Here it is! My digital story…<\/p>\n
[youtube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MUSfYWv6CBM[\/youtube]<\/p>\n
or is can be viewed here<\/a> or at this url :<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Rationale<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A. Tool Choice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To create this digital story, I used an online application called \u201cOne true media\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.onetruemedia.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.onetruemedia.com<\/a>). One true media is an online tool that allows you to combine photos, video clips, and music to create montages. I originally chose this tool to create my story because the software does not need to be downloaded (space on my computer\u00a0 is at a premium). Additionally, I was attracted to the clean looking interface, with a simple \u201c3 step\u201d process to creating a montage. The process did prove to be simple and for the most part, I was very pleased with my tool choice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affordances: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Graphics: For the graphics, I was able to easily upload CC photos available on Flickr (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.flickr.com<\/a>). Alternatively, you can upload photos and video clips from any URL or, directly from your computer.<\/p>\n<p>2. Audio: One true media has an extensive library of music available, but songs can be uploaded as well.<\/p>\n<p>3. Text: You are able to create \u201ctext slides\u201d to intersperse with your photos.<\/p>\n<p>4. Design: A selection of \u201cstyles\u201d are available that provide a template of transitions and graphics to add \u201cwow\u201d factor to your montage.<\/p>\n<p>5. Sharing: The finished project can easily be embedded in blogs or directly posted to YouTube\/Google video.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Limitations:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Not entirely \u201cfree\u201d: Although the tool is free, there are certain \u201cpremium\u201d options that are only available for a fee. These premium options include certain desirable templates and font options for text slides.<\/p>\n<p>2. No narration option: There is no tool to add narration to the montage. As far as I can tell, I would have to record my narration with Garage Band, save as a \u201csong\u201d and then upload the audio to \u201cone true media\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong> <strong><em>Simple, easy and enough \u201cwow\u201d to keep students\u2019 attention for 2 minutes<\/em><\/strong>. Because the purpose of my digital story, \u201c Natural selection in 5 simple steps\u201d was to be simple and succinct, one true media was sufficient to produce it. Although I did not feel limited by not using the premium options, I did feel limited by not being able to add narration to the story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>B. Application in my practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On February 2,\u00a0 2009 I attended a \u201ctechnology\u201d themed professional development session featuring Jason Ohler (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jasonohler.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.jasonohler.com<\/a>) as the keynote speaker. His lecture discussed using digital technology to help students tell stories. Jason Ohler advocates using digital story telling as an approach to literacy. Ohler writes:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing literate in a real-world sense means being able to read and write using the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. For centuries, consuming and producing words through reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking were sufficient. But because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, and widely available new tools, literacy now requires being conversant with new forms of media as well as text, including sound, graphics, and moving images. In addition, it demands the ability to integrate these new media forms into a single narrative, or \u201cmedia collage,\u201d such as a Web page, blog, or digital story.\u201d (Ohler 2009)<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Ohler discusses the role of the instructor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs our students migrate to new media, we must blend the essential aspects of more traditional media with the offerings of new forms of media. While students may be tech savvy, I have found that they often need help navigating the new-media maze to create narrative that is coherent, relevant, and meaningful, regardless of the media they use. Thus our role as instructors is more important than ever.\u201d (Ohler 2009)<\/p>\n<p>After the session with Ohler, I posted to following on my blog (<a href=\"http:\/\/agrayburdett.wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/agrayburdett.wordpress.com<\/a>)\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel inspired to create an assignment for my students where they use digital technology to create stories about the various topics we are covering (e.g. circulatory system). This would be an alternative to an assignment that I normally would do where the students simply write and recite their stories. Some concerns I have is the availability of the hardware and time necessary to complete this type of assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt inspired by digital story telling because the practice is consistent with pedagogical principles. For example digital story telling fosters the learner and knowledge centered environments reccommended in Anderson (2008).