Digital Story
Due: July 24, 2011
E-Portfolio assignment #5 Digital Story: The Impact of Evidence-based Medical Decisions
My digital story is available as a link directly to the Prezi site at: http://prezi.com/jxtzb5d9df3s/the-impact-of-evidence-based-medical-decisions/?auth_key=8d25f12a1095af149ea33deb0a076c8007255f4e
Why is this story worth telling: what does it contribute to student learning? What is your pedagogical rationale for doing this?
With the increasing importance of hospital staff providing the best possible patient care, this story is worth telling since using evidence to inform a practitioner’s decision-making is critical as it has a profound impact on the lives of others. As Leopold (2010) states digital media storytelling has many educational benefits as it enhances students’ “imagination, creativity, critical thinking, writing, public speaking, organizational and planning skills.” It contributes to students’ learning by introducing them to topics on providing evidence-based care by searching for information using effective search strategies. My pedagogical rationale for digital storytelling is rooted in the National Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for Teachers (NETS) (2008) and Chickering and Gamson’s (1987, 1996) seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education and using technology as a lever. I used both fundamental structures as a general foundation for crafting my digital story and to consider the selection of possible Web 2.0 storytellling tools from Alan Levine’s CogDogRoo site. Furthermore, Bates and Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework was particularly helpful for analyzing and comparing tools that I had narrowed down based on the technical requirements that my story needed. In addition, I found Rossiter & Garcia’s (2010) review of the literature on how digital storytelling is being used in a variety of settings including education and healthcare to be informative in my decision to combine narrative and technology to use in my educational practice.
In detail below are my 2 major pedagogical considerations of digital storytelling using the NETS (2008) framework:
1- Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity:
Using my knowledge of my subject matter (i.e. healthcare, search skills using medical databases, finding the appropriate level of evidence for clinical decision-making, critical appraisal skills, etc) I wanted to help motivate student learning and engage them in exploring real-world issues in an authentic manner, resolving issues using digital search tools and library resources.
2- Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments:
In order to trigger the development and foster an inquiry-based learning using the curiosity of the learner, I utilized appropriate digital tools that would help support student learning objectives. Developing technology-enriched learning environments to enable students to pursue their own, personal learning goals was an important consideration for me as I crafted my digital story and decided which Web 2.0 tool to use. Not only did I weigh the educational affordances of using Prezi to teach, but I also considered how students could use the tool to develop and share their stories as a collaborative group in which we can all learn from one another.
Why was this the right tool for you to use to tell your story? Explain how you purposefully selected your tool based on its functionality and your requirements.
I purposefully selected this tool by using the Bates and Poole (2003) SECTIONS framework to help me make my informed decision. After drafting my story outline, I examined each of the tools listed on the CogDogRoo site and narrowed it down to two potential Web 2.0 storytelling tools which I compared: Animoto vs. Prezi. Ultimately, it was the limitation of using a certain number of characters as my narrative text in Animoto that led me to crossover to Prezi as it offered the appropriate level of functionality and met my story’s requirements. My analysis of Prezi is provided below using the Bates and Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework which includes all of the following considerations:
S- Students- can access this site (Prezi.com) to view, create and share their own digital stories.
E- Ease of Use and Reliability- this digital storytelling tool offers an intuitive layout but also provides a useful tutorial to help get started on crafting a story/presentation, quick “cheat sheets” with tips, and has a comprehensive help section for further assistance. It’s reliable to use as there’s no updates required and work is auto-saved as you use it. All work is saved on “the cloud” and does not require additional tools or modifications which also contributes to its ease of use.
C- Cost- This is a freely available tool, as students and teachers can sign up for the educational license (Edu Enjoy) which has more features than the Public version and is still free. Also, there is the added option of upgrading to “Edu Pro” which offers 3 additional features of working offline, tech support and increased storage space for a cost of $59 per year. I found that using the Edu Enjoy package had great functionality at zero cost.
T- Teaching and Learning- Prezi can be used to create and share digital stories, presentations, etc among students and educators. It inspires creativity and there is no limit as to the content of what an individual can develop. Sharing information in this manner also offers another way for students to learn from each other and helps to further develop a supportive online learning community.
O- Organizational Issues- Technical support is available for users but may not be required as there are help forums to obtain assistance with using the tool.
