Digital Story Telling

Digital Story Telling:

50 Ways to Tell A Story

Tobias Blaskovits

61325981

ETEC 565

Dr. John Egan

June 20, 2009

In this activity, we set out to use social networking tools to create a multimedia story. I found this activity very useful. I had no idea how many different “free” tools were out there for individuals to use. There are tools that allow users to create photo stories, comic strips, slideshows, and movies. There are many different options and formats that one can use to “tell” their story.

Why I choose this tool?

I began this assignment buy searching through the different social network tools to find something I thought would be very useful in the grade level and subjects that I teach. After careful searching, I came across a wiki called xtimeline.com. As the name suggests, this social tool allows the user to construct a timeline of events. This tool is very easy to use. You start by creating a title about what your timeline or story is going to be about, type a brief description, and you are off and running. All you need to do is add events. To do this you simply click on the add event button, type the title of the event, enter the date in which the event occurred, add photos or images, and type a little description or story of that event. The tool automatically links the info and creates the timeline. The cool thing is that others can add to your story. I choose to create a story about my son Ashton. I knew I had lots of photos, and the events were fresh in my mind. The great part is, I can share this with my family. Just by inviting new editors to my timeline, they can see what I have created and can add their own events to help complete Ashton’s biography.

Educational Value

A tool such as this has great potential for the learning environment. I can see myself using a tool like this in my science classes. Students could individually use this tool to create stories or biographies of famous people or scientists. According to Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) this type of activity encourages active learning, a key component in constructing meaningful learning. Students could also work collaboratively on larger projects, such as creating timelines of famous events in history. For example, students could create a class timeline of the history of space travel. This type of activity, supported by Anderson (2008) creates more interactivity, in terms of student-student interaction and creates an effective online leanring  environment. I also envision students using a tool such as this to create a chronology of their time spent at middle school. They could create a chronological journal of important events in their life during their time in grade 7, 8, and 9. According to the SECTIONS framework proposed by Bates and Poole (2003), there are other fundamental criteria to consider when choosing a new piece of technology. In addition to the factors already mentioned, xtimeline.com is geared towards the age groups of students I teach, it’s easily accessible, free, easy to use, and a novel social networking tool. As a result, I believe this type of authoring would increase student motivation and participation in my classes.

Privacy

Xtimeline is a public site, so proper precautions must be taken so that students are protected. Users must signup for a free account. Emails are required for login and users must be over 13 to use this social networking tool. I would have students login with their school email address and use camel casing for their user name (last initial, first name – ex. BTobias). This will protect them from search engines and spamming. Initially, I would probably start my own timeline and have students add events to it, as a test run. Proper use guidelines should be given to students to outline online etiquette, and safety. Students should be explained that proper behaviour is important, especially on the web. Those students not following the guidelines can construct their timelines the ‘old fashioned’ way, with a ruler, a pencil, and some paper.

 References

Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a Theory of Online Learning.  In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University. Accessed online June 15, 2009 from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008_Anderson Online_Learning.pdf

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. Accessed online June 16, 2009 from http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples.htm