<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Learner centered: <\/strong>Anderson describes a learner centered environment where \u201ca teacher makes efforts to gain an understanding of students\u2019 prerequisite knowledge,including any misconceptions that the learner starts with in their construction of new knowledge. Further, the learning environment respects<br \/>\nand accommodates the particular cultural attributes, especially the language<br \/>\nand particular forms of expression that the learner uses to interpret<br \/>\nand build knowledge.\u201d Digital story telling allows students to showcase their unique talents, skills, and knowledge constructs, while working through, and developing new ones. Moreover, the\u00a0 students interpretation of new concepts is displayed in the production, allowing the instructor to pick up on potential misconceptions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Knowledge centered<\/strong>: According to Anderson (2008),\u00a0 \u201cIn a knowledge centered environment, students get the opportunity to reflect upon their own thinking; automacy is a useful and necessary skill for expert thinking, but automacy without reflective capacity greatly limits learners\u2019 capacity to transfer their knowledge to unfamiliar contexts or to develop new knowledge structures.\u201d I already employ \u201ctranslation\u201d activities frequently in my practice. In these translation activities, I ask the student to \u201ctranslate\u201d new knowledge into another form. For example, they can turn the new information in to a skit, poem, song, drawing, comic etc. Rather than just memorizing the information, students must reflect on their learning. I find that when the students have to actually think about what they have learned, they develop deeper knowledge constructs than from rote memorization. Digital story telling is just one more option I can add to my repertoire of \u201ctranslation\u201d options. Moreover, using digital technology may motivate my students as the production have “wow” factor.<\/p>\n<p>My original concerns about digital story telling after the Jason Ohler session surrounded organizing the cameras, computer and software I thought were necessary to produce a digital story. After completing this assignment however, I have learned that expensive equipment is not necessary. Although cameras are required to produce original works, there are many free CC resources available for students to rip, remix and burn. I feel much more confident and prepared to include digital story telling in my practice.<\/p>\n<p>Citations:<\/p>\n<p>Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a Theory of Online Learning.\u00a0 In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.<\/p>\n<p>Ohler, J. (2009). New Media Literacies. Academe, June 2009. Published by the American Association of University Professors.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Why did you choose this particular tools?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>1. Free: Although some \u201cpremium\u201d features require a fee.<br \/>\n2. Space: no software to download, or storage of finished product.<br \/>\n3. Ease of use: attractive interface, simple steps.<br \/>\n4. Style: Choice of templates and styles.<strong><\/p>\n<p>How did the tool impact the manner in which you told your story (perhaps in a way that is different had you just used text or related the story using your voice)?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>Unlike other students who chose non-linear story tools (eg. prezi.com or google maps), the linear format of a onetruemedia.com\u00a0 montage lends itself to amore traditional, sequential story. Because my story, \u201c5 steps to natural selection\u201d requires sequential thinking, this format was fitting. On limitation of the tool I used, is the lack of narration tool. I would have liked to narrate the text slides to provide a more multi-sensory experience to viewers.<strong><\/p>\n<p>How might you use such tools in your own teaching to produce materials for students?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>I had fun producing my short explanation of natural selection, and could produce many of these for the plethora of processes that I teach in science. However, I see the strength in digital story telling in having students produce their own explanations. The process of \u201ctranslating\u201d concepts into stories forces learners to consider their own learning and engage in meta-cognition.<br \/>\n<strong><\/p>\n<p>How might students be given access to the same authoring tools?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>Minimum requirements would be computer and internet access. Also, they would probably require time outside of class to work on their stories. However, the creativity of productions could be greatly increased by the students having access to digital cameras.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nWhat kind of impact would you expect to see in your students in terms of motivation, creativity, or any other characteristics?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>My students really enjoy opportunities to be creative. Many students are using photo story tools to share photos socially. It would be novel for them to use these very same tools for a school assignment. The templates and auto-editing features allow them to produce semi-professional looking presentations, lending to motivation and pride. <strong><\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here it is! My digital story… [youtube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MUSfYWv6CBM[\/youtube] or is can be viewed here or at this url : Rationale A. Tool Choice: To create this digital story, I used an online application called \u201cOne true media\u201d (http:\/\/www.onetruemedia.com). One true media is an online tool that allows you to combine photos, video clips, and music to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":586,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-37","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/586"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions\/138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Rationale<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A. Tool Choice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To create this digital story, I used an online application called \u201cOne true media\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.onetruemedia.