N- Novelty- This product was initiated by an architect named Adam Somlai-Fischer and was launched by CEO Peter Arvai in 2009. This tool would appeal to learners and educators as it is current, widely used by a range of public including educators and students, as well as its appealing innovative format of changing the dynamics of traditional presentation software. It would certainly engage and motivate students to use it to create/share their own stories/presentations.
S- Speed- Technology enables work to be saved automatically and the contents are stored in the cloud. Users can quickly go from editing to viewing their Prezis and it allows for flexibility to make further changes to it as necessary.
Also, based on a cursory search of the literature on digital storytelling in practice, I found that both Sheneman (2010) and Ohler (2006) emphasized how in order to achieve the desired results with digital storytelling applications, one must first decide which direction to take in creating their stories prior to technological considerations. Additionally, Ohler (2006) suggested that digital storytelling enhances the teaching power of storytelling by educating students on technical skills, engaging their level of interest, expanding the possibilities for student participation, and refining their skills in critical thinking, expository writing and media literacy. Thus, I when I was creating my story, my purpose was tri-fold: 1) t to incorporate a way that it could be used to illustrate a story that students could relate to on the impact of using evidence to inform their decision-making which is central to patient care, 2) to use it as a marketing tool to promote library services particularly that of a medical librarian, and 3) to fulfill the course requirements of using a Web 2.0 cloud-based digital storytelling application from the CogDogRoo site. Thus, I selected Prezi to convey my story as I could incorporate the use of text-based narratives, associated imagery, and an embedded YouTube video to tie everything together.
What are the strengths of a storytelling approach? What are the limitations?
The strengths of a storytelling approach include inspiring student dialogue, engaging their interest, and enhancing an instructional session as it can be used to introduce topics and ideas. According to Rossiter & Garcia (2010) the contributions of digital storytelling to adult education is that it is becoming a powerful force in educational practice as it is the ultimate combination of narrative and dynamic technology. Additionally, as Leopold (2010) states digital storytelling enables students to become “critical consumers of media” and helps strengthen their media literacy skills. Practicing storytelling skills by creating digital media stories helps utilize these tools as powers of persuasion. It also emphasizes the important of critically analysis considering the subject matter and the audience for their story. Furthermore, digital storytelling helps educators and students alike to hone in on their creative skills and offers a learning opportunity to practice using new tools that students may be unfamiliar with.
In terms of limitations, I found that crafting my story to be succinct was challenging at times. Storytelling truly makes you re-focus in terms of weighing the importance of each and every word that you use to convey your message. At the same time, storytelling may lack enough detail for the reader to fully understand concepts but the primary focus may then be to get across a few general messages as starting points to initiate a deeper conversation/teaching session. Also, another limitation may be the technical challenges that students have accessing or using digital stories as their comfort level and experiences may vary from student to student. Additionally, the limitation of time may pose a challenge as the expected level of engagement with a digital story may decrease as the story may be overly long in its duration. Capturing the essence of story into digitized form may also experience issues such as lack of clarity, points getting lost in translation, and particularly knowing that the digital story is in “the cloud” there may be potential access issues to contend with.
However, overall I felt that think that using Prezi for the first time helped me draw upon and reflect on my recent experience working on a literature for a staff member. In keeping with privacy concerns, I developed fictitious characters in a story format based off a concept, and elaborated on the context a bit further by making up elements of my story using narrative text. Yet, I found that using elements of a practical experience was an important aspect for me as it makes for a more authentic learning experience for both students and educators. I think that using digital stories will be beneficial to healthcare practitioners to not only engage them in dialogue about topics (as a conversation starter), but also segway nicely into a common theme or topic that can be delved into on modules in the Moodle site as well as an overall marketing tool about how medical librarians, as part of a multidisciplinary care team, can truly make a difference at the level of decision-making and provision of high quality patient-care services.
References
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. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7. Retrieved from http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6. Retrieved from http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National educational technology standards for teachers 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
Leopold, L. (2010). Digital media stories for persuasion. Communication Teacher, 24(4), 187-191.
Levine, A. (2007). CogDogRoo story tools: The fifty tools. Retrieved from http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools
Ohler, J. (2006). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 44-47.
Prezi. (2011). About us. Retrieved from http://prezi.com/about/
Prezi. (2011). Terms of use. Retrieved from http://prezi.com/terms-of-use/
Rossiter, M. & Garcia, P.A. (2010). Digital storytelling: A new player on the narrative field. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 126, 37-48.
Sheneman, L. (2010). Digital storytelling: How to get the best results. School Library Monthly, 27(1), 40-42.