Testing Productivity Tools for Creating Engaging Announcements for an Online Math Course
- Shawntaye Adams
- Oct 28, 2024
- 5 min read
In today’s online learning environment, effective communication is key and keeping students informed with timely, engaging announcements is essential. As a community college math professor, I am often looking for new ways to make these announcements efficient yet appealing to students. Typically, I frequently like to use video or audio announcements to communicate essential course updates, deadlines, and exam details. To make these announcements more dynamic, I tested two productivity tools, Voki and Steve AI. In this blog post, I share my experience with each tool, focusing on how they improve productivity, and which option works best for quick, high-quality, engaging announcements.
Task Goals and Challenges
In online math courses, announcements must be concise and visually engaging to maintain student attention. However, creating high-quality video/audio announcements manually can be time-intensive, often involving repetitive tasks, especially without specialized tools. Productivity tools like Voki and Steve AI are designed to simplify the process, enhancing both efficiency and engagement and saving time. According to the Haddad and Draxler (2002), the right tools can streamline communication, allowing educators to focus more on teaching. Ideally, an effective tool for announcements would offer a blend of speed, clarity, and visual appeal.
Productivity Tools Tested: Voki and Steve AI
Voki is educational tool that lets users customize or make their own animated avatars that can deliver typed messages aloud. Designed with educators in mind, Voki helps instructors personalize their messages with customizable characters, making it effective for engaging students with visual elements (Nasir et al., 2024). Additionally, users can select a voice or add their own voice to their Voki, adding a dynamic and approachable touch.
Steve AI is an AI-driven tool designed to transform text into videos by automatically generating animations and layouts based on input. This tool’s automation aims to save time and effort, making it ideal for educators who want quick, professional videos without manual editing (Ahmad et al., 2023). Additionally, users can add music and voice (human-like selections or user-recorded) to their videos.
Testing Metrics
To evaluate these tools, I used several metrics, which are essential to understanding usability and effectiveness:
Time Taken to Complete the Task: To determine how long it takes to create an engaging announcement
Number of Keystrokes/Clicks: To measure ease of use and automation
Output Quality: To assess clarity, visual appeal, and engagement
Training Time: To note any learning curve
Trial Results
Manual Process (No Tools)
To establish a baseline, I created a text announcement manually from scratch to post in the LMS of my online Precalculus I course then recorded myself reading it aloud (audio only). The process was time consuming and included edits to the text, adjustments for clarity, and numerous retakes of the audio recording.
Time Taken: About 45 minutes
Keystrokes/Clicks: High; About 700 due to numerous adjustments, typing, and formatting
Output Quality: Basic; clear text but no visuals
Training Time: Moderate; Considerable time spent crafting and editing the text of the announcement as well as re-recording myself multiple times to produce the 1 minute and 41 second audio recording without errors
Images:
Using Voki
Once logged into Voki, I selected a free avatar and created a video announcement by simply copying the text of the announcement I created during the manual process and pasting it into the text box within the tool. With a 600-character limit, time was required to reduce the text down to 597 characters. After, I selected the voice of "Kate" (English speaking female) and hit save. Although the avatars added a personal touch, the setup required more steps to choose and adjust character settings, limiting overall speed. However, compared to the manual process, Voki streamlined the creation of a more engaging video announcement in just a few clicks.
Time Taken: About 15 minutes
Keystrokes/Clicks: Medium - About 70 due to text editing and avatar customization
Output Quality: Moderate; visually engaging cartoon avatar
Training Time: Low; straightforward interface and setup
Image of Voki Avatar:
Link to Voki Video Announcement:
Pros:
Engaging avatars add a student-friendly and relatable quality to announcements, making them memorable.
User-friendly interface with minimal learning curve, making it accessible for educators (Nasir et al., 2024).
Cons:
Limited customization beyond basic avatars, subscription required for advanced features.
Text limited to 600 characters.
Using Steve AI
With Steve AI, I was able to generate a polished video by again copying and pasting the text of the announcement created during the manual process into the text to video prompt area of the tool. With minor adjustments to the script, Steve AI transformed the text into a video with animations. The AI-driven automation and clickable options (i.e., template, voice, music, etc.) made the process fast. Although additional adjustments could have been made (i.e., swapping out visuals, highlighting/removing text from scenes), I chose to leave the video as is.
Time Taken: About 3 minutes
Keystrokes/Clicks: Low - About 20 due to adjusting the text so as to not exceed the 200-character limit per scene
Output Quality: Advanced; visuals were polished and professional
Training Time: Low; minimal input required
Image of Steve AI Opening Scene:
Link to Steve AI Video Announcement: https://app.steve.ai/animo/zswj0ZIB3wqDSu01i0VG
Pros:
Highly efficient, with AI-generated visuals requiring minimal input.
Easy to use, with minimal learning curve.
Cons:
Limited control over specific visuals, which may not always align with course-specific content.
Free version includes watermarks, restricting flexibility.
Comparison and Recommendation
Both tools significantly reduced the time and effort required for creating announcements, but each has distinct strengths. Steve AI excelled in efficiency, transforming text into a polished video with minimal manual input. Its AI-driven automation is ideal for instructors needing rapid communication without sacrificing quality. According to Ahmad et al. (2023), AI-generated visuals work well in education due to their professional, streamlined look.
While Voki’s avatars add a personable, engaging touch, the setup requires more steps and offers limited customization, making it less versatile for course-specific messaging. Although Voki is effective for enhancing engagement, Steve AI's rapid production process and professional polish make it the preferred choice for creating quick, quality course announcements.
Conclusion
Choosing the right productivity tool can greatly improve the quality and efficiency of online announcements, benefiting both educators and students. Steve AI and Voki each bring unique strengths, but Steve AI's AI-driven features provide an edge for creating quick, professional communication. By selecting tools that align with instructional goals and course demands, educators can enhance engagement, increase productivity, and improve the student experience in online courses, especially in tough disciplines such as mathematics.
References
Ahmad, K., Iqbal, W., El-Hassan, A., Qadir, J., Benhaddou, D., Ayyash, M., & Al-Fuqaha, A.
(2023). Data-driven artificial intelligence in education: A comprehensive review. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.
Haddad, W. D., & Draxler, A. (2002). The dynamics of technologies for education.
Technologies for Education: Potentials, Parameters, and Prospects, 2-17.
Nasir, S. M., Hashim, M. E. A. H., Chee, K. N., Kamaruddin, N. H., Wibawanto, W., &
Hanapiah, M. L. H. M. (2024). Enhancing student engagement in learning management systems through exploration of avatars in virtual classrooms: A systematic review. Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Sciences and Engineering Technology, 187-200.
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