Technology Integration Article - Blog #9

In his article “Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st Century Classroom”, Bernard Robin begins by discussing studies that have been conducted previously that conclude there is little difference between the learning that occurs with technology and without technology. Robin obviously doesn’t agree with these studies and contends that knowing how to incorporate technology into the curriculum is the key to successfully using technology, and that Digital Storytelling (DST) can be a key factor in maximizing technology use in the classroom. It’s commonly known that integrating visual images and text enhances comprehension, but one of the greatest benefits of DST is in the development of “21st century learning skills”, such as researching, questioning, organizing, expressing opinions, and creating meaningful narratives. Robin also goes on to mention research that has been done on multimedia projects, and how the use of them in the classroom develops research and organizational skills, and creates more interest in the subject’s content. DST also positively impacts the development of higher-order thinking skills. Robin continues by introducing TPCK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge), a theory that focuses on the relationship between knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technology, and how the use of DST can enhance TPCK for teachers. In his conclusion, Robin suggests that research be conducted on how the use of DST increases overall student motivation.

What interested me most about this article was Robin’s point that using multimedia projects can result in students being more interested in the content being presented. It’s well known that some teachers present content without giving much thought to making it interesting to students. It has to be taught, therefore they teach it. Many experts contend that children are born with innate curiosity about the world around them, but by the time they get to middle school, that curiosity has been all but extinguished. If it was possible to hold students’ interest and engage them more in the content being presented, perhaps school would become more meaningful to them, resulting in an increase in test scores and a decrease in drop-out rate. In addition, DST has been said to increase students’ use of higher-order thinking skills. If this is true and if students can really become more engaged in the content because of the use of DST, then students should truly begin to “understand” content, and not just “know” it.

Robin, B. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory Into Practice, 47(3), 220-228. http://search.ebscohost.com.ts.isil.westga.edu

Our Digital Storytelling/MovieMaker Experience

This month, our group has been introduced to Digital Storytelling (DST) using Windows MovieMaker. We were tasked with using MovieMaker to create a DST movie that could be used as an example of how DST can be used in the classroom. As project leader for this workshop plan, I didn’t actually have to create a movie, but I really wished I had. This is the kind of project I love because it pulls so many different elements into it and allows for a lot of creativity. But I still learned a great deal from the whole experience. For instance, there was some confusion at first because our high school teacher group members, who both teach math, struggled to figure out how to incorporate their subject matter into this project. In the end, they both did a great job by using MovieMaker to create instructional tools. In fact, since our theme was “Using Digital Storytelling as an Instructional Tool”, all of the projects we generated provided examples of different ways to use DST/MovieMaker in delivering content.

For me, being the project leader and not having any experience doing DST myself was somewhat challenging. Fortunately, I was already familiar with MovieMaker and had created other MovieMaker projects. However, when our Mac group members struggled in uploading their movies to the West Georgia server, I was pretty clueless as to how to help them. I feel like this was the most challenging assignment so far for our group, partly because of things that were beyond our control, like the final size of the completed movie and having to upload the movies to the UWG server. But it was also challenging because DST using MovieMaker demands that you combine many technologies, and getting them all to flow the way you want them to takes some patience. Ultimately, however, I think we all came to see how valuable DST and MovieMaker can be for teachers.

Emerging Technology That Supports Creativity and Production - Blog #8

Joy Egbert’s chapter on Supporting Student Production in her text, Supporting Learning with Technology, provides some excellent guidelines on this type of project-based learning. Specifically, Egbert distinguishes between very structured projects with carefully defined outcomes, and more loosely controlled projects and outcomes (Egbert, p. 183). I can imagine that the type of students you have would, to some extent, have an impact on which kind of project you undertake. Many of the students at our school appear to be somewhat unmotivated, partly due to the frustrations of struggling with language and cultural barriers. I’ve discovered that when I do lessons with them, I have to be very specific regarding my expectations. Yet, Egbert also discusses the fact that production can be very beneficial to English language learners by allowing them to communicate in various ways and to learn the content in ways that appeal to them, such as listening and watching videos (Egbert, p. 185). Production supports different learning styles, as well as providing the opportunity for students to produce the outcomes in a style that is interesting and motivating to them. Egbert also stipulates that ELL students can more readily participate in group projects because they can engage in tasks that are appropriate for their learning styles and language ability (Egbert, p. 185).

Another point Egbert makes that would help in working with ELL students is addressed in guideline #5, “Scaffold experiences for all learners” (Egbert, p. 189). Egbert stresses how important scaffolding is for such students because they may need more time, modeling, and assistance in completing production projects. Yet, the variety and flexibility of production projects would also allow ELL students to choose topics that are more meaningful to them, such as topics that highlight their culture and backgrounds. Our students also perform better when in-depth projects are divided into chunks, and this strategy lends itself well to scaffolding because teachers can more methodically guide the students through the project. I believe production projects would be very well received by our ELL students because some of the rigidity that seems to frustrate them would be alleviated, allowing them to work in an environment that gives them the freedom to determine their strengths and to build confidence in those areas.

