Creating and Using a Voki Avatar

I feel as if every day something else pops up on the web that is fun, interesting and really useful for teaching languages. Today I messed around with Voki (http:www.voki.com). You can create an avatar (a computer version/representation of yourself) and use that image to say whatever you want - in whatever language you like! It is super easy - and terribly fun! You can make the avatar look like you (check out my attempt on the left) OR you can be a flower, a sumo wrestler, Hillary Clinton - whatever suits your fancy! There are loads of background to choose from as well. I love the Eiffel Tower and can picture my French teacher colleagues creating their own avatar and reporting some information "live from France"! I can envision students creating their own presentations using an avatar and their own voice - talk about lowering the affective filter... kids who are normally shy about presenting something in class could easily practice using their avatar. VERY cool! Check it out...