EDUC 5333 – Digital Storytelling

1. Based on your experience creating your own digital story, which of these proficiencies did you come to the closest to meeting? Provide support for this answer. 

The ISTE standards state that students should be empowered learners, meaning that “students should be able to leverage their knowledge of technology in taking an active role in choosing, demonstrating, and achieving competency in said learning goals.” (2016). When students demonstrate their understanding of the concepts via digital storytelling, they are taking control of their learning. The entire process of developing a digital story includes collaboration, reflection, and creating. Allowing students to work in the classroom, and from home thanks to the internet, allows for immediate feedback from peers. The authors stated that, “both teacher and peer collaboration foster a learning environment that functions as a community of leaners.” (2018). 

Letter ‘s 1.a and 1.b are the two proficiencies that I met while creating my digital story. I believe that the rubric assignment solidifies my proficiency of standards 1.a and 1b. By creating the rubrics, I was able to set my own personal learning goals. Proficiency 1.b was met through communicating with peers via blog collaborations and discussion board feedback. In this class Dr. Shannon fostered a network that supported the above learning process. We have met all the proficiencies listed above, throughout this course, but I will list these two as the ones that have had the greatest impact on me this semester.  

2. In what ways might digital storytelling support community members (students, staff, faculty, families) to become empowered learners? 

Digital Storytelling is an effective way to engage in discourse in and out of the classroom. Creating digital stories allows community members to convey their message in an alternative format, it’s all about options right. Once the community members see how easy it is to create a digital story, they will be more prone to incorporate them into their lives, specifically via collaboration. Many times, throughout the school year, community members, from students and parents to teachers and administrators work together towards a common goal. In some instances, digital storytelling can be used to demonstrate the needs of students. I also like how digital storytelling allows creators to put a personal touch on projects and presentations. 

3. How does a student-centered pedagogy like DST align with learning science research and research regarding student performance and achievement? 

According to Davis and Foely’s research, students are more likely to retain new information when there is a personal connection or something that may motivate students to understand and grasp concepts. Implementing digital stories students will be able to take control of their learning by connecting content to what matters most to them. Researchers observed 6 benefits of digital storytelling in the classroom. 

1. Student Self Reflection 

2. Improve in classroom performance I.e., collaboration participation, engagement 

3. Increase proficiency in writing, reading and speaking 

4. Increase content knowledge 

5. Increase technology skills 

6. Improvement of critical thinking skills 

Digital storytelling in the classroom creates a 21^st century learning environment where students can share their personal experiences with their peers while giving them the opportunity to build their knowledge of technology as well as the content that they are exploring. Each student has a unique way of telling a story and digital storytelling allows students to express themselves on a digital level. These skills learned are portable and students can apply them throughout their educational and life journeys.  

EDUC 5333 Week 5 Blog

1)  Discuss your progress on the digital story.  What is your plan to be prepared to share your story during the 7th week of class?  What do you need assistance with? 

I have been working on the final project at a diligent pace. I am still in the planning and building phase. I attended Monday’s virtual meeting and received some great ideas that will help me to build a hands-on digital biography of Nikola Tesla. I am excited and a little nervous to see how this turns out. I find that creating a digital story about a person can be pretty straight forward, tailoring to a high school audience maybe challenging. I plan on working on this project during the break, a few hours a day, I will need to learn how to use Canva!

2)  Review the resources for this week and discuss potential application tools for production of your story or use with students in your classroom.  

Anchor– I made a podcast in my previous course that I took with Dr. Shannon. Podcasts give students to be more hands-on while getting their ideas out.

Canva – I can use this tool free and it will enable me to create voice overs to my slides and add background music as well.

Imovie – The video states that Imovie is a great for a short documentary. Whats great is that, I currently have a mac computer, where Imovie come preinstalled.

WeMovie – Also great for documentaries. WeVideo is browser-based which makes it a good choice for Chromebook users and Windows users. I have a chrome browser and will look into this resource as a potential option.

Spark Video– This tool allows students to turn their powerpoint presentations into digital stories.

In a perfect world, I would prefer to work with one program that is all inclusive. This project is great as it is exposing me to an array of resources that I can use in the classroom. By learning about the many options available to me, I will have a working knowledge of different resources that I can employ throughout the school year.

Who is the authentic audience for your story?  Who will be impacted by it?  In what ways might this story resonate with this audience?

My authentic audience our students, Middle and high school students. Nikola Tesla’s story, if depicted properly can be used to motivate the youth. It simply depends what approach that I would like to take. In most science classes, biographies tend to be presented from an informative approach. I believe that by adding narration, special effects, digital transitions and music will catch students attention, plus Tesla is relevant and to some very cool! Students will be actively engaged via a interactive assessment.

