Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Suddenly, digital stories excited me!

On Monday I began searching the web for information on podcasting and digital storytelling; two terms that I had never really seen before. I haven't felt like I've done any useful searching until today! I've seen many definitions, practical uses of podcasts, and tonnes of podcasting ideas for elementary education. That's all great, but it's not exciting to me until I see how I could use it in my classes.

The first way that I could use digital stories in my class seems to be the area that receives the most attention--having the students interactively create a digital story on an assigned topic. Every science course that I teach requires a presentation of some sort because I believe it helps them to develop research skills, organization skills, and communication skills. Instead of asking for a 10 minute, on the spot presentation--I can ask for a pre-prepared digital story on the subject. Will I be asking too much? Possibly. The students would require some training, or at least instructions on how to use photostory. If time permits, it is definitely a worthwhile adventure. The students would still gain the skills listed above as well as Technology skills, interpersonal skills, and problem solving skills. And such an assignment would generate interest, attention, and motivation for this digital generation.

When I first started web browsing, I wasn't really aware of the fact that digital stories can be used to inform and instruct. Stories created by teachers can act as a lesson hook, a way to integrate multimedia, a way to facilitate a class discussion, or even a way to make difficult content more understandable.

An article on how digital storytelling can be used in a language arts classroom
http://cs2.cust.educ.ubc.ca/csed/400/csed_readings/display%2024.pdf

A digital story on the use of math in architecture.
http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/arcs.htm

A digital story on the Pythagorean Theorem. It is applicable to grade 8 and 9 Mathematics and ready to use. And I absolutely love it because it contains a few awesome real-life situations!
http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/pythagoreans.htm

A digital story on aging well, including a great deal of discussion about hormones and environmental effects
http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/agingwell.htm

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