Digital Story
For my Foods & Nutrition 9 class I created a tour of the foods I love from around the world. Please select the image below and it will direct you to the tour. Enjoy!
Why was this right tool for you to use to tell your story?
Upon embarking on this project, I started with a basic idea of a project I wanted to develop for my Foods & Nutrition 9 class. I wanted students to:
• explore foods from various countries
• be able to show images
• be able to add text descriptions
• be able to link to websites
With these guidelines in mind, I used Bates and Poole’s (2002) SECTIONS model as I went through the Levine’s “50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story” website. There were many exciting tools that I came across and many were possible candidates for my story. I decided on Mapwing as it best fit the needs I had outlined using SECTIONS:
S – Students: I wanted a project that I could tell a story with that the students would find engaging and exciting. I have a passion for food (cooking and eating!) and I wanted to share that passion with my students. I love Mapwing as it pinpoints the countries on a world map and shows a series of images.
E – Ease of use and reliability: I wanted a tool that I would be able to use easily and would readily be available for students to view. I also want to turn my story into an assignment where the students get a chance to show the food that they love, so I wanted a tool that grade 9 students would be able to use with some instruction from me. I found Mapwing very easy to use and I believe that grade 9’s would be able to use it as well.
C – Cost: I was looking for a free tool, so that my students and I could all access it. Mapwing met this criteria.
T – Teaching and learning: I feel that the tool, Mapwing, is a simple, yet effective way for my students to explore foods from around the world. The ability to add images and link to websites brings additional information into the classroom that we are unable to acquire through textbook learning.
I – Interactivity: I wanted a tool that would engage students and help them connect to food that they love. One advantage of Mapwing is that students can click on any of my countries to start the tour. They can also go back to review any country or image. Mapwing also allows them to connect to links I have provided. For my tour, the links I provided were wiki’s that gave a more in-depth description of the cuisine from that particular country.
O – Organizational issues: I needed to find a tool that did not require me to download anything as the school computers do not allow students to do so. Mapwing is great as all the information is hosted online.
N – Novelty: I believe that Mapwing that my students would enjoy this tool and my story.
S – Speed: Mapwing is easy to use and make adjustments to.
Describe how a story-telling approach would work within a course that you teach.
Bransford, Brown and Cocking (1999) suggest four lenses to define learning and I will apply these to using Mapwing to tell a digital story (as cited in Anderson, 2008a).
1. Learner-Centred – The BC Foods and Nutrition curriculum states, “when planning for instruction and assessment in Foods and Nutrition 8 to 12, teachers should provide opportunities for students to develop literacy in relation to information and communications technology sources” (BC Ministry of Education). Using a digital story is an effective means for students to create an authentic learning experience. As a Constructivist teacher, I love assignments where students are the leaders of their own projects. Telling a digital story is a method that allows students to select the country and the ingredients or dishes that they love. To increase the educational value of the project, I would also get students to link to a recipe for each ingredient or dish.
2. Knowledge-Centred – Anderson comments that the Internet allows “expanded opportunities for learners to plunge ever deeper into knowledge resources…and find their own way around the knowledge” (p. 49). Students can use the Internet as a resource to explore cuisine and find images and recipes. It is often difficult for us to study different ethnic foods from textbooks and I am excited that this tool allows us to incorporate images and links to our knowledge pool.
3. Assessment-Centred – In terms of assessment, there will be informal assessment from peers as each student will present their story to the class. Mapwing provides a comment area where students can leave comments for each other. I will also do a formal assessment for each student.
4. Community-Centred –I believe that we construct knowledge through our formal and informal relationships. Students will learn about the cuisine that they love as they construct their own project, but they will also learn about the cuisine of others as they view their projects. I have done a similar project with students where they create a poster of the ingredients and dishes from a particular country and each time, I am exposed to cuisine that I was not familiar with.
One issue that I will have to review with my students is copyright of images and recipes. I primarily used Flickr for my image source and I would recommend that to students.
Reflection upon your experience completing this assignment.
This was one of the most useful assignments I have completed in the MET program. I love the Constructivist nature of the assignment as it allowed each MET student the freedom to develop a story that would be relevant to each of us.
“Mapwing makes it easy to build, share, and explore virtual tours. Use Mapwing to turn your digital photos into virtual tours that include interactive maps, images, and comments. Then, share your virtual tours with friends, clients, or the entire world.” (Mapwing)
Mapwing is a very user-friendly application. Users are only required to create a database of images that they want to use. Mapwing walks the user through each step of creating the tour. There are a number of advantages to this application. First, Mapwing has a built in function that compresses the images to a usable size. Second, text and links can then be added to each image. Third, Mapwing provides the option to link to the tour or embed the tour. Forth, Mapwing also provides a comment area where students can comment on each others presentations.
The application does have some disadvantages. First, the application is designed for tours, so each point can only have four pictures (the four directions – north, south, east, and west), so assignment must reflect this. Second, when completing the project, it says you can NOT make any changes. This is in fact, not true. I was able to go into the tour once complete and make many changes.
In conclusion, creating a digital story is an exciting way to engage my Foods 9 students and I will include this type of project in my next class. Mapwing was a simple and effective way to tell a story and I would recommend that others use this application.
References:
Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a Theory of Online Learning. In: T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Accessed online 5 June 2009 http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008_Anderson-Online_Learning.pdf
Anderson, T. (2008b). Teaching in an Online Learning Context. I In: T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Accessed online 5 June 2009 http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/14_Anderson_2008_Anderson-DeliveryQualitySupport.pdf
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).
BC Ministry of Education. (2008). Retrieved June 1, 2009 from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/he_foodnutri812.pdf.
Mapwing. (2008). Retrieved July 8, 2009 from http://www.mapwing.com/.