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.onetruemedia.com<\/a>). One true media is an online tool that allows you to combine photos, video clips, and music to create montages. I originally chose this tool to create my story because the software does not need to be downloaded (space on my computer\u00a0 is at a premium). Additionally, I was attracted to the clean looking interface, with a simple \u201c3 step\u201d process to creating a montage. The process did prove to be simple and for the most part, I was very pleased with my tool choice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affordances: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Graphics: For the graphics, I was able to easily upload CC photos available on Flickr (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.flickr.com<\/a>). Alternatively, you can upload photos and video clips from any URL or, directly from your computer.<\/p>\n<p>2. Audio: One true media has an extensive library of music available, but songs can be uploaded as well.<\/p>\n<p>3. Text: You are able to create \u201ctext slides\u201d to intersperse with your photos.<\/p>\n<p>4. Design: A selection of \u201cstyles\u201d are available that provide a template of transitions and graphics to add \u201cwow\u201d factor to your montage.<\/p>\n<p>5. Sharing: The finished project can easily be embedded in blogs or directly posted to YouTube\/Google video.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Limitations:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Not entirely \u201cfree\u201d: Although the tool is free, there are certain \u201cpremium\u201d options that are only available for a fee. These premium options include certain desirable templates and font options for text slides.<\/p>\n<p>2. No narration option: There is no tool to add narration to the montage. As far as I can tell, I would have to record my narration with Garage Band, save as a \u201csong\u201d and then upload the audio to \u201cone true media\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong> <strong><em>Simple, easy and enough \u201cwow\u201d to keep students\u2019 attention for 2 minutes<\/em><\/strong>. Because the purpose of my digital story, \u201c Natural selection in 5 simple steps\u201d was to be simple and succinct, one true media was sufficient to produce it. Although I did not feel limited by not using the premium options, I did feel limited by not being able to add narration to the story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>B. Application in my practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On February 2,\u00a0 2009 I attended a \u201ctechnology\u201d themed professional development session featuring Jason Ohler (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jasonohler.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.jasonohler.com<\/a>) as the keynote speaker. His lecture discussed using digital technology to help students tell stories. Jason Ohler advocates using digital story telling as an approach to literacy. Ohler writes:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing literate in a real-world sense means being able to read and write using the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. For centuries, consuming and producing words through reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking were sufficient. But because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, and widely available new tools, literacy now requires being conversant with new forms of media as well as text, including sound, graphics, and moving images. In addition, it demands the ability to integrate these new media forms into a single narrative, or \u201cmedia collage,\u201d such as a Web page, blog, or digital story.\u201d (Ohler 2009)<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Ohler discusses the role of the instructor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs our students migrate to new media, we must blend the essential aspects of more traditional media with the offerings of new forms of media. While students may be tech savvy, I have found that they often need help navigating the new-media maze to create narrative that is coherent, relevant, and meaningful, regardless of the media they use. Thus our role as instructors is more important than ever.\u201d (Ohler 2009)<\/p>\n<p>After the session with Ohler, I posted to following on my blog (<a href=\"http:\/\/agrayburdett.wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/agrayburdett.wordpress.com<\/a>)\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel inspired to create an assignment for my students where they use digital technology to create stories about the various topics we are covering (e.g. circulatory system). This would be an alternative to an assignment that I normally would do where the students simply write and recite their stories. Some concerns I have is the availability of the hardware and time necessary to complete this type of assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt inspired by digital story telling because the practice is consistent with pedagogical principles. For example digital story telling fosters the learner and knowledge centered environments reccommended in Anderson (2008).<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Learner centered: <\/strong>Anderson describes a learner centered environment where \u201ca teacher makes efforts to gain an understanding of students\u2019 prerequisite knowledge,including any misconceptions that the learner starts with in their construction of new knowledge. Further, the learning environment respects<br \/>\nand accommodates the particular cultural attributes, especially the language<br \/>\nand particular forms of expression that the learner uses to interpret<br \/>\nand build knowledge.