Week 5 of my journey into teacher-hood has seen me create my very own avatar. Here I am thinking an avatar was one of those blue people that lived on Pandora in James Cameron's latest movie, oh how wrong I was! (Image courtesy of Flickr)I created my Voki avatar quite simply and was a little overwhelmed by the choice and amazed at the price tag... absolutely FREE! And so I ask, why don't we use these in the classroom? To which my husband (a PE teacher) adamantly answered WE DO! Oh how education has changed in the few (ok, not exactly few) years since I left high school. Avatars could have such an impact in the classroom, what an amazing tool to engage, entertain, energise and inform students. Think of the possibilities...
• Use an avatar as the bait, the attention grabber that will snap students into action from the first second of the class. The avatar can introduce any topic in a far more interesting way than any teacher ever could, purely through the use of technology... and kids LOVE technology! Linus (2005) states that “attention-grabbers...sustain students’ interest in your topic, thus enhancing your lesson.”
• Getting students to create their own avatars in order to teach their peers something new within the topic is a great way of using this technology. Students who have the opportunity to teach a topic will not only be more engaged but will ultimately have learned the topic at a more complex level than if they were simply 'talked at' by a teacher at the front of the class.The Learning Pyramid shows that the highest retention rate is achieved when students teach others. Additionally, avatars would give students another 'tool' in their ever-expanding 'ICT toolkit', a skill which they will no doubt find useful in the emerging knowledge economy, “It is now necessary to master the increasing range of technologies available.”(Literate Futures Project, 2002)
• In embracing diversity within the classroom, avatars could easily be used as a language tool for those who speak English as a second language, when making presentations to the class e.g. an oral presentation or speech as part of assessment. Ultimately, peers will benefit from the clear presentation of information (and be more engaged because it’s an avatar speaking, not a person... oh the excitement!) and indeed the student will be more able to demonstrate his/her knowledge successfully. Similarly, students who struggle with shyness do not necessarily have to be disadvantaged during oral presentations, they can simply be given the opportunity to present information to the class via an avatar instead of having to complete the daunting task of public speaking. (Hey, some people just aren't made for public speaking!) I can relate to this personally, although a confident adult, as a student I was frozen with fear at the thought of having to do an oral assessment in front of the class. Wanting desperately to achieve high marks I was forced to deliver an over-practiced, monotone (except for the quiver in my voice) presentation spoken as quickly as my (dry) tongue would produce the sounds! I had the knowledge, I had the understanding, but alas I was simply not able to speak publicly, especially as an awkward teenager in front of a bunch of potential bully's... yuck! What happened to feeling safe in the classroom? Well, avatars have the potential to make the classroom an accepting, safe, fun environment and thereby help to achieve of Dimension 1 of the Dimensions of Learning, “a primary objective of every teacher, then, is to establish a climate in which students feel accepted by teachers and peers and experience a sense of comfort and order" (Marzano & Pickering, 1997).
• Lastly, if an avatar can help those who struggle with speaking skills, it also has the potential to help those who struggle with reading skills. Reading ability is indeed an issue for many students in schools today, and perhaps the prospect of taking away some of the reading opportunities students have in the classroom will meet with some criticism. But I have to ask, is it fair to impede the learning of a student merely because they struggle with one element of literacy? Isn't listening also an important component of literacy? Cope and Kalantzis (2008) give “Audio representation” as one of their Modalities of Meaning, signifying its significance amoung the other elements of literacy.
In these four simple yet effective ways, avatars can be used, not simply as a medium to present information, but as a way of engaging, including and encouraging students to participate in learning.
Reference List
Cope, Bill and Mary Kalantzis. (2008). Multiliteracies: New Literacies, New Learning, forthcoming in Pedagogies: An International Journal.
Retrieved 13 January 2010 from World Wide Web: http://newlearningonline.com/~newlearn/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/Kalantzis/ResearchandWriting/M-litsPaper13Apr08.pdf
Linus, M. (2005). Ideas on Teaching: 10 Attention Grabbers that Work. National University of Singapore, Singapore: Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning.
Retrieved 30 March 2010 from http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/Ideas/iot96.htm
Marzano, R. & Pickering, J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
State of Queensland (Department of Education, Literate Futures Project). (2002). New Times, New Literacies. Brisbane: Author.
Retrieved 8 March 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning/literate-futures/pdfs/reading-part2.pdf
Responsible Kids Network. (n.d.). The Learning Pyramid.
Retrieved 8 March 2010 from http://www.responsible-kids.net/learningpyramid.html
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