Week #7 - Once upon a digital time. . .

This week's blog post is about digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is just what it sounds like - telling a story using digital resources. Kathy Schrock has an amazing page of collected digital storytelling resources.  Here's an example of one that I created as a representative project for the Biomes Lesson Plan that I use in my class. The students normally create a poster to show off the biome they've selected, but with Animoto, you can create short videos to do something very similar. Here it is:

We can use tools like this to help our students meet the standards that we strive for them to reach. For this project we could link to the following two Common Core standards (taken from corestandards.org):

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.A
Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.  

We can also use this for technology standards (ISTE)
3b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of 
sources and media 
3c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks

Reflection:
Having actually gone through the process of creating that video, I'm thrilled to add it to my curriculum! It was so fun and easy for me to put together a simple 3 minute video. I will actually use this video as a demonstration to my students for what I expect them to create. The process was simple enough for any student that can do a Google search. I think students will find this process interesting and engaging and means they no longer need to buy posterboards. It took me about 20 minutes to create the whole thing, so I would expect it would take them about twice that - so, conveniently, one class period.

One of the resources I found interesting was from the University of Houston website on digital storytelling. They say "Teacher-created digital stories may also be used to enhance current lessons within a larger unit, as a way to facilitate discussion about the topics presented a story and as a way of making abstract or conceptual content more understandable." This means that I can take part in the fun too! I'm always looking at the projects I assign and wonder how I would do them. Maybe it stems from me not being challenged in my education to be creative while learning at the same time. I think that if I share my own digital storytelling with my students, they will relate better to the material and to the class in general. 

Another resource that I could use for this particular project is Meograph. Meograph allows the creation of map-based or timeline-based digital stories. Students could link particular places to their stories - very useful in a geography lesson! Students can upload images and add music and voice to the project as it moves from place to place (or time to time). They give this example on their website - if you're a basketball fan you might like it. Plus, the image links to an article about Meograph from Visual News.

WeVideo is another great online digital storytelling resource. They are an online video editing software. Students can upload footage or import footage from other sites. They have a variety of tools based on the individuals experience with video editing. One of the best things they have is collaborative editing! Students can work together to produce a video of whatever the project might be. Again, they have an excellent video demonstration of their software. 

Finally - I must thank the following website for the great images I found and used in my video. A lot of them are student created project - oh the irony.

http://biomedesertvacationproject.weebly.com/ - The Map of Desert Biomes, the Armadillo Lizard & the Food Web.
http://desertbiomepro.weebly.com/symbioticcompetitive-relationships.html - for the snake picture
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/grassland-biome-animals-and-plants.html - for the Armadillo picture
http://www.buncee.com/buncee/32676 - for the various desert images
http://bioexpedition.com/desert-tortoise/ - for the desert tortoise
http://www.glogster.com/ultmawolf/desert-biome/g-6lvg8kra9tav5aqq5micga0 - for the scorpion
http://laurentmikhail.hubpages.com/hub/Desert-Biome - for the adorable fox
https://biomee.wikispaces.com/Desert+Biome - for the barrel cactus
http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~jaliff/biome.htm - for the saguaro
http://www1.whsd.k12.pa.us/courses/J0088/Biomes_Webhunt/plants-desert.htm - prickly pears
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larrea_tridentata - for the creosote bush