Digital Story
This is my story using “xtra normal-Text-to-Movie”.
Reflection on Social Media Creation
Why did you choose this particular tool?
I found myself playing with all 66 tools on the CogDogRoo web-site. I watched as each tool displayed the Dominoe presentation and wondered aloud if another tool could present it in a more appealing manner. Honestly, I was impressed with almost all the tools that were before me. The ease of use, and the simplicity of most interfaces, made the navigating of each tool a fun exercise to engage in.
I did however, have some criteria in mind for my consideration as the tool that I would use for my presentation. The following criteria (List 1) guided my digital tool selection. I used a simple matrix, where 4 points indicated excellent, 3 points was very good, 2 points was good, and 1 point indicated a satisfactory digital tool. Before using all five criteria on all the tools, I only used criteria v) on the 66 tools, and ended up finalizing 11 tools for my consideration. I then applied the entire array of criteria to the remaining 11 tools, and ended up selecting my preferred tool-“extra normal”. I guess you could say criteria v) was my filter/weeding out tool. I concluded that I needed to use this method of tool selection because I was considering all (66 tools) the digital tools for my story. I chose to use the ‘xtra normal’ tool because it seemed to comply most with my List 1 criteria.
List 1 Criteria
i) My perception of how network/computer intensive the tool appeared to be (I teach within a predominantly wireless school environment)
ii) Ease of use with respect to creating a presentation within a few minutes (10-15 minutes)
iii) With our network infrastructure locked down, no ability to upload files/images to individual computers, I wanted a tool that was web-based in all aspects
iv) My evaluation of how motivating the tool would be for my student population (creativity, interactivity, multi-media intensive (audio, images, video, text)
v) Overall interesting/fun appearance to tool (Wow factor, ‘hooking’ the user)
After selecting my digital tool by using the criteria in List 1, I analyzed the ‘xtra-normal’ tool through the criteria of the S.E.C.T.I.O.N.S. model (Bates A. W. & Poole, G., 2003).
S – Students: What is known about the students – or potential students – and the appropriateness of the technology for this particular group or range of students?
I believe that the `xtra-normal` digital tool would be an excellent application for my grade six students. Almost all of my students have watched a movie on You Tube at some point, and some have even posted a movie to the service using different forms of movie making software. It is my impression that students would be highly motivated to develop an online 3-dimensional movie. My students have made movies before using imovie and iDVD, therefore some of the features within `xtra-normal`will be familiar to them (transitions between slides for example) My students regularly publish their work to the class web-site, and I think that they would be very eager to develop a 3-dimensional story for others to view and comment on.
E – Ease of use and reliability: how easy is it for both teachers and students to use? How reliable and well tested is the technology?
I found the digital application (`xtra-normal`) extremely easy to use. The user interface was on the left hand side the start-up page and the preview screen was on the right side. As you added different elements to your story, you could render your modifications, and then play your story to see the progress that you had made. This process was very intuitive as I modified several elements simultaneously.
My son is in grade 4, and he observed me using the software. He asked me if he could create a movie himself. I purposely gave him only brief instructions as how to use the application. Within 5 minutes he had begun to minimally create some dialogue with actor movements within his chosen scenery. He had created a 50 second, 3-dimensional story with 2 actors, all within 60 minutes. On `the xtra-normal` web-site there were examples of student created movies that could be viewed by others, so as to gain a sense of the software’s potential. I was able to use the web-based application on both, my ‘Windows’ and ‘Mac’ computers. The application worked exactly the same on both these different models. As well, there was no difference in whichever browser I chose to run the tool in. This tool was quite versatile depending on the model of computer, and browser that I was using.
C – Costs: what is the cost structure of each technology? What is the unit cost per learner?
The ‘xtra-normal’ tool is free for personal use. There is also a premium version costing $5 per user, per month (with automatic monthly renewing). A reduced premium price is available to users who purchase the 12 month subscription ($39.99 per user) in advance. There is also a commercial subscription price ($239.99 per annum), for businesses interested in developing movies.
T – Teaching and Learning: What kinds of learning are needed? What instructional approaches will best meet these needs? What are the best technologies for supporting this teaching and learning?
The ‘xtra-normal’ web-based solution is very easy to use. It’s my impression that students in grades 3 and higher could make 3-dimensional stories with little instruction coming from the teacher at the onset of a story building activity. Essentially, the tool is a point and click activity, with the typing of words into a pre-made text box for the script portion of the movie. Now, incorrectly spelled words within the text-box will be translated as they are spelled. Therefore, the audio coming from each actor in the story will sound inaccurate, rendering the story incomplete and hard to follow. Therefore, teachers will need to have strategies in place that scaffold a student’s ability to find the appropriate spelling for all the words that they plan on using in their story. For example, a teacher may decide on having 20 words that the class is proficient in spelling, as the only words that can be used for story building. These words could be written on a ‘word wall’ for all students to observe as they build their script for their 3-dimensional movie. In my school, students in grades 3 through 7 typically receive between 60-90 minutes of technology instruction per week. As I stated earlier, the ‘xtra-normal solution is mainly pointing and clicking the mouse pointer to activate and create a 3-d story, with some typing involved as well. These skills are well within the technological repertoire of students in these grades, and I believe that students will be able to navigate the program with relative ease.
