"The original usage of avatar referred to the incarnation or human appearance of a deity, particularly Vishnu, in Hindu mythology. The term was adapted to cyberspace to name one’s online persona. This usage has come to include every aspect of one’s online representation, from the icon on a blog, or an email signature to the figure one plays in Second Life. Avatar, then, is a practical point of entry for theorizing the emergence of the new identity experience of electracy, that is supplementing and displacing selfhood, the identity formation of literacy. Playing one’s avatar is to electracy what writing an essay is to literacy."
For this assignment, you will create an avatar to be used in the skits that you and your group will be presenting later this semester. You will also use Zoom to make a recording in which you introduce your avatar to our class. This will be important practice, since Zoom will be used extensively in this course. Complete the numbered steps below.
Your avatar will be your visual representation in the skits. Select an image for your avatar. The image can be a photo or illustration in any style (2D, 3D, etc.). Avoid photos of celebrities and other inappropriate content.
Download the image file to your device if you do not already have it.
Invent a Persona
Give your avatar a name. Create a personality and a very brief biography for your avatar; you may want to write this information down for future reference.
Select a Background Image
Pick a background that is somehow meaningful to your avatar. For instance, your background image could show a location in Germany that your avatar would like to visit.
Download the image file to your device if you do not already have it.
Create and Join a Zoom Meeting
Don't worry, you're not meeting anyone! You're just going to use Zoom to record an introduction for your avatar.
On the Zoom dashboard menu, click Meetings and then click Personal Room.
Click the Start button and click Join with Computer Audio.
Open the Whiteboard
Click the Whiteboards button on the Zoom meeting toolbar.
Then select New Whiteboard. Select Collaborating and allow persistent access, and then Create the Whiteboard.
Rename your Whiteboard as "Avatar." Do so by clicking on the default name, which is "Your Name's Zoom Meeting."
Write Your Avatar's Name
Using the Whiteboard’s Text tool, insert a text box and write your avatar’s name on the Whiteboard. The Text tool’s button looks like a capital letter T.
Insert the Background Image
Underneath your avatar's name, insert the image by clicking the Upload PDFs and Images button.
Trim unwanted portions of images by clicking the Crop button.
Insert Your Avatar's Image
Insert the image by clicking the Upload PDFs and Images button. Drag your avatar into position on top of the background.
Note: Objects placed onto the Whiteboard may end up layered on top of other objects. To change an object's layering order, select the object and then click the More button.
Select "Bring Forward," "Bring to Front," "Send Backward," or "Send to Back."
Record the Meeting
Make sure that your audio and video are started in Zoom; you may need to click the Unmute and Start Video buttons on the Zoom meeting toolbar.
Click the Record button and choose Record to the Cloud. See the Zoom Instructions for more information.
Introduce Your Avatar
Spend a minute or two introducing your avatar. Remember, you are pretending to be your avatar, so for example you would say "Hi! I am Jane" instead of "Hi! This is my avatar, Jane." Tell us anything that your avatar might want us to know about it. Talk about your background image and explain what your avatar is doing at that location.
End the Meeting
When you are done, click Stop Recording on the Zoom meeting toolbar, and then click the End button.
After the meeting ends, you will receive an email containing a link to the Zoom cloud recording of the meeting. The link can also be found on the Zoom dashboard at https://ufl.zoom.us/recordingLinks to an external site..
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