EDUC 5333 - Considering a Digital Story

This week, we are asked to view one or more digital stories and to respond to a few prompts about it. I viewed several but decided to consider two in more detail.

#MetKids - Our Words, Our Stories: Digital Storytelling Lab

What are your overall impressions of what you saw?

In #MetKids, I felt good watching it. The kids looked to be enjoying themselves and the music was upbeat. It felt very professionally done but was still playful.

How could it be used in education?

#MetKids could be used to show how inspiration can come from many places and how collaborative writing might look.

What content area is addressed?

#MetKids seems to address art and history through the focus materials, and language arts through the product.

How would you assess what you saw?

I would want to #MetKids based on these criteria: research, project planning, story, and originality/voice/creativity. 

Did they perform research and document it? Yes - their research and documentation was completed as they viewed exhibits, drew sketches, and took notes. They even got to use Minecraft to redesign parts of the MET digitally. 

Did they actually plan their story, or did they wing it?  Yes - they did extensive planning - both individual and collaborative and on paper and with technology. One student mentioned the use of a site called Twine that I feel I now need to really check out! (Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books are some of my favorites.) 

How well did their story work? WOW! I feel their story worked wonderfully! They pieced together many options for storylines and endings and made it interactive. 

How creative was the production? WOW again! This project was hugely creative, collaborative, and put a fresh twist on how history could have gone. This project connects these kids to history, helps them better understand what was happening and why, and lets them put it all into terms they understand. What an amazing job they all did!

"Turn" - by Dana Atchley

What are your overall impressions of what you saw?

"Turn" reminds me of when we would get out the slide projector and look at photos of my mom's generation and my grandparents' generation growing up. It took me back to when I was a kid at the holidays - doing the same thing each year, looking at old photos and somehow reminiscing about a time I wasn't actually there.

How could it be used in education?

"Turn could be used as an example of how students could tell a story of themselves or their families. They could tell a story using clips or photos from their own past, or the past of others.

What content area is addressed?

The content addressed is personal history. You could also potentially delve into fashion, but that's a bit of a stretch.

How would you assess what you saw?

I would assess this digital story based on story, economy, flow, and presentation.

How well did the story work? I feel it worked well since it took me back to my own memories of looking at my mother's and grandparents' past.

Was the information presented without gaps or detours? I thought the story was rather concise and ended with a light bit that made me smile - showing the progression of his own father's growth and ending with what he became in his 30's.

Was the story well organized? I feel the sequential timeline from his father as a child, through his own childhood, and then with a still as an adult captured the motion of growing and the stillness of a moment in time of who we are at a single moment - implying if we were to unfreeze that moment we would continue on a journey of growth and change.

How effective was the presentation? I thought the narration of his own story was perfect. It allowed me to feel present in his family and let me connect to his personal story better than having an outsider narrate.

*For the assessment criteria, I selected from the "List of Digital Story Evaluation Traits" created by Ohler (2013, p.90). 

Reference

Ohler, J. B. (2013). Digital storytelling in the Classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning, and creativity (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

EDUC 5333 - Digital Storytelling - Introduction

Introduction 

New course = another introduction: Haylee here! I'm starting courses 6 & 7 of 10 for my Master's in Curriculum & Instruction w/ an emphasis in Educational Technology. My original intro is available at this link, but here's a summary: I've been an educator since 2005 and have mainly taught middle school science and math, but I have also taught 5th grade and high school science, and have also taught PE, Health (online & F2F), and Introductory ASL. I LOVE integrating technology whenever possible because I know our students/children will need it more and more as they grow.

I presently work at DeWitt Perry Middle School in Carrollton, TX. This is my third year here - teaching 7th-grade science each year so far. I've worked diligently over the past three years, as we have become a one-to-one school district, to digitize our 7th-grade science curriculum. Students and teachers now have access to all assignments digitally, many hyperdoc activities, and many warmup activities that are self-checking Google Forms. The kids LOVE getting instant feedback and quick comments as they work on assignments! I love when they bring their Chromebook up to me, grinning so big, to show me they scored a 90 or 100 on a warmup or quiz. I love that they're proud of their work!

My current goal is to complete my Master's by May 2020. My future goals include obtaining additional Master's/Certificates in Math and/or Science C&I and Information Technology/Librarianship. I would love to be able to develop a technology learning program housed that would allow students and adults to advance their technology skills through a shared knowledge program. I know I want to add technology education to whatever I may do, and the age of the student doesn't really matter - I just need willing learners.

Storytelling Ideas

I've been thinking about ideas for the past several days, and I'm definitely having trouble deciding on a topic. I could focus on content-based material with a story to tie into the Catastrophic Events project we have coming up in December. I could also base my story on the Genius Hour/Coding week we will have right before winter break. I could go in a future direction with an idea I have for a "Real Skills" course - similar to Home Economics, but with a tech twist. I could also focus more on personal stories and share about my family. I could share my educational journey. I could share the story of my children. 

Trying to decide which story to tell is difficult. I know I need to select a story that will hold the viewers' interest and be informative. I suppose identifying my audience first would be helpful. Personal stories would certainly be better for non-academic viewers, but I think they would be nice for my children to view later in life. I still have time to decide. ;)

J. Ohler

Jason Ohler (2013) identifies 20 "Revelations" in his book, Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. The "Revelations" I find most pertinent to my storytelling adventure are numbers 3, 4, 9, 18, and 19. 

