I’ve long been fond of Voki, but I’ve never written about it here.  With the advent of ‘Voki for Education‘, I think it’s time to change that. The avatar in the Voki above illustrates the potential of Voki’s “talking animations” very well. [I found this Voki more than 2 years ago. Unfortunately, I don't know who the author is  If you can help, please do so.  I'd like to ask for retroactive permission/give credit/take it down/whatever the author wishes!]

Voki is a versatile and engaging free application that anyone can use to create customized talking avatars that may be embedded anywhere. What the avatar says can be entered as text and spoken by a text-to-speech engine.  It can be a recording of the user’s own voice that is recorded with a mic or even phoned in. Or, the avatar’s speech (or maybe even song) can be uploaded as an audio file.  The avatar itself can be personalized, clothed and accessorized in all manner of ways

There is no end to the possibilities, when it comes to possible uses of Voki in education.  Now the people behind Voki are eager to help.  They are offering a repository of lesson plans.  Vokis can be embedded anywhere.  Teachers can use them effectively to share information.  Learners can use them as a vehicle for creative expression or to show what they know.