terms of Service, immediately stop using the Site.

There is not even a "with parental permission or consent" clause in Animoto's Terms of Service.

Since Animoto has an Animoto for Education site and I've seen the site recommended regularly at conferences and on edtech blogs and websites I read, I thought surely there might be an exception for the education focused branch of the service. But, when I searched the help forums, I found out quite the opposite was true. You can read for yourself the answers to these two questions from the Animoto forums, which confirm that Animoto's policy applies even to education use:

• Can I use Animoto with under 13 years old students? - May 6, 2011
• I am a teacher wanting to register students younger than 13. Do I use their real names and ages? - June 11, 2010

So, what are your school's or district's policies on the use of Animoto, or really any web tool, that according to the site's Terms of Service should not be used with children under 13 years old? 

And if you do allow students under 13 to use such sites, how do you reconcile that decision with the fact that you expect students and teachers to follow your own district policies, whether they be technology acceptable use policies or general school/district rules and policies? 

Please post your answers in the comments. I look forward to the conversation!

NOTE: You can post a comment anonymously if you have used Animoto with students under 13 and want to share your thoughts on it but don't want to identify yourself.

Successes & Challenges of a Bring Your Own Device Initiative

Photo Courtesy of User Denharsh on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/denharsh/5436123852/

Today at ESC Region XIII's ViTaL (Visionaries in Technology and Learning) spring meeting, Joe Griffin, Executive Director of Technology for Keller ISD, spoke about Keller's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Initiative. Even though he feels like his district isn't very far into this, it sounded to me like they've hit the ground running!

With budget cuts looming/towering/impending over public education in Texas, we need to start getting creative to get more technology learning devices into the hands of teachers and students. I enjoyed Joe's presentation and learned a great deal from it. I thought others could glean from Keller's experiences, too, so I am posting my notes from his presentation below.

Thanks to @cteitelman for arranging to have Joe speak to us today!

Keller ISD Website

http://www.kellerisd.net/Pages/default.aspx

Everyone has to be invested and involved for the initiative to succeed.

Started initially with Verizon wireless devices in a 5^th grade classroom. Whole district now has wireless access capability.

Most of the content used in BYOD is web based or web enabled so students access content as if they were at home via internet.

Two vlans – one for teachers and one for students.

Next year going to use authentication so they can log in through LDAP and access network resources.

Before rolling out BYOD they revised their AUP. Had teachers involved. Whole model of instruction had to change.

Biggest challenge for instruction is multiple types of devices that the students bring.

No teacher is required to participate. Teacher has final decision making authority as to whether or not they will use devices in their classrooms.

Timberview Middle School – open concept school built with teaching collaboratively in mind. One challenge is what do they do with devices so they aren’t stolen? Parents sign a release, but still expect school to do things to prevent theft. They have had to make arrangements for device storage when students go to PE, electives, etc.

Timberview Website

http://campus.kellerisd.net/SCHOOLS/TMS-046/Pages/default.aspx

When they first started BYOD at Timberview, they did not involve parents enough. You need a good strong philosophy and have parents engaged in the initiative from the start. Parents wished they had known before school started exactly the types of activities teachers would be doing with the devices. There was a misconception that the students would just be doing a lot of texting. Bring parents in early – PTA and maybe some others involved in school. Be transparent. Let parents know when you are working through issues. Let them know everything  students access through district wireless goes through their filtered proxy.

Cell phones are not filtered if they are using their cell service. This is incorporated through the AUP – teachers spent a lot of time going over the AUP and making students aware they are responsible for the content they access whether via school wireless or via their own cell signal.

AUP: Overarching philosophy that technology will be used to empower. Up until now, students were not allowed to use cell phones at school at all. Not all Keller schools are choosing to participate in bring your own device at this time.

AUP will be posted on their website in the next two weeks. Looked at Columbine as one of their models.

Start small – start with a campus and teachers that are instructionally strong and willing to take risks because it is not going to go smoothly.

Five other campuses have adopted the model in addition to Timberview. Seems to work best at middle school and high school.

Philosophy cannot be “everyone doing the same thing at the same time”. Research and inquiry seems to work well. Skill and drill does not work as well.

Keller ISD would like to create a group in Project Share with other districts who are doing BYOD in order to share ideas.

Worked with Keller ISD Education Foundation to get MyFi cards for students to check out and use at home if they do not have Internet access.

Because students are using district wireless, they should not incur additional data plan charges.

Keller just signed an agreement with Dell on a BYOD initiative. Some campuses will have optional bundled lists of technology that students can purchase from Dell on payment plans.

Keller ISD Technology Initiatives

http://www.kellerisd.net/community/technology/Pages/default.aspx

NOTE: If you were interested in this post, you might also be interested in my February 8, 2011 post Bring Your Own Devices - How Do You Do It or How Do You Get There?

AUP/Policy Discussion

Notes from Edubloggercon breakout session at TCEA 2011

Scott Floyd
White Oak ISD

• Student AUP
• Open wireless
• Students are allowed to bring their own devices and use guest wireless
• AUP applies whether students are on district computers or their own devices
• Being too specific in an AUP can cause problems in the end. What is the next Facebook, Twitter, etc.?
• Better to build a policy around doing the right thing.
• Students should bring tools if it fits their learning style and the class they are in, but are not required to bring their own devices
• District computers provided to the "have nots". Netbooks with DeepFreeze and SD cards for local saving (instead of Thawspace) so students can take the computers home when needed
• Bandwidth use went down when social networking was opened up b/c people were no longer using proxies to get around the filter

How to get started?

• In a large district, start with a pilot at one campus.

Questions/Thoughts/Ideas/General Notes

• What about FERPA? Use anonymous student accounts (Ex: Glogster, Voice Thread, Kid Blogs, etc) or use filtered/managed accounts.
• Teaching accountablility has to start with teachers when you begin to open these tools up.
• Have a plan! Teach how to use iPods, cellphones, etc without them becoming a distraction or discipline issue. They need strategies because this is a new pedagogy.
• Set an expectation that the students and teachers will use technology responsibly
• Bud Hunt from Colorado - http://budtheteacher.com/blog/2009/10/03/would-you-please-block/
• What about CIPA? It is very specific and is usually interpreted too strictly.
• A district committee with instructional tech, admins, technology staff to decide blocking policy might be beneficial for creating filtering policy

How to make things better?

• Get your site based committee involved. Have a plan and present it to administration. Be the pilot campus!
• Get an audience with leadership above the campus level.
• Share the ISTE Nets with them to start - national technology standards for our kids!
• Point out what the TEKS say - are the policies you have in place hindering the coverage of the TEKS?
• Tie the need for improvement to mission statements - empowering students, educating global learners, etc.