• Revelation No. 3: "Digital technology is assistive technology for the artistically challenged" (Ohler, 2013, p.4). Many students and adults are afraid to try artistic endeavors because they lack skills in specific media. Digital tools allow us to experiment and try new things, knowing we can undo, edit, or start over if needed. We can also usually find video tutorials that will help show us how to use the tools, which makes them less intimidating. 
• Revelation No. 4: "The digital revolution in a sentence: Finally, we all get to tell our own story in our own way" (Ohler, 2013, p.4). We can choose to tell our story in a variety of formats, like audio files, still photos, video files, or combinations of all of these. We can also choose whether or not to share our story, and even with whom it is shared.
• Revelation No. 9: "The attitude is the aptitude" (Ohler, 2013, p.7). I LOVE this one - probably my favorite. Since I'm going back to school for a Master's degree 20 years after graduating with my Bachelor's, I am definitely embracing the idea of lifelong learning. With rapid advances in technology, we have to be willing to constantly learn more or we will soon be unable to work with devices as they advance and we don't.
• Revelation No. 18: "Digital story creation offers an effective means to teach media literacy" (Ohler, 2013, p.12). Having the skills that enable us to use media in a meaningful way and understanding that the stories we tell can impact others are important. This is important not only for digital interactions but for face-to-face interactions as well.
• Revelation No. 19: "Digital storytelling helps students develop creatical thinking skills, merging creativity and critical thinking, to solve important problems in imaginative, thoughtful ways" (Ohler, 2013, p.13). Creativity and critical thinking are being called upon more and more as technology provides automation of everyday tasks. With the mundane taken care of, we need the creative minds to develop new ideas and we need the critical thinkers to pick apart those new ideas so we have fully refined products created in a more timely fashion.

A. Middleton

Andrew Middleton (2013) discusses the use of podcasting in its various forms - audio, video, audio and still images, and combinations of all of these. I like that there are many free resources available for podcasting. I tried my hand at podcasting in a class last term. My partner and I used Soundtrap to work asynchronously on our podcast. There were synchronous tools available, but we found that working asynchronously worked best for us. We did not use any video or other visuals in our podcast. In a later assignment though, I did use Screencastify to create a tutorial with audible directions to go with the video of the actual steps that needed to be followed as students started to create portfolios on Google Sites. 

Students should definitely be able to use these tools. The tools are very straightforward with how they work. The Soundtrap tools are rather extensive, but basic use is easy and there are many video tutorials available on YouTube. The Screencastify tools are very self-explanatory and make multiple takes unnecessary; if a portion of the video is not needed it can be cut and deleted instead of having to start over. The only problem I see in using these tools in class is finding a quiet time and place to record. When students are working on tasks that would require the use of these tools, they would definitely not provide a quiet recording studio feel.

References

EDUC 5313 - Assessment of Student Work

Over the past few weeks, we have developed a lesson plan that integrates technology by using the Triple E Planning Tool created by Liz Kolb (2017b). We also assessed the quality of integration with the Triple E Simple Rubric (Kolb, 2017b). This week, we are asked to discuss the assessment of student work.

Rubrics & Assessment

I like to give my students all the criteria they'll be assessed on up-front. For assignments that require students to create their own products, I like to share rubrics as a guide for students to follow so they know exactly what is required and how they'll be assessed. They can also self-assess or have peers use the same rubric to provide feedback about their work too. For longer assignments, I also provide checklists and pacing documents that show what they're expected to complete by the end of each class.  To go with the checklists and pacing documents, I also have students complete checkpoint forms so they have an additional record of the required material and so I can check to be sure their information is correct. If they submit any information that is not accurate, I still have time to provide actionable feedback so they may locate correct information for their project before it is due. Being able to provide feedback during the creation process lets them make corrections and better learn the material before they're expected to share their knowledge. This leads to higher confidence and better overall presentations.

For this particular assignment, I've asked students to complete five checkpoints during the seven-day project. Day 1 is the introduction and Day 7 is the final presentation. If students don't complete checkpoints on time, that helps me know who to start with during the next class. If students have responses that don't quite fit the prompt I can step in and correct the issue before it becomes too big of a problem. At the end of the project, students will present their research and proposal for helping the population of an endangered species recover. The initial presentation will be to peers and to me. The final presentation will be uploaded to their digital portfolio so it is visible to anyone with access to their website! All of this will allow them to demonstrate content knowledge and to demonstrate the use of technology for research, presentation creation and sharing, and proper communication etiquette online and in the classroom.

Feedback

Once the assignment is complete, I ask students to submit feedback to their peers and to me. Students submit feedback to peers by completing a form on paper while their peers present their projects. Students give me this feedback and I check for appropriateness and then cluster the feedback by presentation groups so it can be redistributed during the following class. Students are also encouraged to give immediate feedback to the presenting group, but it's not required. Students submit feedback to me about their experience with the project by responding to a feedback prompt in Google Classroom or by providing feedback on paper. I appreciate that most students are comfortable providing both positive and negative feedback about their experiences with my assignments. The most helpful feedback is usually about what they didn't like or what they had difficulty with. Receiving that information helps me know what to focus on for improvement.

On this particular assignment, my students enjoyed getting to choose if they worked with other students or if they worked by themselves. They also appreciated getting to select the specific organism their research focused on. Some students indicated they felt they could have done a better job if they had more time. But some students also indicated they felt they were finished early. Students enjoyed getting to select what digital tools they would use for their presentation, but some felt they needed more instruction on how to use some tools - especially Screencastify and how to embed videos and sound files. Most students were excited about getting to post their work online so anyone could view it. They said it made them work harder since they knew others would see their work.

References