Home-Voki

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Using Voki in the classroom:

 * Voki offers a variety of "voices" that students can access. In the Spanish classroom, my students can type in text (in Spanish) and give the text a voice--with a variety of Spanish accents reflecting the multiple regions where Spanish is spoken. I can use this to help them become comfortable with the language before creating their own.
 * I can also implement Voki in any level classroom by having students record their own voices. I can then grade their pronunciation, or I can have them listen and evaluate their pronunciation--perhaps comparing their recording to a native speaker saying the same thing. I can use this to help students analyze and improve their pronunciation ability. This could be a benchmark throughout the course of a year, or of their high school Spanish career. The Voki recordings can document their progress in the language. The students and I should both be able to hear changes/improvements.
 * Voki offers opportunities for higher level Spanish students to analyze spoken Spanish by region, noting differences in pronunciation, speech patterns, etc. This will help the students to develop the ability to listen to Spanish from a variety of sources, because they'll have more experience recognizing language differences and adjusting their listening expectations to it. For example, some countries tend to drop the final consonant from words in certain situations, and other countries have a unique sound for certain letters of the alphabet. Recognizing this early will help them avoid confusion while listening.
 * There is also potential to use the Voki as an instrument of the "flipped classroom"--I can have prerecorded mini-lessons available for students to consult outside of class (on my wiki), therefore using class time for review and practice, or for expansion of a topic.
 * Voki has great potential for special needs students, especially those who find speech difficult, or those who are nonverbal. Through Voki, students can give a voice to their Spanish language learning. One student this past year in Spanish IV struggled to speak because of cerebral palsy. It often took him several minutes to form what he was trying to say. With Voki, he could prerecord his words in a comfortable environment, thus preventing stress. Or, he could use the typing option to put his words in the voice of someone else.
 * Often in Spanish V my students create a sequel, an alternate ending, or a parallel story to a passage of literature that they read at home or in class. I could incorpoate Voki as a way for them to share their writings--rather than simply reading them in class. This would also give them practice in pronunciation.