Summary of the RockYou Experience

RockYou is a dynamic website that allows users to create slideshows showcasing their personal “digital stories”. It is considered a Web 2.0 mash-up application as it easily converges with different forms of media. Simply upload your own pictures to create an entertaining presentation with customized music, transitions, themes, skins, backgrounds, captions, and sizing. Admittedly, the site appears gaudy and loud; with riotous colors and extreme graphics, it is obviously designed to appeal to today’s youth. RockYou is, however, easy to use and the ability to add presentations as widgets on popular social venues such as social networks, blogs and FaceBook is useful for the sharing of information and images. Instead of posting several pictures on multiple websites and/or blogs, here the user can create an almost endless slideshow in one central space. RockYou widgets not only include slideshow photos, but can also customize some FaceBook applications. With some minor manipulation of the image settings, adults can work within this website to make a classy production piece. The program allows users to blend music, videos, movie posters and captions with the photos that are uploaded , thus creating a powerful digital story!

The construction of digital stories can improve a student’s sense of educational ownership; these stories give kids the capability to weave images, music, and voice to enhance and add depth to their personal learning narratives! I kept my own presentation relatively simple. First I gathered all my photos and put them into a community folder. I also formed some of the images into a collage on a Word document. Using the program ‘Snag It,’ I took a snapshot of the Word document and saved it as an image file; from there, I easily uploaded it onto my slideshow, adding variety to the written captions provided by the site.

Why choose RockYou?

Bates and Poole (2003) developed the SECTIONS framework for evaluating technology, and this is the method I will use here.

S – Most of my student population has a FaceBook account. A common application to this social media is ROCKYOU, where students can take their own pictures and create a slideshow. This slideshow can then be embedded into the social network. RockYou is a leading application and widget maker. Widgets provide a way of syndicating forms of digital content to other websites. Jai Chen, founder of RockYou, has been known to say that widgets are a ‘form of self-expression’. Since RockYou is a public widget it can be viewed by many people through multiple websites.

To ensure student safety and appropriate use of photos, I plan to create an account on RockYou that is private — meaning it is not viewed by other website members and it cannot be “searched” on a web browser. Giving students my e-mail and a standard password will allow them to create slideshows without divulging personal information! One RockYou account allows for multiple slideshows.

E – The ease of use and reliability of this technology was surprisingly positive. My saved photos were quick to upload and I found the applications quite entertaining. I did not have any problems with this website.

C – Cost is free

T– This platform will surely enhance both teaching and learning.

• I can create slideshows that introduce me, my topic, or simply act as an opener to any lesson.
• Students can take concepts presented in class and express their own understanding through this venue.

There are a number of ways one could incorporate RockYou into the classroom:

a. The program can be used to present highlights of different topics discussed in class. Multimedia projects that stimulate auditory, visual, and kinesthetic brain centers can be an effective way of introducing or reinforcing novel subjects. Surely, teaching the same material in a variety of ways further facilitates retention and learning!

b. A RockYou presentation can serve as a ‘hook’ or a ‘finale’ in a unit or lesson to help engage students, and to act as a ‘bridge’ linking prior knowledge to new material (Ausbel, 1978).

c. Use this tool as an introduction of yourself to your new classes.

d. Have the class create original stories for any topic including academics such as: Science, Math, English, and Social Studies. The bonus is that it is so easy to create and access!

I– The technology puts control into the hands of the user. Students are not passively sitting, reading, viewing, or listening; rather, they are fully engaged as RockYou is a highly interactive tool.

O– Our school is fully organized and equipped with the technology to support this venture.

N– RockYou is a welcome and novel relief to traditional textbook work, especially in a Math classroom! For example, students could create a slideshow called the ‘Geometry of Life’ where photos of everyday objects clearly show different geometric relationships.

S– Building the slideshow is practically instantaneous. If you are not interested in editing your final project, you are not even required to sign into the website. You can simply add it as a widget to any of your social media sites.

Disadvantages in RockYou:

• When creating a RockYou presentation, the program does not allow for personal audio recordings; the songs provided are the only ones available for use.

• Also, once the images are uploaded, the website readers don’t have any controls to stop, move forward or back through the image display.

• E-mails are required for login and users must be over 13 to use this social networking tool. As a precaution, students can log in using a teacher e-mail and a standard password. In my case, I plan to use this particular site with students who are in grade 9 and therefore are 14 or 15 years of age.

Note: When adding images to any site it is especially important to pay attention to two factors,

1) Copyright issues
2) the addition of personal identifiable information and images

There are many websites that let students and teachers use their content royalty-free for educational purposes. When searching the Internet, students can learn to check on the usage rights for each site they browse, and be sure that the material can freely be shared. The issue of copyright can be avoided completely if students only use images that they have created personally. Regardless of where the images originate, discussing what types of images are appropriate for upload is of highest priority in any classroom! These understandings can provide invaluable ‘life’ lessons for our digital natives.