Week 1- For me the readings about digital storytelling were compelling. I have made video's like this before for personal use but never thought anything of it. I enjoy editing family photos into short video's or special occasions for friends. I now know that we can use this form of expressino in an educational setting and make good use of the information provided.
As I have filled out many applications for employment for different school districts they all usually ask a question like: "What three things would you like to know about your students?" I always answer: "I want to know what they know and what they are interested in, some background information on their lives, and if they have any learning disabilities."
With the use of a digital story we could find out a lot about a student, their background, and better help them learn in our classrooms. I feel that if students are pointed in the right direction, yet given some freedom, they will tell us everything we ever wanted to know and more.
A quote from "Digital Tools Easier to Grasp" that stuck out in my mind was; "We need these stories like food" this comes from Mr. Joe Lambert a director for the Center for digital Storytelling. I can't agree with him more. Being a people person, I know I always enjoy conversing and learning about different lifestyles, cultures, and people's habits. Another quote that I have heard Dr. Franklin mention time and time again is "Use what you have" meaning to use anything and everything that you already have in terms of photos and video. Also you don't need the most expensive equipment to be able to tell your story.
My suggestion, as I sat through an inservice last friday this might actually help with some of the ideas for incoming students to the high school, is to have Freshman start a digital story and continue to update it once a year so on their graduation day, they might show a small clip of their trials and tribulations of their High School Careers.
6 comments:
I have always thought of myself as a math/science teacher, I can not teach kids to write, as I struggle enough on my own. Reading these articles and working through the Storyboard assignment, it makes it easier for someone like me to “write” a story. I enjoyed the process because it was different, as I am sure my students would enjoy. The article, Digital Storytelling Find its Place in the Classroom, struck a cord for me as to how I could implement this activity into my classroom pretty easily. After showing my students a few of the movies I’ve made, they have been quite intrigued by the idea.
I do see how it would be difficult do the voice narration for an entire class, but I think it would be doable. It would be quite an undertaking to begin the initial stages with a bunch of inexperienced students, but I also see that as a challenge and something fun for the students to experience. As the article the Cookbook says, the students would be all over the place just playing with the different features, much like I am when I get something new. Learning how to get through those stages of “play” as you focus the students on the task of making their story is probably the most difficult thing to do during the activity. I think those struggles are well worth the effort when the students begin to enjoy putting together their stories in video form.
I agree with a comment from Ryan, that the goal of this type assignment is to make sure the students are getting their message, or story, across which meets the goals of your lesson. I could see some students getting so involved in the gadgetry that they overlook the focus of the assignment. After the goal of the assignment is met, then let the students “play”, which I believe to be a valuable side effect to encourage and excite some students.
I think Nathan has a good idea as a way to learn about your students each year, start off the year with an “All About Me” video that will give you, as the teacher, insight into what makes the student tick and how you can relate to them with your teaching style and technique.
Week 1 Blog
I find the whole idea of digital storytelling very interesting. I currently have my students create a short MovieMaker video about themselves, but I don't ask them to focus on one particular part of their lives or ask about their journey. The ideas and the links on these web pages are very useful resources for helping me plan. Some of the examples will also be very useful to show the students before they begin their project.
One problem I have had has been mentioned by others and that is keeping students on track. I teach middle schoolers and it seems like if they are given too much freedom in their choices that their video soon becomes an action movie. Even if they make a storyboard they try to sneak violence into their videos. In spite of this, I still think that video is a great tool in the classroom.
It seems like the latest rage is for all students to have a digital camera and take a ton of pictures of themselves and their friends and placing them on Myspace, Facebook and BeeBo. I think having students create stories about their lives from pictures is an excellent way for students to put those random pictures to use. This gives them a constructive outlet for their pictures and a way to connect their lives to education. It also gives them a chance to show the movies to class where it gives everyone a chance to learn something they might not otherwise know about the student producing the video.
Week 1 comments
I thought I had made a post here, but since I couldn't find a week one post, here it goes.
The reading from this week, really opened my eyes to the possibilities for multimedia in the classroom. I previously thought it to be only for a production type classes. In doing projects, myself I realized that if you learn some simple tricks of technology there is so much you can do to represent things visually. I think it is difficult to get teachers to transition out of the using videos mode into the making videos mode. However, I have watched my own kids do multimedia projects recently, and they are so MOTIVATED. It really is amazing how multimedia gets them more interested in the project.
I read week ones readings but at the time I didn't think we needed to blog specifically on the reading,...so I appologize for this being so late.I think all the readings on digital storytelling are very timely and very usable. The readings and softwares available lay out a very user friendly methodology. I believe that whenever you can cross curricular boundaries you give your students a more complete picture of education and life. Digital storytelling is still storytelling, requires:organization, research and clear writing skills. I believe it also reenforces speaking skills. Successful digital stories have a clearly defined beginning, middle and ending. I really can't see how you can go wrong with implementing them anywhere from middle elementary all the way through high school. I very much appreciated the sample rubrics also,...rubrics are very important but time consuming...it was nice to have them at your fingertips to tweek as you feel fit. The Center for Digital Story Telling site provided some nice (and some marginal) examples that was a good source of inspiration for my CGI II kids earlier last month.
I, too, blogged in Week 1. However, my information was a response to another classmates comments. So . . . here are my comments.
Reading the Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling article was very helpful to me. The article gave a very detailed guide-step by step process-7 elements for digital stories. Point of View, A dramatic Question, Emotional Content, The Gift of your Voice, The Power of the Soundtrack,, Economy and Pacing. This guide gave examples of each concept which made it easier for me to understand (the visual learner in me!). As I reviewed the "How to" tutorials, they helped me to grasped the concept in more detail. Very useful web site!!
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