Goal #1: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments- More specifically: design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
My actions were effective to a degree in helping me to meet my goals. I definitely became more knowledgeable with the different aspects of digital storytelling by experimenting by myself, and by collaborating with one colleague in my building who walked me through the steps of digital storytelling. I still need to meet with one or two other English teachers who are also well versed in this digital tool who can add to what I have learned thus far. I of course do not feel competent enough in all the aspects of digital storytelling to model it for my students, but I feel much more comfortable today than I did last week. I still have not located any workshops on digital storytelling, but I will continue to search weekly.
What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
The colleague that I worked with walked me through the steps of digital storytelling via Digitalstoryteller.org. He showed me how to create a script and how to use narration which was similar to a PowerPoint demonstration. He also showed me how to search for pictures and then add them to my story. I also discovered that I can search for pictures through Flicker which is connected with Yahoo, so since I have a Yahoo account, I will be able to utilize this feature. I have to make sure to have a microphone available so I can record voices and add music. I learned that I can transfer what I created to other places such as my iphone or an mp3 player, etc. Since I plan on learning all there is to know about digital storytelling so I can teach it to my students confidently, I began brainstorming lesson ideas with my fellow colleague, and we came up with three ideas on how I can apply digital storytelling into my instructional practice, and I am very excited about these ideas. One is to change the ending of a book-students would have to rewrite the ending and insert pictures to help tell their new ending. Since I am starting Of Mice and Men tomorrow, I may try it here. Also, students could write a creation story for themselves-I started out as… or even create a pitch for a television show. I am just brainstorming at this point, but it is a start, and I feel good about what I have accomplished so far.
What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
There is still much to learn; I feel as though I have just scratched the surface so to speak, so I will keep experimenting and working with colleagues to keep my game plan in full swing. I have only dabbled with this digital tool; I need to keep practicing so as to feel more confident about implementing it in my classroom.
How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
I will adjust my plan accordingly. I will make it a point to experiment with this technology whenever I have free time because practice makes perfect, but I am not against practicing with my students because the best way to learn is by trial and error. I would not be upset if I made mistakes and I worked through them with my students. I would make sure that I knew as much as I could about it so I would not look too incompetent of course.
Goal #2: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility- More specifically: advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
I feel pretty confident about the effectiveness of my actions because with the help of our librarian, I found some videos through Discoveryeducation.com. Our school has an account with this website, and I can access it at school or from home. I still need to collaborate with my fellow English teachers to make sure we are on the same page as far as our ethical practices are concerned, but I will be seeing to this early next week.
What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I plan on showing one video from Discoveryeducation which comes with a quiz at the end that students can take to test their knowledge on Internet safety. There is also a video on cyber bullying that I plan on showing them. I worked with the librarian and set up a day next week when I will bring my students to the library and show them the videos on the big screen. The videos are fairly short, so while we are in the library, the librarian is going to go through the process of documenting sources. Our school has an account with Noodletools, so we will show how to use this digital tool for citing.
What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
I think I am sufficiently aware of what I need to know about Internet safety and properly citing sources, but I am sure I do not know all there is to know about both, so I will make sure to stay abreast of any new information that comes out by checking online, collaborating with the librarian and fellow colleagues on these topics.
How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
Basically, I will make a point of checking with my students to make sure they understand the do’s and don’ts of Internet safety, and I will ascertain that my students fully comprehend how to cite within their papers as well as how to create a works cited page. I will keep up on any new information, and make sure to share what I discover with my students. For example, if changes are made to the MLA format, I will keep my students updated, and I will make a point of modeling all that I learn on both Internet safety and documenting sources.
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Roxanne,
ReplyDeleteI have not had any experience working with digital storytelling nor have I even heard of it until I started taking this course. By reading about it in our course text and hearing your action plans, it sounds like such a creative, engaging, and interesting way to use technology. I think digital storytelling definitely matches your goal of trying to design and develop digital age learning experiences. Reading your post has made me excited about using it in the future and your enthusiasm for learning about it makes me want to get started on this tool. I think that even though you may not feel very confident in teaching it to your students, your excitement and enthusiasm will influence how the students respond to you lesson and their learning.
One suggestion, which you may have already done, is to take notes on what you learned about digital storytelling. Often times, I feel that I have a good memory and think that once I start using it again I will remember all the tools and features but I tend to forget. I think keeping notes will help you to feel more confident about implementing it soon as you can refer back to them while teaching. Can you also share some advice on digital story telling or new insights that you learned from it? You have found valuable resources both online and while working with your colleagues to accomplish your goals.
ReplyDeleteHanNa Chung
Roxanne,
ReplyDeleteI am extremely interested in implementing digital storytelling into my reading loop class. I have always thought it would be so much fun to have the students tell their own stories and write an autobiography highlighting memorable events from their lives and utilizing family photographs and short video snippets. I had never heard of digitalstoryteller.org before reading your post. Is this a free resource? Does this resource allow you to construct the script and narration directly from its site, or would you use a general program similar to Microsoft Word? Have you run a trial with the music or audio integration yet? I wonder if you could use music from iTunes or perhaps save tracks from CDs to your hard drive.
Additionally, I was intrigued by the use of Flicker pictures through Yahoo; this was news to me.
Obviously, I have a great extent of research to conduct on digital storytelling before I am able to employ it in my classroom. Like you, I would be sure to establish some competency before I try to teach my students how the program works. I made a note of this website, so some day I can come back to it and experiment with it. Thank you for sharing. I would greatly appreciate any other information or resources you find out about digital storytelling.
Thanks,
Casi Houck
HanNa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the vote of confidence. I am excited about trying my hand at digital storytelling; I really do have to practice with it though. I love anything that has to do with creativity, so that is why I was drawn to this particular digital tool. Thanks for the advice about taking notes; I am all for that! I will share whatever information I can with my fellow English teachers, yes. I just want to implement this tool first. I have already spoken to the English teachers in my building about it, and they think it’s a great idea. I do need to talk with three other teachers in the main building, too, but it is so difficult making the time to trek up there, but I am hoping to see them this upcoming week. Thanks again for your great advice and for your support!
Roxanne
Casi,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of having your students tell their own stories and writing their autobiographies. The students would have a great time with this! Digitalstoryteller.org is a free resource, yes. The Speech and Drama teacher told me about it. I never heard of it before this week either. He walked me through the steps of how to create a digital story. It really appears easy, but I can’t imagine it being as easy as how my fellow colleague showed me it to be. It was a lot of fun creating a mock lesson with him. Yes, digitalstoryteller allows you to construct the script right on their site; you do not have to use Microsoft Word. I have not run a trial with the music or audio as of yet; we didn’t have a microphone or he said he would have shown me. I am thinking of purchasing one, because we only have one in our building (great technology, huh!) and it is kept in the library, and another teacher had signed it out. I will inquire about the use of iTunes and CDs; something tells me he mentioned something about that, but I will double check for you this next week. No problem, I will keep you in mind whenever I discover more about digital storytelling. Good luck with your autobiographies, and thanks again for setting up the wiki for our group!