I was making a Voki today and, upon publishing, noticed the ability to embed my Voki on Symbaloo. Wow! I had not realized this was possible and my mind started racing with all of the cool possibilities for student projects and tutorials using the combination. A little more investigation and I found a great example of a fifth grade class that made a “goodbye” webmix on Symbaloo out of Vokis. Each student created one goodbye and remembrance of their fifth grade year. The teacher even created a Voki explaining their Voki assignment.
This addresses so many issues including some of the barriers that often affect teachers such as finding a site or space to host projects like this! Of course, it’s motivational, allows students to be creative, integrates technology, is downright cool, and free!
Take a look at the fifth grade “Goodbye” webmix to get an idea of how this looks: http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/vokigoodbye?searched=true
How about this Voki Webmix sharing tips about the Sun? http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/sunwisevoki?searched=true
Finally, here’s a great webmix from Symbaloo with instructions for embedding your Voki into a webmix: http://certification.symbaloo.com/mix/embedtutorials
It also covers embedding Google Docs, Teacher Tube, Flickr, SlideShare, Screenr, Prezi, TwitPic, and Animoto!
Give it a try!
Carol Mortensen has nearly twenty-three years of educational experience. She began as a substitute teacher as she worked toward her degree. Upon graduation, Carol began teaching middle school Math and Algebra I and served as the technology liaison for her campus. She served as a teacher for 16 years and was lucky to have taught at Hillcrest Middle School, a 1:1 campus where every student was issued a laptop computer. She also worked as an Instructional Technology Trainer for her district providing training and technology integration support for campus and district staff, faculty and administrators. Currently, Carol enjoys her position as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist for Deer Park High School – South Campus. Before taking this position this year, she served for three years as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist at Fairmont Junior High in Deer Park Independent School District. In this position, Carol provides integration support and training to the students, staff, faculty, and administrators at the campus and district level. In addition, Carol is an online Math instructor for Aventa Learning and K12. The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) named Carol the Classroom Teacher of the Year for her innovative and creative use of technology to create a 24/7 virtual classroom using her classroom website. Carol has presented at school districts throughout Texas as well as state and local conferences on a variety of technology integration topics. Her article on the use of websites as an instructional tool was recently published in the TechEdge Magazine. In February 2011, her article, Lessons Learning In a 1:1 Classroom, was published by TechEdge. The article was republished in ISTE’s Learning and Leading magazine in August 2011. She was named Fairmont Junior High’s Teacher of the Year for the 2011-2012 school year. Carol is passionate about the positive impact that technology has on student achievement. Her presentations are packed with real-life solutions, quality resources, and humor. She has an ability to connect with her audience and motivate them to take technology integration to a higher quality level.
