Using Digital Stories in the classroom is a pinnacle of Project Based Learning (PBL). By encouraging our students to engage in a topic by having to write a story, then produce a product that shows their learning, we are allowing them access higher level thought processes, as well as take pride in accomplishment.
John Thomas (2000) in his review of PBL came up with 5 key elements to identify when a project can qualify as PBL. Though I recognize that this assignment is not on PBL, I believe when we use Digital Stories in the classroom we should be encouraging our students to do similar projects, and if we are to engage our students in projects, we need to ensure that we are filling all of the necessary criterion. So, the 5 key elements of effective PBL are:
- PBL Projects are Central, not peripheral to the curriculum.
- PBL projects are focused on questions or problems that “drive” students to encounter (and struggle with) the central concepts and principles of a discipline.
- Projects involve students in a constructive investigation
- Projects are student-driven to some significant degree
- Projects are realistic, not school-like
These 5 elements are key when designing not only a story to present to students, but also as a deciding factory when selecting a technology to use – will students be able to meet the criterion laid out in those 5 points as their work on their projects.
As I prepared my digital story I really struggled with the terms of the assignment. In reading the instructions I understood that this wasn’t meant to simply be a digital stand and deliver replacement, yet everything we do needs to have a spectrum of education. As noted above, PBL projects must be central to the curriculm, therefore I couldn’t stray too far from what I would cover in a course, yet I wanted to be able to present more than what I might be able in standard teaching methods. I wanted the project to relate to the message on a more personal level.
As I considered the technology that was available for Web 2.0 I decided to use Goanimate.com, partially because I had used it before, but also because I knew it was capable of doing what I wanted to have done. I also wanted to use a product that I knew would engage my students, and be accessible for them to create and do the same. I believe that If I am to use digital stories in my class, I would want to extend the assignment to students, and therefore the product I use needs to be be usable by students without too much guidance. From this experience, as well as the other experiences that I have had with the product, I believe that it is a product that students could log into and have a story created easily within a single class time frame. The drag and drop features, as well as the ability to convert text-speech, allow for a simple yet powerful presentation for our students.
You will notice below that I have actually posted two different videos. I have been torn over which I should present based on the difficulty in understanding what exactly a digital story is. Can some lecturing be involved without removing the storyline? From the conversations within the discussion board I became hesitant with my first story “The Predicate”. Near the end of the clip John is explainign to Sally what a predicate is, and it does come across as being rather instructive – however, I couldn’t find another way to resolve Sally perdicament without instruction. So in fear of too much “instruction” I created – “La quinceañera” the story of a young girls passage into womanhood through a celebratory 15th birthday – a custom prolific throughout Latin America. This story is narrated by a girl named Graciela, who is preparing for her own quinceañera, and Graciela walks you through different parts of the event, from a mass to an evening dinner and dance. This story was intended to show a cultural view of Latin America, to support language learning through culture instruction.
I believe that both of these topics could be easily assigned to groups of students to repeat as personal projects. Students would be able to create their own scripts, based on either something learned in class, or something that they have learned themselves about Spanish language and culture. Students could then make their own free goanimate accounts and PRODUCE content that is applicable to both the curriculum, and hopefully engage them in a product that is fun and educational.
So, I hope that you enjoy my videos! Leave a comment if you would like, I would love to hear what you think.
Thomas, J.W. (2000) A review of Research on Project-Based Learning. Accessed online July 23, 2013 http://www.ri.net/middletown/mef/linksresources/documents/researchreviewPBL_070226.pdf
My Digital Stories
Digital story telling by mateohull on GoAnimate – If you cannot view the story in this blog click here
la quinceañera by mateohull on GoAnimate If you cannot view the story in this blog click here