As we start reading James Paul Gee's What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Literacy and Learning, we'd like to challenge Level Up members to think of themselves outside of their typical role as an educator or professional. Specifically, how do you see yourself in a game?
Does your avatar resemble you or does your avatar take on characteristics you may not otherwise adapt in "real life"? What does it say about your personality and how you approach challenges? As a guild, we've already taken on a number of epic challenges consider how gamification will look in our own workplaces, classrooms, and libraries. Now it's time to see the avatar behind the gamification magic!
Task 6:
GAME CHALLENGE: “It's All About the Avatar”
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| Matthew (@MatthewWinner) via 8-Bit Yourself |
Directions: Create an avatar of yourself and share a screen capture through Twitter (#levelupbc) or Tumblr. Use any of the following sites to create an avatar, or share a site of your own. Bonus points included!
- 8-Bit Yourself
- 8-Bit Me
- DoppleMe
- Create My Avatar
- Avatar Face Maker Manga (just like Manga cartoons)
- Mii Search (Nintendo Wii Mii-syle avatar)
- South Park Avatar Creator
There are tons and tons of other avatar creation sites. Share your favorite in the comments below or via Twitter or Tumblr and we'll award bonus level ups!
Reward: This week's reward may be out epic-est ever! Create and share your avatar and, if selected in our random drawing, we'll print it to a t-shirt for you to rock around town! How cool is that?!
Deadline: 11:59pm Friday, July 13th. Winner will be selected by random drawing. Remember: Earn one level up for sharing your avatar plus additional level ups for every new avatar creation website you share!
Happy reading, sharing, and winning!
Make a Simpsons you! - http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html
ReplyDeleteOf course! Can't forget that one!
DeleteIf there are any Mad Men fans in the group, you can also "Mad Men Yourself" - http://www.amctv.com/madmenyourself/
ReplyDeleteLOVE this Madman one... and the option to hold a cocktail!
DeleteMy students and my son love this one. http://clayyourself.com/
ReplyDeleteNice! I love those Hotels.com adds. Good find!
DeleteAnother one I've used before: http://marvel.com/games/play/31/create_your_own_superhero
ReplyDeleteHoly customizabilty, Batman!
DeleteThen there's Voki
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I didn't know this one. Very realistic-looking.
Deletehttp://www.voki.com/
Here are 2 more that people might want to check out (they are part of larger game systems, but you can create an avatar and export or take a screenshot):
ReplyDelete1) Gaia Online http://www.gaiaonline.com/
2) Zwinky http://www.zwinky.com/
(Is it ok that I shared them both in one comment?)
Nice! Gaia looks like Final Fantasy characters! Zwinky almost reminds me of the Bratz characters. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteAt this point I have made 4 or 5 avatars today...it is a lot of fun!
DeleteI don't think it matters how you share, Carli. Though, I selfishly wish you'd put them on twitter. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a whole wikipage of Avatar Generators & some comic tutorials to go with! http://thedaringlibrarian.wikispaces.com/Avatar_Generators Including some that were mentioned & others! Go!Animate is my favourite but screenshots of my Avatar in Second Life is the fanciest (NOT playing, just saying!) LOL
ReplyDeleteCheers!
~Gwyneth
Wow! That is the grandaddy of avatar blogposts. Sidenote: Might be my favorite Daring Librarian post yet b/c of wanting to use EVERY SINGLE link!
DeleteHere's a LEGO-style avatar maker: Mini-Mizer 3.0 (http://www.reasonablyclever.com/mini-mizers/mini-mizer-2-0/)
ReplyDeleteAnd Build Your Wild Self is fun (http://www.buildyourwildself.com/)
Oh, man. I LOVE Build Your Wild Self! That interface looks SO nice (like water colors or colored pencil sketches) and the customizability is outstanding! I also love all of the lesson ideas others have shared to go along with it!
DeleteYoMe Avatar creator: http://www.miniclip.com/players/en/create-your-yome.php
ReplyDeleteHilarious! Love the randomization tool on this one!
DeleteOne of my avatars that I use frequently (the one with this post) is from Face Your Manga: http://faceyourmanga.com/fymworld.php.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kris, who posted before me - Face Your Manga is great, with lots of details possible. Voki was already mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a big fan of Bitstrips (www.bitstrips.com or www.bitstripsforschools.com if you have an Ed account). The Diary of a Wimpy kid one was cool too.
I'll be lurking a bit - I think I have a different philosophy to this particular approach to games in education, but I hope you don't mind me reading and thinking.