Voki

Create a digital avatar online at Voki. There are lots of options for customizing your avatar! You can add a voice using a microphone, telephone, or by entering text with your keyboard. Avatars can be e-mailed to receipients or embedded in a blog or Web site!
Bonus: Students do NOT need an account to create their Voki! An account is free and can be useful if you would like to save your Voki or make changes in the future.

Tip: Write a short script before you start recording your Voki voice. You are limited to 60 seconds and you want to maximize your impact. If you are recording over the telephone, you are allowed to redo your Voki recording twice before the system disconnects and you have to restart your recording.

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Use it in your classroom:

• Students can record short presentations or summarize learned material
• Students can record a back and forth dialog using different Voki characters
• Think of the possibilities in a foreign language classroom!

Google

Google offers an expanding range of free, web-based applications. One of the great things about the Google products is that they use a single login. (How to get a Google account)

One option for teachers is to sign up for Google Apps, which requires them to create a domain and manage their own users. This can get a little complicated, especially if you are using an existing domain. I prefer to work with the Google applications outside of the Google Apps interface- this way, my students can continue to use their login and resources long after they leave my class.

Collaboration is a key part of the Web 2.0 digital classroom. In order for students to collaborate, they need to know how to find each other. I have written instructions on how to set up and share a contact list with your students. You can access instructions here: Contact Lists

Google Docs - an online productivity suite

Audacity

Audacity is a free audio editor available for download here. Audacity can be used to create and edit voice recordings or to remix existing audio tracks. Files can be exported in a .wav or .mp3 format.

Students incorporate their voices into a variety of classroom projects. Here are some handouts with instructions to help them navigate the software:

Create Audio Recordings with Audacity
Add Background Music in Audacity

Glogster

Warning: I have received reports from students that they are being infected by a virus on Glogster's login page. I have used this without incident in my classroom, but I do not recommend asking students to use this on their home computers until the vulnerability is addressed.

Glogster's Educator version

Advantages:

• Teachers have a master control to regulate students' glogs
• Students can mark a glog as "finished" to share it with the rest of the class
• The classroom community is password protected
• Teachers can create up to 100 student accounts without disclosing their students' personal information