I think avatars are a great way to initially engage students. from my own personal experience I feel they can add colour and humour to an otherwise dull learning experience.
That being said, Talking avatars could be viewed in the same light as maybe a video presentation. Just because they are a different medium in which to relay learning to students, does not mean it cannot become stale, or uninvolved. Since they use very simple animation designs, they could appear 'cheesy' or unrefined, compared to incredible animation that can be found on our televisions, computers and movie theatres.
Still they can be useful in small does, possibly even a cute way to involve students, (in particular, shy students) in putting forth their ideas.
References
Alded, S (2009) Active learning and Diversity, retrieved December 18, 2009, from Moodle, FAHE11001, Managing Elearning.
Aldred, S (2009) A introduction to teacher’s delivery technologies, Retrieved December 11, 2009, from Moodle, FAHE11001 Managing Elearning.
Oddcast, Inc (2008) Voki. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.voki.com/
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Hi Katbrez
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think avatars are best used as introductory items, similar to how they have been used in our course. They would definately become tiresome if you used them to teach an entire lesson. But, at the same time, there is no doubt that they are a great distraction. Its just important to make sure they are not overused.
Regards
Lyneale