I – Interactivity: what kind of interaction does this technology enable?
This digital tool can be published by attaching the direct link to a user’s story to any external web-site on the World Wide Web. A user has to only click onto the active link to be directed to the ‘xtra-normal’ web-site, where the user’s digital story will load within seconds, and can be played within all the major web browsers (I tested, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer). A user can also embed his/her story by using the HTML generated code that ‘xtra-normal’ provides. This feature is rather useful as the story will load almost instantly when a user goes to the appropriate web-site to view it. This feature would benefit some users who may be accessing the internet from behind a restrictive ‘firewall’. The ‘xtra-normal’ digital tool also gives users the ability to share their stories using the Facebook, You Tube, and myspace platforms. With the massive adoption of these web 2.0 tools; users can publish their work to an even greater captive audience.
O – Organizational issues: What are the organizational requirements and the barriers to be removed before this technology can be used successfully? What changes in organization need to be made?
I didn’t see any organizational issues that needed to be resolved before implementing this kind of technology. Even though, the free version of the application is limited in functionality and features, students could still produce some interesting digital stories. As long as an educator in my district can see educational value in a piece of technology, as it relates to improving student learning, then the technology can be adopted by the individual teacher. As for being able to publish the digital work while at school, to the Facebook, You Tube, and myspace platforms, this is an issue which I do not readily have an answer. I would like to have this issue clarified, because a student could easily access their account from home, and publish their work to You Tube from their bedroom. How do I resolve privacy issues if a student works on their story at school, and then publishes their work while at home to a site that the district disapproves of?
N – Novelty: how new is this technology?
The Xtranormal Technology Inc, corporation began offering their service to the greater internet community during the year 2006. The xtra-normal tool is regularly updated, with a new version called ‘STATE’ coming out this calendar year.
S – Speed: how quickly can courses be mounted with this technology? How quickly can materials be changed?
As I mentioned earlier, my 10 year old son was able to create an imaginative story lasting for 50 seconds, in a total build time of approximately 60 minutes. In the past, my grade 6 class has buddied up with a kindergarten class for various school activities. I am confident that my students could guide and assist these 5 and 6 year olds to develop a simple, yet attractive 3-dimensional story. There is a remix function attached to each story created, and the modifying of story elements is just as intuitive as when a user first creates the original story.
I discovered that my choice of digital tool was an excellent way for me to briefly tell my adopted daughter’s story. Recently, I have been meaning to develop an account of her journey and decided that this assignment was the perfect venue for my thoughts. I found myself visualizing and mentally playing the story through my head multiple times. I travelled clear across the world and back, in seconds, many times throughout my mental storyboard. I wanted to storyboard my ideas by using an 11×14 sheet of paper with a table like format (5 columns by three rows for example), where I could draw and list my ideas. I refrained from doing this initially, because I didn’t want to get stuck trying to fit ideas within the confined space on my storyboard template. I, therefore, storyboarded the project within my head, free of those little boxes. After a few hours of thinking of the journey to adopt our daughter, I used the paper storyboard template to assist in my story creation.
I systematically went through all the features and functionality of the ‘extra normal’ digital tool before I began to build my presentation. As I started to build my story I discovered that I was ‘chunking’ the building process. First, I developed my script using Ms Word, and then I copied each segment of dialogue into a new text box on the tool. I then assessed all the available camera angles (10 in total) for their appropriateness with respect to criteria ii, iv, and v. I then chose 5 angles to use throughout the project. This type of process was used for the other features of the tool, such as the expression and animation functions. I found that I needed to quickly evaluate each function embedded within my tool so I could manage my build time effectively. I discovered that I needed to render (playing the story with the latest modifications) the entire project, every time I made a change to my design. In this way I could see my changes immediately, though it took longer for me to complete my presentation in this way. I just couldn’t complete the entire project (script, expressions, camera angles, looks, and points, audio) and render it at the end, play it, and then publish the final product. I suspect I would have saved 2 hours of build time if I would have reduced the amount of renderings that I did.
