Voki is a fantastic digital education resource that can be used to create exciting activities, projects, and assignments. My students would love using this resource, especially in project-based learning, group, or student-centered activities. The first step would be selecting avatars, then creating a scenario or backstory for the characters. Once the creation of the character has been completed, students would add the voice with the audio feature. The text-to-speech options with make this resource more assessable for my younger students. A great feature that my students would love to explore and experiment with is having access to hundreds of voices in over 30 languages. This project's final steps would entail students creating possible backdrops or scenes and costume drawings. I also love the Voki Hangouts discussion platform; the teacher-created lesson section is a great addition. I cannot wait to use this resource in my visual arts classroom.
Fotobabble is a digital tool accessible on various devices that combines images with audio to tell a story or provide information. This resource would be a perfect addition to help make a self-portrait assignment more engaging. With parental permission, students would first sign up for a free account that asks for a username, password, and email address. Next, students would complete an online survey with fun, positive information about themselves. Then, students would select a picture, drawing, or other self-portrait artwork to upload along with a message communicating some survey information they would like to share about themselves. Since many of my students are familiar with and use many social media platforms, creating and developing a positive self-image and an appreciation for themselves and their abilities can help them combat the pressures and influences that social media produces.
UrbanFonts, a website I researched and reviewed previously for an assignment, caught my attention because it has over 8,000 unique fonts. I love that this resource focuses on fonts that have a stylish and energetic feel. The fonts feature a wide variety of cityscape elements. One project that comes to mind that my students can complete is creating an abstract self-portrait project where students select a font that fits their personality. Students would you the selected UrbanFonts letters as a pattern to form a descriptive word or their name. Then, students would trace and cut letters on various colorful fabrics and paper. They would personalize the letter and add found objects, lines, shapes, and other artistic elements. This project is one of many ways UrbanFonts can be used in my classroom to create engaging projects and lessons.
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