I had not heard of a digital story until I took this class. I am currently working on my story right now. As a teacher I can see where these would be very beneficial in the classroom. However, I am overwhelmed as to how much time goes into creating just one story. I know as with everything else that a person would become more familiar with the process and it would have to get easier. I teach in a primary school, and I think that it would be very difficult for these to be student driven. I do feel that they would provide good instruction for students if they were built by the teachers around the standards.
Digital storytelling can also be used to post short movies on school websites or teacher websites. I could see using one to showcase some of our classroom activities. That is only with the students who have permission for their pictures and videos to be posted.
Now on the the other subject, the schools where I have worked are not doing much with eBooks. I think that the media specialist at my current school knew she was close to retiring and did not want to create anything new that she had to deal with. We do not even have a subscription to the Gale Virtual Reference Library. Keep in mind that we are only a K-2 school. I am not really sure how much use we would get out of it. Should we have a subscription? Would this be good for K-2 students? I don't know. Maybe I should check into that next year. So, I don't really know much about eBooks. I look forward to reading the posts of someone that does understand them.
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Leann, I agree with you about the digital storyboard being a big undertaking for young students. My fifth grader has never done one, but he did create two slideshows in PowerPoint in 2nd grade, about as close to a movie project as one can get I suppose. The collecting of images, audio, and video takes quite a long time, especially when you consider creating references for each item. A teacher would have to do what we are doing to help facilitate the production process, that is, to download items from which the students could select. I love the idea though, and it would be a great project for middle and high school kids. It's a fabulous way to have students who don't like creative writing to express themselves.
ReplyDeleteBeing an elementary teacher as well, I can see how this would be difficult for the students to do by themselves. The resources folder would help them tremendously. I think if you took the time to model this project like you do everything else, it would really be beneficial to the students. I am sure that they will still need a lot of assistance as they are making their digital story, but in time it will become easier for them. I think that things like this are very important to incorporate in the classroom to make sure that our students are 21st century learners. The more technology they are exposed to, the better. :)
ReplyDeleteI really like the odea of using the digital stories to post activities inthe classroom; I believe this would benefit even the high school students. We are always asked to post work with the standards out side on the walls and in the classroom but it would even be more fabulous if the parents and administrators could access these digital stories to see the learning in action. I may steal that Idea. I am like you when it comes to eBooks. Our school has not done much with it but I mentioned to someone else that i know my high school lids would love having an eTextbook! They hate carrying home those large anthologies and history books. They would not be as apt to lose them wither if they could access their text book online.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Leann. Until this class I had never heard of digital storytelling as an instructional tool for students and teachers alike. I am familiar with Vlogs, personal opinion blogs that are executed in video format; but I feel that digital storytelling holds more instructional opportunities than Vlogs. Unlike Leann, I work in a high school. I feel that students at this level of schooling could definitely tackle a digital storytelling project in a manner that would allow it to be student driven. However, I have to agree that the time that goes into compiling the resource kit for a student to create their own digital storytelling video is almost insurmountable. However, the amount of front end labor and effort a teacher would need to put in to create this student project would pay dividends with regard to student engagement and the resulting end product. That said, I think using a digital storytelling project for middle to high school students is a great concept that would inspire both creativity and critical thinking among the students participating.
ReplyDelete“The schools where I have worked are not doing much with eBooks.”
ReplyDeleteLeann, I am not sure I have much experience with e-books either. The “free” download that Follett offered last year to media centers did not work for my online catalog, but that may be because I did not do the downloading correctly or my system did not accept the e-books. Whatever the case, we do not presently have any e-books in our OPAC. We do, however, have electronic online references that our students use—netTrekker and Kids’ GALILEO resources. These have been used mostly by our grades 3-5 and teachers. I have plans to use some of the netTrekker resources with lower grades this year. A very few of our kids have said they think Kindles are neat and may ask for these for Christmas presents, but the majority of the students have not said anything about e-books yet. The check-out routine for these that are available in our district is the same as printed materials (one e-book, one check-out at a time) so far, I believe.
As far as the digital story-telling, I agree with you that it is time-consuming, but seems to have great potential for bringing hands-on experience to GPS for students. I would think one or two per grade level of these as major projects are about all that teachers and I could do in a year’s time. Such electronic projects as these might spur students into creating more on their own time as they become familiar with the free online resources available. Student-created digital stories seem to effectively tie the intended objective to the students’ personal experience—what we want for students, I believe.
I think the students in lower grades can take advantage of creating digital storytelling. It will take more work on the part of the teacher to collect a myraid of photos, sounds, and music for them to choose from. Or it can be done in small teacher led groups. I plan to do one with my class as a culminating activity for our social studies unit next semester. Completing this assignment will really help me get ready to teach my students how to do it. Like Lean said... it should get easier with time.
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