Although I am use to completing assignments and projects in a non-linear manner, I did notice that I was proceeding in a linear fashion when building my story. I started with the first feature of the tool, and proceeded to complete the others in a sequential manner (I started with 1, then 2, etc…). I wondered if this approach may have stifled my creativity. My motivation was intact during this process, and I don’t think that the project suffered creatively because of my chosen methods. In fact, I think that all the rendering that I did, helped me link all the story events more accurately,
How did the tool impact the manner in which you told your story (perhaps in a way that is different had you just used text or related the story using your voice)?
The impact of selecting the ‘xtra-normal’ tool to tell Salina’s story was that it allowed me to tell her story from her hypothetical point of view. Instead of me reading a story about her journey to my class, I was able to develop a story told from her perspective. In addition, the 3-dimensional nature of the story added a measure of realism, not possible from a mere reading of text to an eager group of students. Although, some would argue that a good story teller can bring any story alive to an audience. However, the visual effect of seeing the little girl move about the screen, and talk about her life, would energize and bring alive her message to any audience. I found that, not only did I rehearse and refine my story as I was preparing the script, but I also reflected and modified the tale based on the various multimedia elements that I embedded within her story. This further reflective practice that allowed me to enhance her story would not have occurred if I had only developed a text based version of her journey.
How might you use such tools in your own teaching to produce materials for students?
I think that this tool has the potential to afford students with materials that are engaging, creative and motivating. I think students could be encouraged and assisted to develop a personal story of themselves that could be shared with their peers at the beginning of the school year. This story could essentially be an ‘ice-breaker’ for the entire class helping to introduce the entire student body.
I would not be developing materials for students, as I would be encouraging them to engage in the building of stories independently, and in collaboration with their peers. The engaging interface affords all types of learners with a stimulating environment to produce interesting stories. Students that are good writers can concentrate on the script portion of the activity, while others that are able to blend various audio clips within the story to compliment the script can also benefit from the program. There is a little something for all learners within the ‘xtra-normal’ application.
How might students be given access to the same authoring tools?
This is a web-based tool which doesn’t need to physically reside on any personal computer. The fact that it can be accessed from the internet by utilizing a web-browser (I successfully tested Firefox, Safari and IE7) makes this solution very user friendly. Almost all computers that are purchased today have 1 or more browsers already pre-loaded onto them. As long as the user has installed Adobe Flash Player, the digital tool will properly display the movie through the user’s browser.
What kind of impact would you expect to see in your students in terms of motivation, creativity, or any other characteristics?
I definitely would expect my students to be highly motivated and engaged when interacting with this application. This year’s students showed an aptitude when working with information technology. They were quick to learn how to use various programs, (Garage Band, Comic Life, imovie and iDVD) and they creatively developed their knowledge by using these applications in the service of enhancing their learning across several subject areas. For example, I had my students reflect throughout the year on their learning, and they used Comic Life to document this knowledge through a comic strip format. Students created 6 stories in total, and their was a significant improvement in the quality of their writing as they developed each subsequent comic strip. This program would help students spend more on-task time on assignments given to them. Over the past 4 days, I have watched my son progressively spend more time using the program to enhance his story. I have a first hand account of the motivating effect that this web-based application has on learners.
Describe how a story-telling approach would work within a course that you teach (or would like to teach) using sound pedagogical arguments.
I think that students would benefit greatly if they were engaged within a story-telling environment by using the ‘xtra-normal’ application. Students could create 3-dimensional movies that would tell of their learning for any assignment, in any particular curricular subject. For instance, students could follow a set of criteria when developing their story, which would essentially be a type of formative assessment. Students could be directed to build the story at certain stages of the unit of study, thereby allowing the teacher to monitor their understanding of the material. This 3-dimensional movie would guide instruction, because the teacher could monitor their understanding of the material by watching the content presented within the stories. I could then provide feedback to students guiding them to enhanced learning, or steering them away from potential misunderstanding.
Another way that a story-telling approach could work within my educational program is that students could build their stories collaboratively, using different computer and browser systems. The web-based nature of the software permits greater flexibility in that students do not need to worry about having identical software and hardware to be able to work together on the project. This levelling of the technological playing field would also support diversity in student learning needs and styles. The collaborative nature of the project would promote a pooling of ideas that would benefit the group in helping to expand the content and creativity of the story.
By having a blog set-up for students to comment, critique and offer feedback to their peers based on their observation of each other’s work, peer support would be enhanced for all groups. Peer feedback could be structured in a manner that group’s must reflect on the information provided to them, further analyzing if the information given would benefit their project. Students would discover that their time-on-task would increase when working with the xtra-normal application. Its ease of use and student centred format would help them develop 3-dimensional stories that would resonate greatly with their own voice. Continuing with the theme of formative assessment that I described above, students could remix their stories indefinitely, giving them the ability to further transform their stories as their knowledge changed on the subject.
Bates A. W. & Poole, G. (2003). A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In A.W. Bates & G. Poole, Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education (pp. 75-108). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 4.