Ah, the New Year and time for resolutions which inevitably have something to do with losing weight, exercising more, eating healthy etc. I say improve your image INSTANTLY and engage your students! What more could you want on just the second day of 2014? How do I do this? Use avatars in your on-line and in-person environments.
An avatar is a figure or character that you can create and customize the way you want. Using an avatar can convey the same old information in a jazzed up, visual way.There are many sites out there but one that was introduced to me in a teaching methods class awhile ago is http://www.voki.com. This site lets you create an avatar that can speak! Further it even can translate into a few languages. The basic site is free although even the more advanced version is only $24 for a year. While listening to an avatar (as compared to your own dulcet tones) is creative, realize more than 20 minutes of content by anyone can be… well… less than engaging. However, this is a fun way to present material that might otherwise not be listened to.
So give it a whirl and let me know if you like my new look for 2014. Created in only 3 minutes with no exercise, broccoli, or loss of productivity: http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9179432&height=267&width=200
SPARK 