Voki
Jeff sits down with Christy Brazemore from Voki to discuss how educators and students worldwide are using Voki's powerful talking avatars in their curriculum to meet not only their curriculum standards, but to engage the imaginations of students of all ages and subject areas. About\xa0Voki Oddcast Inc. is a leader in the development of ed tech tools with the creation of\xa0Voki\xa0in 2011.\xa0 Every month, thousands of\xa0Voki\xa0avatars are created and served worldwide. Oddcast is also known for developing avatar-based social marketing campaigns including the world-renowned ElfYourself and many other blockbuster programs.\xa0 Oddcast, which is dedicated to putting media technology in the hands of users to unleash their creativity, has won numerous awards and has developed programs for thousands of clients including Fortune 500 brands such as Coca-Cola, Verizon, JP Morgan Chase, and McDonalds. Links of interest Twitter -\xa0@officialvoki Facebook:\xa0https://www.facebook.com/voki/?fref=nf About\xa0Christina Christina Bazemore is a Content Development Coordinator at Oddcast.\xa0 She received her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from Georgia Southern University and her Master\u2019s Degree in Integrating Technology in the K-12 Classroom from Walden University.\xa0She was a classroom teacher for nearly twenty years.\xa0Her teaching career included\xa0researching\xa0best practices of technology integration focusing in the areas of reading/grammar, writing and math for the K-5 classrooms. Other career highlights include development and implementation of a county wide technology progress report that focused on ISTE, national technology standards, to use to communicate with the parents and administration to show students\u2019 progress in the technology lab.\xa0 In the leadership role for her peers, she took on the role as technology trainer and support personnel to the Mamie Lou Gross Elementary school faculty and staff by providing group and one on one training sessions in the area of technology hardware and software integration, design and trouble shooting.\xa0 She collaborated with Special Education teachers by designing a technology integrated curriculum that met special education student\u2019s needs, focusing in the areas of Autism and Learning Disabilities in Math and ELA, in order to help the students meet and exceed their IEP goals.\xa0She developed an instructional program that Integrated Personal Data Assistants into the Math and Writing curriculum for 5th\xa0Grade students that was highlighted on the Jacksonville Florida Action4 News and interviewed by Mark Spain in 2005.\xa0\xa0Her research interests include\xa0Exploring Technology to Address Student Multiple Intelli Thank You For Your Podcast Reviews Are you enjoying\xa0Educational Podcasting Today\xa0or other shows on the TeacherCast Network, please share your thoughts with the world by\xa0commenting on iTunes\xa0today. \xa0I enjoy reading and sharing your comments on the podcast each week. 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ED TECH STARTUP ODDCAST EXPANDS \u201cVOKI\u201dCLASSROOM PROGRAM AND LAUNCHES NEW APP IN RESPONSE TO TEACHER DEMAND\xa0 Avatars and Gaming Tech Shown To Enhance Learning\xa0\xa0 New York, NY, May 2, 2016\xa0\u2013 Today,\xa0educational\xa0technology company Oddcast launched a new version of its\xa0Voki\xa0website for teachers along with a free iOS application called\xa0Voki\xa0for\xa0Education.\xa0Voki\xa0is an ed tech tool adopted by millions of teachers and students that enables the creation of talking characters or avatars in the classroom.\xa0The mobile app was created to mirror the online experience and provide students with a convenient and fun way to work on their assignments and projects. Voki\xa0educational\xa0characters have been shown to enhance classroom teaching and maintain a spirit of fun and engagement among students at all levels.\xa0Voki\xa0can be used to teach everything from reading to history to foreign language and is fully customizable to create historical figures, cartoons, animals, and even portray the students themselves. Voices can be recorded, and talking Vokis can be emailed and shared on social media. Avatar-based learning in the classroom not only helps students become more engaged, but speaks to a larger shift in how students consume technology while learning.\xa0In a recent Oddcast survey of teachers who have used\xa0Vokiin the classroom,\xa0teachers pointed to the importance of using\xa0Voki, with 71% saying that using\xa0Voki\xa0\u201cexcites students making them more apt to learn." Says Oddcast CEO Gil Sideman, \u201cWe designed\xa0Voki\xa0to engage students creatively, making them active participants in their\xa0education, and it is gratifying to see this approach working in so many classrooms\xa0in the U.S. and around the world. This new version enables us to offer teachers the opportunity to try\xa0Voki\xa0in presentations and lesson plans." The new edition enables teachers to test the software for classroom presentations and advanced student assignments for free. The paid\xa0Voki\xa0product allows for a more complete package of services which includes a lesson management system for\xa0Voki\xa0assignments, enhanced privacy protection for students, and a enhanced version of the presentation program.\xa0Voki\xa0also offers an ever growing library of Common Core-aligned lessons - reimagined as\xa0Voki\xa0presentations. The content is crafted by teachers certified in Literacy, ESL, General\xa0Education, and Special\xa0Education\xa0and is presented by animated\xa0Voki\xa0characters. Further, at a time when supplemental\xa0educational\xa0resources are often hard to come by, and teachers are forced to buy their own, free tools are especially valued. A recent report from The NPD Group found that by the end of the 2014-2015 school year, K-12 teachers spent roughly $500 on school supplies with 47% of it sourced from their personal funds. With school budgets being slashed around the country, access to free platforms like\xa0Voki\xa0is more important than ever for educators. According to edtech expert and middle school teacher\xa0Matthew\xa0Farber, author of,\xa0Gamify Your Classroom: A Field Guide to Game-Based Learning, \u201cMy students are more likely to be engaged in the classroom when technology tools like\xa0Voki\xa0are part of the learning process.\xa0Voki\xa0allows my students to\xa0demonstrate their learning in a unique and meaningful way. Plus, it's playful, fun, and\xa0intuitive\xa0to use!\u201d\xa0 For more information about\xa0Voki, log on to\xa0http://www.voki.com/.\xa0 About Oddcast Oddcast Inc. is a leader in the development of ed tech tools with the creation of\xa0Voki\xa0in 2011.\xa0 Every month, thousands of\xa0Voki\xa0avatars are created and served worldwide. Oddcast is also known for developing avatar-based social marketing campaigns including the world-renowned ElfYourself and many other blockbuster programs.\xa0 Oddcast, which is dedicated to putting media technology in the hands of users to unleash their creativity, has won numerous awards and has developed programs for thousands of clients including Fortune 500 brands such as Coca-Cola, Verizon, JP Morgan Chase, and McDonalds.