Digital Storytelling Reflection
Our latest assignment was to peruse a variety of Web 2.0 tools and choose one to create our own digital story. Using the web tool, PhotoPeach I created a story called A Trip to the Beach about a group of students looking at the wildlife at the beach and forest.
Here are some questions and answers about the process of making this digital story:
Why was this the right tool for you to use to tell your story, particularly from a pedagogical perspective?
When considering technology to use for a digital story I go back to one of my favorite frameworks for technology selection, Bates and Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS framework.
Students: Is PhotoPeach a tool that students could readily use? I think most upper elementary students could use PhotoPeach with a minimum of guidance to create a simple digital story.
Ease of Use: PhotoPeach was simple to set up and arrange a rich slideshow. The editing page shows all your images in one spot, which makes it simple to drag and arrange the pictures into a cohesive story. It is also simple to add captions and music.
Cost: This tool is free to all users for up to 20 photos. If more pictures are wanted, upgrading to a premium account will cost three dollars.
Teaching and Learning: This is an excellent tool for teaching as visual images can enhance a student’s understanding of a topic or clarify difficult concepts. It can also be used as an anticipatory ‘hook’ for students who may be preparing to be involved in a similar experience. As a learning tool, students can improve their own digital literacy, they can learn how to organize their ideas and create their own personal narrative. Their story can be published on the web to allow for peer critiquing.
Interactivity: PhotoPeach is highly interactive. Users can add, delete, arrange and edit their own story.
Organization: PhotoPeach is set up in a simple three step process: download pictures, arrange and edit. As described in the Ease of Use Section, PhotoPeach puts all the photos initially on one page which makes it very easy to see all the pictures and arrange as desired.
Novelty: This tool will be a fresh new experience for most students and teachers.
Speed: PhotoPeach is quick and easy to learn, use and edit.
How did you purposefully select this for your storytelling tool?
Probably the trickiest part of this assignment was choosing a tool from the fifty or so tools offered in Alan Levine’s site http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools I took a look at a couple of tools initially and thought about what story I would like to tell. I asked myself what experiences have had the greatest impact on my students in the past. Experiential outdoor education is often impactful on students so why not tell a story about it? I gathered images out of my own library and then set out to apply these stories to different web tools. My first go was with Empressr I signed up, downloaded some pictures and then decided to add audio to my slide show. I used Garage Band to record something to go with the slide but then discover Empressr won’t accept his kind of file so I spend a good 40 minutes trying to convert my audio file to an MP3 file. It was at that point that I realized Empressr allows you to do your own voice-overs. (!) After arranging my pictures, recording my voice over each slide and clicking preview, nothing seemed to come out in order or advance smoothly. I checked and re-checked my settings watched video tutorials but could not unravel the errors. At this point I decided it was time to move on to another tool.
A few tools I was hoping to try are now defunct (‘tickatok” Shwup/moovee and slide.com), a few require a fee for anything longer than 30 seconds (Animoto and one tree media). I then considered using a Prezi. This is a fun tool that can be used for a non-linear type story but I have used Prezi before, and considering my purpose here is to learn as much as possible, it made sense to me to try something new. This seemingly long journey brought me to PhotoPeach.
How does this story work within a course that you teach (or would like to teach) using sound pedagogical arguments?
I could use this digital story in a variety of ways. In the Ecology section of grade 7 Science this story could expose students to organisms in a marine and forest ecosystem. They could easily create a food chain and food web with some of the organisms shown. They could also choose one of the organisms shown in the story and do their own research reports on it. I can also see using this story as an example for students when making their own digital story. Finally, I could use this story as a preview to a field trip to the beach. Students could see what to expect in terms of terrain, how to dress properly and what creatures to look for.
References:
Bates, A.W., & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: A framework for selecting and using technology. Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. 79-80. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers