First let me say that I am a special education teacher who co-teaches with the history department. I have always thought that to be a good history teacher, you must be a great story teller. Digital storytelling offers a different way to do just that!
Digital storytelling could be used to open a unit or to close it. It might be used to highlight keys events. The students in your class could be assigned the task of creating the digital story. That would provide them with opportunity to practice research skills such as collecting and analyzing information and then putting the data in a useful format. Students also practice communication skills. They learn how to ask the correct questions to get the information they need. They learn how to write stories for the audience they are addressing. Digital storytelling also presents an opportunity for students to improve their computer skills. No matter if you are a beginner or someone with advanced computer skills, there is a job for everyone to do and new skills to learn!
Using digital storytelling provides yet another way to persent the information. The material is presented in an interactive manner which "draws" the students in and increases the students attention to the lesson.
The University of Houston's Digital Storytelling website is awesome! It is a great resource for audio and video questions as well as copyright information and so much more! It is a resource to go to as we complete our digital story assignment.
The media center at my school does not offer ebooks. The only electronic reference that is offered is GALILEO. We offered an electronic encyclopedia at one time, but have since discontinued the service.
I think ebooks will have a role in the future at my school. As the students mature, they may like having the ebooks more so than the actucal book. The faculty would appreciate having ebooks available for checkout at the school media center rather than having to order them or going to the public library. eBooks are slow to take off at school, but the future is coming fast!
I love the idea of using digital storytelling in history/social studies classes. It can serve as a creative way to present lessons and for students to use for doing projects. You give many good ideas for ways in which students can use digital storytelling. My school does not currently have or use ebooks. I agree that it has a role in the future of education. It is beginning to emerge with books on ipods, encyclopedias online, etc, but will continue to be seen more and more.
ReplyDeleteDigital storytelling is a technology tool that gives stories a special meaning, and I agree that it is wonderful to use as a teaching tool. Since I’m learning how to put together a digital story this semester, I should be ready to try it with my students next semester. Hopefully, it will run smoothly. I too am a special education teacher and with digital storytelling, students will be able to use different styles of learning. It provides a format for students to think, visualize, listen, and use kinesthetic skills. Students need a variety of ways to learn to keep them engaged and be successful. I read in Library 2.0 that the flow of information to the average person has removed the “gate” from the idea of the “librarian as gatekeeper.” We should not only be mangers of information. Instead, we must change our roles to helping users know who we are and what we have to offer. We need to help users find meaning in information, to care about it, and develop a compassion for learning by becoming more user-centered. Digital storytelling offers a way of giving more meaning to information as the user can imagine themselves in the tellers place and time and gain a better understanding of what they’re reading. Stories then become more personalized. I think this applies to the classroom as well. Teachers should give students the opportunity to create stories from their own perspective and share ideas by using technology to organize information in to stories to share with others.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about history and story telling. So using digital storytelling is a great way to draw students toward what they may see as a boring subject. Whether you present a lesson in this way or you assign the creation to the students, the digital interaction is bound to spark some type of interest with students. As a media specialist this is another great way to get students to take ownership of their learning.
ReplyDeleteDigital story telling will work great in a middle school because it combines two things the kids love - talking about themselves (lol) and technology! One of the best things about digital story telling is that once you organize how you are going to get the kids engaged, they'll just run with it and make it happen! During my student teaching, I helped my students record their personal narratives as part of a podcast - man, they were thrilled. They would listen to themselves and want to go back and correct parts of their papers because they heard something that wasn't right. That's learning!
ReplyDeleteI think you are so right about using digital storytelling to make history come alive. I know it would be wonderful for high school students to practice analyzing information and putting it into a new format. I also think digital story telling could be used in all levels of education (obviously with different levels of scaffolding). I know that even in second grade, where I teach, part of our standards include being able to share information in different ways. I like what you said about having ebooks not only as a student resources, but as a faculty resource as well. It would certainly be easier to get resources quickly!
ReplyDeleteLinda, thanks for your great post about Digital Storytelling and ebooks. I really like how you and Cynthia both appreciate the benefits for using such a tool with special needs students. While Digital Storytelling is great for all, I think you make an astute observation that it has significant potential to meet the varied learning styles of your students.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to using this tool with students. I think they will really enjoy the format and will remember the topics much longer and with much more significance by making the personal connections.
The only ebooks I am currently looking at are the Follett ebooks which can be read on the computer. I personally have a Kindle and I love it, but I would be extremely nervous having these as part of a media center collection, to be checked out by students. I dropped mine one day from about chest height and it was ruined. Fortunately, I was able to get a replacement in less than 24 hours! But, I can only imagine how frequently these would be damaged in the hands of students. I haven't played with an iPad, and I imagine it may be a little sturdier, but I would be nervous about it not coming back once checked out. I would be interested to learn more about schools successfully using these. I am guessing that high schools would see more success with it, but again, I worry about theft.
I agree that digital storytelling can definitely impact a lesson. For me, especially in the area of history, music has a huge emotional impact. I read a comment in another blog that a high school history student was moved to tears by watching a digital story. Doubt very seriously a lecture from the teacher on the same material would have gotten the same response. I think the main reason this type of presentation appeals to me is because I am not a history buff and never really enjoyed it in school. I am embarrassed to say that I thought it was boring. I am embarrassed because of the lives that were lost and the quality of life that was given up by individuals so that I can be who I am today. Those lectures obviously did nothing for me! I will be excited when I have the time to create some digital storytelling kits to support the standards. I hope it gets students excited/emotional about learning.
ReplyDeleteI love ebooks, I own a Kindle. I definitely think they have a place in the classroom, but we (SLMS) are going to have to model how they can be integrated into the classroom as an additional tool. They do not have to take the place of anything at this point. Once again, we have an opportunity to appeal to students that may not ordinarily reach for a book to read.