Sunday, March 13, 2011
Digital Storytelling
I decided to read the article about digital storytelling because I actually just finished creating one for another one of my classes that emphasizes incorporating technology into the classroom. For this assignment I had to create a digital story using personal pictures while telling a story about myself. A lot of my classmates and I talked about how this would be a great way to introduce ourselves as teachers to parents and even our students in a new way. What I like about the article was that it told a side of digital storytelling that I haven’t really thought about before; it shed light on using digital storytelling with students who have trouble writing. Although I enjoyed the article and agreed with it, I don’t think it expressed the need for having students being able to write proper English. I do agree that technology is advancing at an exponential rate, however I think it is still very important for students to be able to write and express their thought through other ways other than technical devices. However I understand and agree with the article when it said “using this multimedia approach in the classroom helps students discover voice, and confidence.” Another aspect of the article that I really liked was how it talked readers through the story of three students, all of which seemed to struggle with writing. I thought this made the article come alive, and made me really see the positive aspects of using this type of technology in the classroom. Although I think its beneficial I haven’t seen anything like this in my classroom. I don’t know if its because of their young age, or if its because my CT doesn’t really try to incorporate a lot of technology into the classroom. I don’t think my kindergartners are missing out on that much at this age by not using digital storytelling, just because this is the age at which physically writing is practiced and mastered. Lauren and Gabe, have you seen digital storytelling being used in your classroom?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Rose, I think that is a good idea about introducing yourself to the parents and students with a digital storyboards. According to Kymes, "Texts online are often multilinear." One way to help teach kids to comprehend online texts and think about their research is to have think alouds about the online texts. I have not seen digital storytelling in my classroom yet...
ReplyDeleteI found a couple of interesting thing in the Tompkins reading regarding students' comprehension. According to Harvey and Goudvis, " Stories, informational books, and poems can be easier or more difficult to read depending on factors that are inherent in them." Teaching children the different aspects of these text factors helps them with understanding what they are reading, and thus their comprehension. Another thing I found interesting about this chapter is the expository text structures found in informational texts. These are: description, sequence, comparison, cause and effect, and problem and solution.
Like I mentioned before, "Researchers have found that when teachers teach students about text factors, their comprehension increases." The last thing I learned from this chapter is that teachers need to encourage students to apply their knowledge of text factors when reading and writing.
I really like the idea of introducing yourself through a digital story telling device! You can incorporate so much in there, and it can be seen by all.
ReplyDeleteMy CT does not use digital story telling. I feel there are a lot of opportunities for the CT to use technology, such as digital story telling, and more in the classroom since it helps with English language learners, which could also be used to help the spanish immersion program in the same way. There is no technology used in the classroom. The kids go to the computer lab once a week and learn how to use some aspects of the computer, which I think it really awesome, but it is not incorporated into their lessons. I feel they are getting bored with the same routine and approach to teaching, and including something like this would be very benefical. The students are all interested in technology, and giving them information through it, that they can refer to at home to review, will make it more meaningful and help them to understand the material better. I think it is also more of an organized approach. I'm all for it and I'm definitely going to be using it in my future classroom. It's frustrating that my CT doesn't incorporate any of these awesome technology approaches in her classroom becasue there are many opportunities to do so!