Rationale for my story:
I chose to write this particular story for many different reasons. My main reason for writing a story about a boy who travels into space, was because I am creating a unit about space and space travel and I thought this story would a be a good tool. This story allowed for me to use a different means for teaching students factual information that would be engaging. The other reason I chose to write this story is because this story focuses on dreams and aspirations. I want students who read this book to get the message that it is good to have aspiration and to strive for things. The book also conveys that not everything is exactly what you think it will be. Hence, not only would this book help in concept delivery but it would also help in teaching life skills.
I believe this type of learning tool contributes to students learning by exposing them to content in a different manner. It reaches out to different learners due to the way in which it is delivered. It also may result in more engagement because the content is not deliverer in a dry manner. The visuals and creativity involved can help students who struggle with focussing their attention. This form of content delivery also teaches students that they too can explore with such tools and use them as a means to share and convey their ideas and thoughts. It encourages them to be creative and innovative while exposing them to online tools that can help broaden their technological capabilities.
Rationale for the program used to create this story:
I believe Tikatock has all the right components and capabilities for my digital story. I wanted to be able to make my story visual and to allow for reader interpretation. I also wanted to be able to incorporate factual information which I was able to do using this program. I liked the set up of the program and found it to be very user friendly. There were a few minor issues such as limited pictures in the photo gallery but these could be overcome because I was able to upload pictures. The only downfall I see in this program is that it does not allow for audio to be used with the books. I think audio is a an important component when using online resources because there are some students who have varying needs and they may benefit from text that they can hear.
I looked at many options before choosing Tikatock to create my story. I decided on this tool because it is user friendly, it allows for written text and visuals and it is customizable. I wanted to work with a program that was new to me and that would teach me new skills and that is what I achieved when I worked with this program. I also wanted to use a program that is user friendly for kids. I felt that it would be an asset for me to know how to use a program that I could use with my students in the future and that is why I chose to use this program.
Strengths and weaknesses of a storytelling approach:
This story telling approach has many strengths. It allows for expression in more than one way. Students can write out their thoughts and they can also use visuals to express their thoughts. This means of conveying thoughts allows students to be creative and expressive. It can also help keep students with focus issues engaged. It can foster creativity and help encourage disheartened learners. Story telling can be visual, auditory, etc. Hence, it reaches out to all types of learners.
The main limitation I see with using a tool such as Tikatok to create a story is that students who struggle with reading and writing would have a very hard time creating a story. There is no audio component in this tool that could help students with reading and writing issues. Story telling also does not allow for enough content to be covered. A story can incorporate a limited amount of information because it would become too long and boring if it had too much information.
Below is the Digital Story I created using Tikatok.
You can also see an enlarged copy of this story by clicking on the following link: http://www.tikatok.com/view/shared/168cee3e176ec2b67c82cee05b3db564
~~~~CREDIT~~~~
The images used in this book were either created by me using the program ‘Windows Paint’, selected from the TikaTok photo gallery or downloaded from a creative common licensed photo collection.
Collections used:
http://www.imageafter.com
http://4freephotos.com
http://www.123rf.com