Digital Story
May 15th, 2009 by Michele Brannon-Hamilton
Why I love England on PhotoPeach
Please enjoy my video of England. If you have any trouble viewing the slide show with sound, please click directly on the middle of the video picture a second time and it will take you to the original on photopeach.com which has sound. I chose the song Landing in London which compliments the slide show. Enjoy!
Reflection
For my slide show, Why I love England, I decided to use photopeach.com because it allowed me to create the mood I wanted for my story.
I found creating this slide show was an amazing experience that I hadn’t expected when I started. I was overwhelmed just thinking about starting this project because I’m a writer who likes all things text; therefore, adding pictures and audio was out of my comfort zone. I procrastinated, worried and then panicked when I saw there were 50 tools to choose from before I even began.
I began my creative adventure on http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools because I knew the site would guide me through some of the available tools and I had no clue where to start. Before deciding on photopeach.com, I tried several of the programs listed there to see which one would best suit my idea.
Onetruemedia.com
I signed up for an account with onetruemedia.com which was easy to use but the free accounts had limitations and I didn’t like the terms of use agreement. In particular, this site states that I “hereby grant One True Media a limited worldwide, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute (in any media formats and through any media channels), prepare derivative works of, display, perform and otherwise exploit the Member Creations as part as of the services provided by One True Media” (Terms, par. 6). I may not fully understand this clause but I know enough about my rights as a writer to not grant someone irrevocable rights to my work without a lawyer translating the wording for me.
Slideshow.com
This was another program that seemed promising and easy to use but I couldn’t get past the audio selection. I already knew I wanted to use the song Landing in London which wasn’t available on this site.
Voicethread.com
I looked at voicethread.com but realized I wasn’t interested in using my own voice so I thought there might be a better choice for me.
Before exploring any further, I decided to see what others were using. I found some students using Prezi.com and others using photopeach.com. Prezi.com was fascinating and artsy but I wanted something very simple to start with which led me to photopeach.com.
Photopeach.com
I found this program easy to use: I could choose my own music, edit the photos with ease, and move pictures around simply. Also, I found uploading the photos quick and simple which was probably the most important consideration since I lack patience with inefficient software. With photopeach.com, I was able to upload 7 photos at once. Also, I liked how I could add the music of my choice.
Finally, photopeach.com has a great help feature which includes frequently asked questions. The only thing I didn’t like about this program was the inability to attach my slideshow to my blog with sound. However, I was able to transfer users to the original version by adding a short message telling them to click on the slideshow a second time to reach photopeach.com which solved the problem. I found this out by getting annoyed and repeatedly clicking the screen! Another problem I had needs further consideration. If I stop the show, I get run time error and the computer kicks me off of all my Internet sites!! This may be a problem with Java that I will have to investigate.
In the future, I plan to use this program to create many more personal slideshows but first, I will reread the copyright rules to make sure I understand it correctly because retaining the rights to my work is very important to me as a freelance writer.
Furthermore, I plan on using this software to create educational slides for students on the topic of learning skills like time management and study tips. I think I can create slide presentations that will entertain and educate. However, I’m not sure if I will use music since I am not trying to create a mood like I did in my personal project. Also, I would like to investigate more of the 50 tools to find out which would work best for each of the projects I have in mind.
Story Telling in a Literacy Classroom
If I were still teaching literacy, I would use this program to help students create personal stories to share with others in the class. I think this project is very user friendly and learner centred. A story telling assignment like this would be very meaningful and relevant to literacy learners because it relates to real life. Students can focus on their own interests like their families, hobbies and the music they like. They can use this personal approach to share with other students which may lead to connections based on interests.
Furthermore, this would be a great project for visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners since it involves all the learning styles. Hands on students would enjoy creating while visual and auditory learners would enjoy using words, photos and sound.
Perhaps the students could work in pairs so those with writing difficulties could help each other edit. By working in pairs, they would learn how to think critically, problem solve and collaborate as they help each other create their stories. Students would also benefit by learning computer literacy as they create their stories.
Also, students would be able to take these skills and this story telling experience beyond the classroom. This would enable them to practice their skills at home and share their stories with friends and families. Best of all, the program is free and accessible to anyone who can access the Internet even if that means going to a community centre or library.
Finally, students could comment on one another’s blogs which fosters communication and any positive comments would boost esteem. Teachers could use the possibility of negative comments to teach students proper netiquette as well as teaching them how to respond to negativity. The only limitation I see to using this software in the literacy classroom is the possibility that students might not own digital photos. However, we could share a digital camera in class to overcome this problem.
Conclusion
Overall, creating a digital story was a great task and one I will use many times over. I overcame my fear of using audio and video and I created something I am very proud to show others. I’ve already sent it around the world to my family and have received many wonderful comments. I even made my sister cry!
References
Course Notes Module 4
Levine, Alan. (2007). “50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story.” Retrieved July 2009. http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools
Mabrito, M., Medley, R. (2008) Why Professor Johnny Can’t Read: Understanding the Net Generation’s Texts. Innovate. Volume 4, Issue 6, August/September. Retrieved online July 2009. http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=510&action=article
Terms of Agreement, One True Media retrieved online July 2009: http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/termsofuse
Wesch, M. (2007) A Vision of Students Today (& What Teachers Must Do). Retrieved online July 2009. http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/a-vision-of-students-today-what-teachers-must-do/
Wesch, M. (2007). Web 2.0. The Machine is Us/ing Us. Retrieved online July 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g
www.go2web20.net
www.photopeach.com