As I continued to learn more about digital storytelling this week, and I was completing our course readings and viewing a host of online sources on the subject, I began consciously looking for ideas that would help me plan a digital storytelling project that would work for virtual school teachers. Our school district will be launching our new virtual academy this coming 2011-2012 school year and I will be working directly with the teachers on curriculum and training. It is to my delight that this particular graduate course on the fundamentals of technology in education is helping me learn how to teach others to use the power of digital storytelling with students. As you read further, I hope you will like my ideas for the first digital storytelling project I would like to see our virtual teachers use with their students to kick off the new 2011-2012 school year when it begins in August.
If you’ve ever taken any online courses for professional growth, in-service training, or undergraduate/graduate training, you realize there can be a “disconnect” if the virtual group isn’t drawn together in a personal way from the very beginning. That is why I’ve decided to help our new virtual academy teachers use digital storytelling with their students to create a presentation that will help introduce themselves to the teacher and their classmates in the class. It would basically be an “All about Me” presentation in which the students share information about themselves that will help the viewer “get to know them a little better.” As far as connecting to a specific curriculum, I think this type of project could be modified and used effectively in most any online course. Our virtual academy will be a K-12 learning environment, so the age level of the particular students in the class will also have to be taken into consideration. The main purpose of this project is for the students to share meaningful information about themselves that can serve as a great “ice breaker” at the beginning of the course, and can also help bring the different entities in the class together as a real “class.” It could be made to work for any grade level or curriculum area. For this project to be successful, I believe there should be flexibility as well as established guidelines to follow. Our virtual school will be presented using Blackboard Learn which is our district’s LMS (Learning Management System). The students will share their finished “All about Me” digital stories using the Discussion Board section of their specific online class. This way they can view one another’s presentations and then can interact with one another by posting comments, asking questions, etc. There will be three different programs available for the students to use to create their stories. They will have the option of using either iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or Photo Story 3. The students will also be asked to incorporate photographs of themselves into their presentations, and they will have the choice of either scanning and uploading still photos or using digital photographs. Music and narration will also be part of the presentation and the students will have a choice of how to incorporate the two. There will be a list of specific requirements for this project, but once these have been met, the students will have the flexibility to add additional elements if they would like.
For this training I have found some really good online resources for the virtual teachers to review in order to be able to help their students create their “All about Me” digital stories. First, I think they would benefit greatly from viewing some examples of digital stories and I’ve found the following online resources for them:
Besides viewing examples of good digital stories created by students, the teachers in this training will also need to choose which media to have their students use to create their “All about Me” digital stories. Therefore they need to know as much as possible about iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and Photo Story 3 so they will be able to assist their students as they complete their projects. Below are links to online resources that are actual tutorials for each of the three different programs and the teachers will be able to use them to learn for themselves how to use the programs effectively. These tutorials will also be great resources for the virtual teachers to use with their own students as they have them complete their “All about Me” digital stories.
Online Tutorials for Windows Movie Maker:
- Getting Started with Windows Movie Maker
- Windows Movie Maker Tutorials - How to Use Windows Movie Maker
- Windows Movie Maker 2
Online Tutorials for Photo Story 3:
For this particular training I will be creating my own “All about Me” digital story to use as an example for the training participants to have as a resource. During this training, they in turn will be asked to create their own “All about Me” digital stories to use as examples for their students when they are working with them on this particular digital storytelling project. The purpose for using these types of teacher-created resources will be to try and help the students create the types of digital storytelling projects that were envisioned at the inception of this training.
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post this week. This course has also helped me become more aware of how to use specific types of technology in the classroom. I think that digital storytelling is an excellent way for both students and teachers to be actively engaged in the learning process. It also gives everyone a way to stimulate their brains. One thing that I love about digital storytelling is that it can branch off into a plethora of ideas. There is not just one type of activity that students can do.
I love your idea about the "ALL About Me." I think that is an excellent and creative way for students to get to know each other on the first day of school. Sometimes students are shy when speaking in front of a classroom. However, if they provide a digital storytelling video, then it may be easier for them to present information about themselves. I definitely agree with you that teachers need to familiarize themselves with the certain types of programs, in order to teach students how to incorporate them into their projects. This is definitely a learning experience for both the students and teachers.
This can also be a fabulous idea for an "in house" service learning opportunity. All teachers can benefit from a workshop such as this one. I would love to see how this turns out when the new school year kicks off.