\u201d Digital story telling allows students to showcase their unique talents, skills, and knowledge constructs, while working through, and developing new ones. Moreover, the\u00a0 students interpretation of new concepts is displayed in the production, allowing the instructor to pick up on potential misconceptions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Knowledge centered<\/strong>: According to Anderson (2008),\u00a0 \u201cIn a knowledge centered environment, students get the opportunity to reflect upon their own thinking; automacy is a useful and necessary skill for expert thinking, but automacy without reflective capacity greatly limits learners\u2019 capacity to transfer their knowledge to unfamiliar contexts or to develop new knowledge structures.\u201d I already employ \u201ctranslation\u201d activities frequently in my practice. In these translation activities, I ask the student to \u201ctranslate\u201d new knowledge into another form. For example, they can turn the new information in to a skit, poem, song, drawing, comic etc. Rather than just memorizing the information, students must reflect on their learning. I find that when the students have to actually think about what they have learned, they develop deeper knowledge constructs than from rote memorization. Digital story telling is just one more option I can add to my repertoire of \u201ctranslation\u201d options. Moreover, using digital technology may motivate my students as the production have “wow” factor.<\/p>\n<p>My original concerns about digital story telling after the Jason Ohler session surrounded organizing the cameras, computer and software I thought were necessary to produce a digital story. After completing this assignment however, I have learned that expensive equipment is not necessary. Although cameras are required to produce original works, there are many free CC resources available for students to rip, remix and burn. I feel much more confident and prepared to include digital story telling in my practice.<\/p>\n<p>Citations:<\/p>\n<p>Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a Theory of Online Learning.\u00a0 In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.<\/p>\n<p>Ohler, J. (2009). New Media Literacies. Academe, June 2009. Published by the American Association of University Professors.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Why did you choose this particular tools?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>1. Free: Although some \u201cpremium\u201d features require a fee.<br \/>\n2. Space: no software to download, or storage of finished product.<br \/>\n3. Ease of use: attractive interface, simple steps.<br \/>\n4. Style: Choice of templates and styles.<strong><\/p>\n<p>How did the tool impact the manner in which you told your story (perhaps in a way that is different had you just used text or related the story using your voice)?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>Unlike other students who chose non-linear story tools (eg. prezi.com or google maps), the linear format of a onetruemedia.com\u00a0 montage lends itself to amore traditional, sequential story. Because my story, \u201c5 steps to natural selection\u201d requires sequential thinking, this format was fitting. On limitation of the tool I used, is the lack of narration tool. I would have liked to narrate the text slides to provide a more multi-sensory experience to viewers.<strong><\/p>\n<p>How might you use such tools in your own teaching to produce materials for students?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>I had fun producing my short explanation of natural selection, and could produce many of these for the plethora of processes that I teach in science. However, I see the strength in digital story telling in having students produce their own explanations. The process of \u201ctranslating\u201d concepts into stories forces learners to consider their own learning and engage in meta-cognition.<br \/>\n<strong><\/p>\n<p>How might students be given access to the same authoring tools?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>Minimum requirements would be computer and internet access. Also, they would probably require time outside of class to work on their stories. However, the creativity of productions could be greatly increased by the students having access to digital cameras.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nWhat kind of impact would you expect to see in your students in terms of motivation, creativity, or any other characteristics?<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>My students really enjoy opportunities to be creative. Many students are using photo story tools to share photos socially. It would be novel for them to use these very same tools for a school assignment. The templates and auto-editing features allow them to produce semi-professional looking presentations, lending to motivation and pride. <strong><\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here it is! My digital story… [youtube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MUSfYWv6CBM[\/youtube] or is can be viewed here or at this url : Rationale A. Tool Choice: To create this digital story, I used an online application called \u201cOne true media\u201d (http:\/\/www.onetruemedia.com). One true media is an online tool that allows you to combine photos, video clips, and music to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":586,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-37","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/586"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions\/138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/aburdett565\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}