Security is a huge issue for students who wish to have an online presence. With the tools on this page students can create an avatar to express their identity but still retain a degree of anonymity. You could even build a lesson around Avatars by discussing why a student may wish to represent themselves in a particular way. I would also recommend you have a look at some of the tools in the Photofun link, especially the Be Funky cartooniser.

1. Osoq - A nice little tool to create an animated Avatar, plenty of options and works very well.



2. Simsonize Yourself - Have you ever wanted to be in the Simpsons? Now you can so long as you don't mind being sponsored by Burger King.



3. Doppel Me - Creates a very life-like Avatar in no time at all...don't you think?


4. Build Your Wild Self - Something a little different. This allows you to build an avatar which is half human half animal. This is a quick exmaple I created



5. LegoMan - Create a lego version of yourself. Not as lifelike (honestly) and you need to do a screen print in order to copy the image as there is no way to export the image. Otherwise, fine.



6. Meez - The most sophisticated tool which creates an animated avatar to use as your identity. There are a range of download options, if it cannot be embedded directly to your website you can download the file as an animated gif which can then be inserted as an image file.





5. Mikons - This site doesn't allow you to create a personal avatar but rather a personalised icon (Mikon) which could be used to represent your students. This is a screen shot and well worth a look if you are looking to create an online presence/logo etc.