Okay. Ignore my Tikatok example. I have always believed in not erasing because at some point there might be something that could be used down the road. Besides it wastes time too.
After reading the many comments and watching other digital stories I went back to re-do mine as it was published in PDF and not the cloud. I went back and tried My Storymaker and got through half before realizing it is a PDF download too. Then I tried StoryJumper. Loved this program! I had more fun putting together my Moses story and felt it was more complete than my last attempt. I tried to make Moses a Super Hero and the Pharaoh was the evil villain. After looking at again, one would think it looks like a South Park episode without the inappropriate language.
The story of Super Moses
The story I chose was worth telling because it was an important piece in ancient history. The first fight for slavery in ancient times and the apparent power found in the word of God. How does it contribute to student learning? Well, I think it’s more about finding a cool medium for students to retell such a story in their own words and pictures. A modern representation of a historical drama. I feel that the classic retell, word for word, of any piece of history is dead. If we want our past to continue with today’s students, there has to be 21st Century activities that allow for creativity in presenting what they understand happened in the past. There also has to be a way to make such activities relevant. Students are always asking, “Why do we need to know this?”. Using this medium I was limited to what StoryJumper had to offer, hence the reason I went with the super hero idea.
I finally ended up using StoryJumper because it had many of the features I was looking for. This web tool really made me think outside the box to be able to tell the story I wanted to tell. This is made it more challenging, but exciting at the same time. In my mind I was hoping to depict the characters as they were in the original story, but because StoryJumper has limitations in characters, settings, and extras, I went with a different angle. Being able to add your own text bubbles ensures the historical pieces aren’t left out and that is what is important.
The strengths of story telling is and can be amazing. It can really test a students ability to show their understanding of what they read. Putting content in their own words helps students understand and retain the material and provide some relevance to their studies. It makes sense to them. The Aboriginal people are amazing storytellers and they have so many to share. I could just imagine if many of the elders were shown some of the web 2.0 tools, how their stories could be preserved for centuries and presented in a way that many of our youth would be more inclined to listen. Students would probably think they’re cool!
Classic story telling needs to change if we want to preserve the meaning and benefits it brings. Using web 2.0 tools can do this. Video, storybooks, webs, slideshows. It’s an exciting time and great way to keep our past alive with today’s children.
This was my first attempt at digital storytelling.
I chose to use Tikatok to publish my digital story. I decided to use this program because it looked interesting and I was looking for an online story maker where students could easily write, upload photos and publish work. I have used Animoto, Xrtanormal, Prezi, and many others, but wanted something similar in outcome to current classroom work. I have found that that many of the web 2.0 tools that students are using are just search for pics, insert, add some music, and viola you have a story. I see the creativity and value in doing this, but not for every project.
I used Tikatok as if I was the student using it for the first time (hence the story isn’t fantastic) and it was part of the Ancient Egypt Unit I have been putting together for my Moodle Course. It is the story of Moses, as part of a series entitled “Ancient Egyptian Cops”. It is meant as a spoof, but with historical content.
I apologize for the watermark, but when I was about to buy a digital copy it rejected me because it wouldn’t allow non-US downloads. I’m sure they are working on it. It will download as a PDF.
I understand your frustration with some of the tools out there Darren – but I applaud you for sticking with it anyway. I ran into that for some of the new tools I see links for and found it very time consuming – so I tend to go back to my old reliables instead of persevering. Students love using technology to write their stories and giving them any kind of new tool re-energizes them to keep at it.
Hi Darren,
I think this is an effective tool, and even though it may have a Power Point feel to it, many kids will enjoy using it. The “book” effect it provides would be great for printing and publishing students work. This tool might be great for younger students (primary) who are just learning to use digital technologies to show their learning.
Cheers,
Stephen
Hi Darren,
I did not know this tool! It sounds a very good one for some specific kind of projects. I see a lot of potential as it is taking much more effort to work with such a tool.
I think it is a good thing to show students that we have already used the tool prior to ask them do something with it. It also shows us, in advance, the good and the bads of that particular tool, so we can avoid it when non appropriate for our students.
I am looking forward to see the rest of your story.
Johanne
Sounds like there are a few glitches with using this. I notice there was a lot of green pages… are these place holders for other content? Is the barcode at the start generated by the program? Great start!
That was the background I had chosen. Again not much choice.
Darren
Neat way to present an idea and interesting to be able to download a pdf to keep afterwords. Interesting software and I like the fun take on ancient history.
~ken