What skills and knowledge have you developed as you create your story? 

This remains to be seen, I am still in the process of learning Canva. I would also like to play with Imovie/Wemovie more.

How might your community/students be impacted by engaging in digital storytelling?  What role can you play?

The process of collaborating with peers in the creation and sharing of a digital story will allow my learning community to grow their interpersonal skills. I believe that students will benefit from learning about one of the greatest inventors in the world, Nikola Tesla. They will also learn how to tell a story digitally using online tools that they can take with them and use in a variety of settings.

Anderson

Attached is my Digital Storytelling Project Plan, please give me all the constructive criticism you can!!

 As a science professional, I don’t have experience facilitating digital stories, each year I find myself wanting to learn more, because the students want to explore and take pride in their stories.  “MetKids – Our Words, Our Stories: Digital Storytelling Lab 2016” is what I selected to reflect and discuss for this blog post. The link did not work for me but I found the video on YouTube. I liked this option because there were an array of examples of digital stories in the video. A common theme that I noticed was the fact that collaboration took place throughout the video. Students were actively engaged and excited to learn, due to the fact that they were able to choose how they presented their digital story. Some students were drawing sketches while others worked on the computers, creating their own choose your own adventure stories. I think the students play an integral role in each part of this particular assignment, because each lesson had something that grabbed their attention. This included the following hands on activities, visiting museums, creating art, media lab, and sharing their story with the class.

The instructors do an excellent job of allowing the students the opportunity to take control of their learning via technology to make the assignments engaging. This is a great digital story, that I believe would be beneficial for all teachers to watch as it will give them an idea as to how implementing something like this could benefit all students involved. As I read through the text, I am beginning to see the value of digital stories in the classroom. Incorporating digital stories in lessons is essential in facilitating a classroom environment that serves all learning styles.

The website Twine allows students to interact with the, “Choose Your Own Adventure” story. I can relate to this as I loved reading these types of books as a youth. Like science, for every action there is a reaction. In this class the students created a digital story that gave them the ability to choose what will happen next in the story.  Depending on the reader, each ending to the story will be different based on choices that the reader made has they worked their way through the story. After, students could discuss their endings as a group or with their partner.

This activity address English & Language Arts via the following content standards(TEKS): The student understands principles of graphic design and illustration: 10E: analyze and apply art elements and principles in photographic works, multimedia applications, and digital and print media(TEKS, 2021). 10F: engage in inquiry to acquire, refine and share knowledge (TEKS, 2021). The teachers achieved these standard by facilitating a field trip to the museum where they were tasked with sketch an exhibit, use the media lab to create a unique design using a digital toolbox of resources. Students presented to the class.

The teacher used the students presentation as an assessment tool for the activity. I would assess the example in the video as meets expectations. I would recommend this video to any instructor who was ready to challenge his/her students. This digital story activity allows students to see content through a different lens while at the same time allow teachers to incorporate digital storying in their classroom on their terms.

 Texas essential knowledge and skills for kindergarten – grade 12 : 19 TAC Chapter 113, 19 TAC Chapter 118, social studies and economics. (2021). Austin, Tex. :Texas Education Agency,

Anderson

Hell my name is Anderson. I am currently in Texas. I am hoping to learn how technology can be incorporated in the classroom. Currently, I am in Houston, Tx. I understand the importance of using 21st century technology to keep students actively engaged in the learning process. It is my hope that I will be able to tell a story to my students about science using digital storytelling.

In my free time, I enjoy learning languages and traveling. One day I hope to be a successful teacher with a strong background in technology, regardless of the content, I want to be able to implement technology at every chance!

Regarding the ideas that I have about a story that I may develop in this course as it relates to science, is a story about reproduction. I could use Nearpod/podcast platform or a different resource to help students learn about reproduction.

I value virtual learning environments (VLE), especially after the pandemic. I have been doing my best to incorporate VLE’s into my classroom. I like to employ youtube, google classroom, and podcasts in support of instruction, as well as, scientific analysis, with the hope of expanding students understanding of the content. Middleton stated that, “The value of the podcast is likely to be in its relevance rather than its presentational qualities; it is engaging because it is meaningful to the target audience” (Middleton, 2013, p. 33). Instruction should be supported by the utilization of VLEs. Podcast are essential in fostering a learning environment of authenticity allowing the content to resonate with students. My story will be about reproduction which should resonate with all students. The delivery of the content is important and I am up for the challenge.

Middleton, A. (2013). Digital Voices: A Collaborative Exploration of the Recorded Voice in Post-compulsory Education. MELSIG & Sheffield Hallam University.

Ohler, J.B. (2013). Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (2nd. ed.). Corwin Press