Egbert, J. (2009). Supporting learning with technology: Essentials of classroom practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Experimenting With Camtasia Studio 6 – Blog #7

After reading one of the chapters in Boss and Krauss’s book, Reinventing Project-Based Learning, I discovered a screencasting application called Camtasia (Boss & Krauss, pp. 104-105). Screencasting is essentially a recording of computer screen output, combined with your own narration. Consequently, it’s an excellent way to build a tutorial for learning software applications. If you’ve gone through any of the tutorials on the VoiceThread site, that’s what screencasting looks like. I had no idea there was an application that someone could purchase, so when I learned that Camtasia had a 30-day free trial, I went ahead and downloaded it.

I spent the better part of a Saturday experimenting with Camtasia, attempting to create a tutorial for VoiceThread. There are basically two parts to it – the recording of the screen output, and the creation of the final video. First you have to create the recording clips, and that’s the challenging part. I kind of figured that screencasting wouldn’t be as easy as it looked, so I wrote out a basic script to use. It’s actually amazingly simple in setup – all you need is a computer, a microphone (or internal mic), and a quiet spot. Fortunately, you can stop and start, thus creating multiple clips, but I still found myself recreating certain portions several times. I guess there’s an element of “stage fright” when you’re recording yourself, and you end up with many pauses and otherwise awkward moments! Creating the final video was a little bit like MovieMaker in the sense that you have to import the clips and then drag and drop them into a storyboard, where you can add other audio tracks, cut parts of the videos, split videos, etc.

Although it took several hours (and many takes), I finally had what I considered to be a pretty good product for my first stab at it. With Camtasia, you can either narrate the video as you explain how to use the software, or you can create the audio portion separately. I narrated it as I explained the software, but later discovered an entire two-minute segment of audio that I didn’t like. The cool thing was that I could select that two-minute segment, and narrate a new audio clip to go with it that would overwrite the audio segment I didn’t want. Although this ended up being a bit louder, I was satisfied with the new audio and other than deleting some video pieces here and there, didn’t do much other editing.

Once my 30-day trial is complete, I’m seriously considering using some of my media budget funds to purchase the Camtasia application for use in my school. It’s $300, but well worth the cost. One of our teachers’ biggest reasons for not implementing technology is the lack of time it takes to learn it. By creating some tutorials that teachers can go through fairly quickly (my VoiceThread tutorial was only 20-25 minutes in length), when they have the time, I hope to eliminate that excuse and introduce new applications to any teacher who’s willing to give them a try.

Emerging Technology That Supports Critical Thinking and Problem Solving - Blog #6

As I read the beginning example in chapter 4 of Joy Egbert’s text, Supporting Learning with Technology, regarding the case of the “alligators in the sewers” (pp. 98-99), I was reminded of students at my own school. Each year, one of my lessons with fifth graders is to examine the reliability of Internet sites. I provide a few examples – some reliable and some not – and go over what to look for when determining reliability. In addition, I go over the types of Internet domains (.com, .gov, etc.). I then give them a sheet with more examples and ask them to pick two to evaluate. Again, some of the sites are good sources and some bogus. What always strikes me during this lesson is the complete surprise when they realize that just because something is on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s good information. I’m constantly battling their desires to start Internet searches with Google or Ask.com. Unfortunately, our students struggle mightily with critical-thinking skills, and usually have to be poked and prodded to even try. Since most of our students are minority, some of the problem may be the cultural differences. But even during lessons when I have them answer questions from an online encyclopedia, they seem to want the answers to jump out at them, instead of having to dig for them. Consequently, I was interested to read Egbert’s “Common Techniques to Support Critical Thinking” (Egbert, p. 106), as well as her list of challenges that teachers face (Egbert, p. 106). Our students benefit greatly from some of the scaffolding that Egbert describes – including using graphic organizers and allowing students to express themselves in their own styles.

Critical thinking and problem solving go hand-in-hand (Egbert, p. 157). You can’t solve problems without giving at least a little thought to your decisions. One significant challenge we have with our students is their seeming lack of confidence in their abilities in school. When you throw them a problem, many of them give up immediately if it seems difficult. However, when teachers take the time to make these problems interesting and relevant to the students, they forget their doubts about themselves and really dig into it. The technology tools that Egbert provides in chapter 6 would be a great way to engage the students up front so that they don’t realize they’re having to work hard (Egbert, pp. 166-170). An activity we do weekly in the media center is a game called InfoQuest, where a new question is posted each week and students have until the end of the week to find the answer to it. If they do, they get a prize. Most of the answers can be found in reference books, or on a reliable Internet site. Overall, students love this game (especially using the Internet), even though it requires some low-level critical-thinking skills. I guess it’s all in the way you present it.