In looking through Alan Levine’s cogdogroo wiki site, I immediately know that I wanted to try VoiceThread. This tool enables students to participate throughout the story once it is complete. In addition, I also thought it was an effective learning tool as I had the ability to not only have the text on each page for students to read but I also read the story using my own voice through the use of the comments feature. This was particularly important to me as some students have difficulty reading and it is critical that they either have the ability to select the text and place it in reading software or are able to listen and follow along. VoiceThread also provides the students with choices of how they want to participate, as they can comment using text, voice with a microphone or video. I was really impressed with how simple it was to upload each slide and add a voice comment. I can see this tool being extremely useful for teachers and students if for no other reason than the flexibility it provides. Students who have difficulty expressing themselves through writing can explain themselves through voice or video and vice versa; and students who have difficulty expressing themselves through speech can choose to write their thoughts. I envision students really enjoying this tool, not only to create their own assignments but to be motivated by the simple interface to add comments to assignments completed by their peers.
For the images in each slide I decided to use another tool from Alan Levine’s list, which was Toondoo. Once I accepted the limitations of the software, specifically that my story and the images were not going to be a perfect match, I was really encouraged at how simple the tool was to use. There were a wide array of options for images to choose from and the web interface also allowed you to upload images stored on your personal computer. Toondoo also gives you the ability to create your own characters. This tool is great because anyone can become an artist even if they are not artistically gifted (like me!).
In general, I really enjoyed creating a digital story and was surprised that the hardest part of the entire experience was coming up with the story itself.