21 March-Digital Stories 2

This week I have been focused on really developing what I am going to create for my digital story. It has been an enjoyable process, but also challenging and frustrating at times. Last Monday's class focused on not violating copyright and making sure to allow appropriate access to what we create for others. Copyright is such a tricky thing, and has so many gray areas; making sure I produce the story that I want, without violating rights or permissions, is proving to be slightly more difficult than I originally envisioned. No matter, though, I am excited to really dig into the nitty-gritty of production at this point and hopefully produce something that reflects the idea in my head.

As we have worked on digital stories and production pieces (Podcast/Vidcast) the past few weeks, I can see more and more how relevant these tools will be for our future classrooms. I have also learned the value of becoming VERY familiar with the Apple suite of products. I am seriously considering purchasing a Mac because of the wide variety of what can be produced through the ease of their software and operating system. The next generation of students will be even more geared to the full sensory experience because they will have been raised entirely on in that realm of technology. Thus, as teachers, we will have to provide many different angles and techniques in order to effectively teach our material. Using technology to create things like the digital stories will be a necessary tool in our teaching bag of tricks!

14 March-Digital Stories First Reflection

I started out this assignment thinking about how much fun I was going to have. However, I have quickly realized how much work it is to put the Digital Stories together! I have spent this past week scripting and trying to decide the overall look and feel for my presentation. I will admit, there have been some very frustrating moments! I came into this project with a pretty clear vision of what I wanted to produce, but it's amazing how quickly that can change. After five days of really looking at my script and thinking about the direction I want to go, I finally feel like I am making some progress and will be able to produce the product that I envisioned.

I have been amazed as I looked online at how many projects are produced by students using this type of digital storytelling format. It has been many years since I was in junior high and high school, and I look at these projects and think how amazing they are, and how much fun and creative energy is used by students to create them. It brings a whole new perspective to differentiating the learning experience for students in the classroom. I think students learn so much about their content from a project like this. Plus, like was mentioned in class, there are a high percentage of technology-rich jobs that we will be preparing our students for that haven't even been created yet! Our students are going to need these skills to have a shot at success in their lives. So far, I am loving this project, and I can't wait for the opportunity to create additional digital stories like this in the future.

7 March-Vidcast Reflection

During Monday's class, we took the Podcast one step further and created Vidcasts, or an "Enhanced Podcast." I worked again with Angelina Dulong, and together we created an "Introduction to Grammar" vidcast. Angelina and I are both working toward teaching junior high or high school Language Arts, and grammar is an important component in that subject. However, students often feel annoyed and frustrated with grammar, and ask the age-old question of, "why do we have to learn this?" Angelina and I put this Caveman Photostory together as a fun introductory way of addressing the very simplest notion of grammar, which is that without words and specific types of words, communication would be very difficult and nearly impossible. Much of the core requirement for secondary English is to improve upon and gain new tools (reading, writing, presenting) in order to be a better and more successful communicator. Understanding grammar is one of the first steps on the path to becoming a successful communicator.

Unfortunately, this vidcast series would probably run its course rather quickly. It is a great tool for introducing simple and initial concepts related to grammar, but would not suffice for more complicated and deeper analysis further into the study of the individual parts of speech. However, I could easily use this vidcast in my future classroom, as I think it would have particular appeal for students at the junior high or middle school level. I would expand the vidcast to cover several additional parts of speech and use it to begin my initial classroom discussion on grammar and parts of speech.