Converting text to speech is a way that screen readers use to help visually impaired people to use the Web. It can also be used to add audio to forums; for example, if we don't have a microphone available, we can even create avatars with different looks and voices. We will use it in a role-play game in a forum by using Voki in our course module Module 10, What's good music?, where students will have to create a character with its own voice that gives arguments to defend a music genre.
Voki (http://www.voki.com) allows us to create avatars that can talk either with our own voice or by converting text to speech.
The voices that are available in Voki are not perfect if we want to have something very formal, but it can be really fun for students (for example, matching a silly voice to a serious character).
To start using Voki, we have to create a new account and then on the Voki For My Site tab, click on the Create A New Voki button.
We can customize our character, select the gender, appearance, clothes, bling, background, and of course, give it a voice.
After selecting an avatar's appearance, let's try giving it a voice by using text-to-speech (the second icon from the left). We have to type the text in the form, select the accent and voice alternatives, and click on the Play button.
Note that we can also record directly from a phone, a microphone, or can upload an audio file.
After we have finished giving voice to our avatar, click on the Done button and then on the Publish button. A pop up will ask us to name the scene. Once we name it, the avatar is ready to be used. We can now embed it in Moodle by using the given code.
The result will be similar to the following screenshot:
