A Different Way to Tell a Story

Digital Storytelling is a great way to combine technology with sharing stories. These stories tend to be 2-4 minuted long and use images, voice over, and even soundtracks. Using Digital story telling is all about making personal connections in a way that incorporates the computer and the various applications on it.

Digital Storytelling can be especially useful for students who are struggling in reading as well as writing. This technology can aid as well as excited these students. The elements in a digital story include a point, a dramatic question, emotional content, your own voice, a soundtrack, economy (compact fact moving digital story), and pacing (music tempo, speech rate, image duration).

There are many applications of Digital Storytelling in a Social Studies classroom. One way to use Digital Storytelling that I think would be especially helpful for students is to have them tell the story of a historic event from the point of view of an individual involved. For example, the student could create a digital story from the persecutive of George Washington during the Revolutionary War or a specific battle. Another way Digital Storytelling can be implemented in the classroom is to have students show how events of the past have affected their lives. For example, a student could tell the story of the Bill of Rights and show how it affects his/her daily life or touch on how his/her life would be different is their weren't in place. Another great application of this learning technique is to have students analyze an event using different primary and secondary sources to create their own interpretation of an event that can be different from how it is presented in the history books. For example, if you wanted students to understand an event for example the Civil Rights Movement you could have some students look at primary sources from African Americans, other students could look at the white perspective, and others could look at the women perspective. In the end the different groups of students could present the story of the Civil Rights Movement from their perspective and then as a class they could come together to form their interpretation of the Movement.

Ultimately, Digital Storytelling is a great tool that can enhance the classroom and student familiarity with technology. There are endless possibilities and uses for this technology and it should be explored by all teachers.

On a Web Quest? Look No Further

As our society become increasingly mesmerized and hooked to technology it is only appropriate that teachers start to use it more and more in their classrooms. One way that teachers can incorporate technology is through WebQuests. WebQuests are a way for teachers to make performance tasks online. WebQuests helps students to accomplish the established objectives for a unit while incorporating the use of technology to get students more aware of how to responsibly use the computer and the internet. I think that WebQuests are great resources that all teachers should try at least once, especially because of how engaged the students become from activities like this. 

Here is a WebQuest that I found while searching the Internet that I thought was interesting:

http://questgarden.com/104/96/9/100612115537/index.htm

This WebQuest focuses on America from 1920-1939. It is well organized and appealing to the eye as well as very informative. The creator provided an introduction to the time period and addition websites to find more information on the topic. The task for this WebQuest was to have students have students represent someone who was from the time period. Students would take on this identity in order to complete a diary tracking daily activities such as shopping, eating, and traveling to portray an accurate depiction of what it was like to live then. The creator also asked students to look at various websites to explore events and things that a person with their identity would have been interested in back during the 1920's and 1930's.

I think that this is a great task for students because they get to relate their life today to the life they could have had in the 1920's and 1930's. Students from this task can see the difference in housing, car, and food prices. The creator has also provided a step by step process of how the students are to go about competing this performance task as well as the criteria and rubric for which she is going to examine their products.

Overall, this WebQuest serves as a great example of how the content should be included as well as the task and grading requirements. I would recommend that any teacher thinking about starting a WebQuest should first take a look at this example.

Happy Questing!

Keeping students current!

It is important in a social studies classroom to keep students current and aware of how history has influenced their lives. In order for students to make these connections they have to have an understanding of what is going in the world today. To accomplish this teachers, students, and parents should take advantage of the resources that are available to them on the web. When looking at a list of the Webby Nominees (sites that represent the best the Web has to offer) I found two site especially interesting and helpful in keeping students current- NPR and Truthdig.


What do these sites have to offer?
The NPR website seeks to provide in-depth, quality news. The NPR organization presents fact-based, independent journalism that examines and airs diverse perspectives. NPR releases its news on-air and online. NPR's site was named the Webby Award Winner of 2011 in the radio/podcasts category. The site itself has news, music, art, radio access, and podcasts. It is organized in a way that promotes easy navigation and use.

Truthdig is a news website that seeks to provide viewers with insightful and accurate reporting on current subjects and issues that need to be brought to attention. Truthdig wants to challenge conventional wisdom and dig deeper. The website was named the Webby Award Winner of 2011 in the political blog category. The site offers an organized 

overview of current news, political cartoons, various columns, and podcasts as well.

   

How can they be helpful to other social studies teachers?
As social studies teachers it is our job to teach students about the world they live in, whether it be what it was like in the past or what it is like today. Many teachers may say that these site would be good for civics, government, and economics but not as helpful for history. I would have to disagree, these sites offer endless ways for relating information to students' lives. For example, say the your lesson topic is the Boston Tea Party perhaps you could go in to talking about the "Tea Party" political party that has been so frequently talked about in the news lately and why they might call themselves the "Tea Party". It is important that teachers help their students to make these connections between the past and the present as well as across content areas. Teachers can use these sites to find political cartoons, news articles, and podcasts that will help students to relate things in history to today. These sources can be used as hooks and introductions to material to get the students' attention and get them thinking more deeply about the lesson's topic. These sites are just great ways for teachers to stay on top of current information. Many times students will come to class and say that they heard "such and such" on the news last night and it would be helpful to be aware of these current events to answer students' questions. 


How can students and parents use these sites?
Both of the sites are easy to navigate which make them easy for students to use. Students can use these sites to find current event articles, resources for assignments, and to keep them up to date on what is going on in the world around them. These sites also give students and parents the opportunity to talk about various topics together, while also giving parents an opportunity to see what it is that teachers are having their students look at.


Are there any recommendations for use?

I would not recommend these sites being used in the middle schools because there are frequently very controversial articles and topics that are presented on the site. But I would strongly encourage their use at the 11th and 12th grade levels. Another recommendation I have for using these sites is to make sure they are properly introduced. These sites can be an information overload so it is important that students are aware of the best techniques for searching and finding materials on news websites.

Again the sites are www.npr.org and www.truthdig.com.

Using Digital Cameras in the Classroom

Do you remember Polaroids and the suspense of having to wait for photos to develop? Fortunately today we no longer have to "shake it like a Polaroid picture" because of the development of the digital camera. The digital camera is much quicker and more efficient, not to mention less taxing on the wrist. Until recently cameras were considered an unlikely tool for classroom use, but digital cameras are easy, fun to use, and offer teachers nearly unlimited opportunities to engage students and to incorporate technology into the curriculum.

Although cameras have the highest students engagement at the elementary school level, they can still be included at the middle and high school levels. Teachers can use cameras to document projects and different class events, whether it be field trips or parties. Students can use cameras to take pictures to add to reports and document projects among many other things. By having students include their own pictures in their reports they can better understand what primary sources are and why they are important.


Here are some of the ideas for how cameras could be used in a social studies classroom:
- History Scrapbooks: Students would use digital cameras to document experiences that they go on whether it be a field trip, family vacation, or even around their own town. Students take pictures of items, places, or even people that are of some type of historical significance. The students would have to include the location that they saw the thing and give a brief description of why it is or why they think it is significant and include it in their scrapbook.
- Historical Experience Board: Have students bring in pictures that they have taken and add them to the  Historical Experience Board in the classroom. On this board will also be a map of the country and of Virginia so students can put a pin on the map where they took the picture.

Although using digital cameras in the classroom is an exciting activity, it is important that teachers should keep in mind the potential difficulties. Some things to remember are that when letting students use digital cameras are that they need to be monitored to ensure that the photos are appropriate for school, privacy needs to be stressed, and the risk of damage to the equipment is high.

Ultimately, cameras offer endless possibilities for classroom use because photos can almost instantaneously be added to the computer, printed off, and shared. Students love taking photos as well as being in them, so why not take advantage of an interest that our students already have!

Learn more about how you can use digital cameras in your classroom HERE.


Say cheese!

Let's Make It A Game!

Remember when you were a kid playing games and competing with other children for various titles, such as fastest on the playground or smartest in the class?  Not much has changed today, students enjoy competition and the chance to test their skills. Games are great way to promote student involvement in the classroom because they get the students' attention and while also keeping them engaged.

Gamification??

Gamification is the application of game elements in non-gaming situations in order to motivate and/or influence behavior. Gamification can spur student concentration and interest which leads to more effective learning. Administrators of these games provide participants with feedback or rewards. These rewards can include material things such as points or prizes, or they can be more intangible like senses of accomplishment, satisfaction, and recognition. Because today's generation is intrigued by more than just board games, we can utilize technology to connect our content to things like video games, computer games, cell phone games, and hand-held games. Although technology is not required for gamification it makes the management of these activities simpler while also allowing the teacher to use gamification outside of the classroom. 

Who is doing it?

Everyone! Gamification is not only being used by teachers, professors and businesses find these activities beneficial in motivating participants. For example, Weight Watchers uses points as a way to challenge their members. Just like Weight Watchers does for its member, games allow students to set and monitor individual goals. It is essential that teachers stress the importance of setting and accomplishing their goals. Games can also be in teams which helps students better understand how to work with others and their responsibility as a team member.

Why is it significant?

Researchers have found that adding game elements to the classroom helps students to sharpen their abilities. Games also make the content seem more like a challenge whereby they are held immediately accountable to the information as opposed to chore work where they are not applying the content. Gamification gives students the opportunity to collaborate as a team, shy students the opportunity to participate, and promotes interest in the content that may not have otherwise come up.

Downsides?

Although gamification has many proven benefits, some believe that gamification trivializes learning content. They believe that by introducing games the students won't feel as accountable to the information as they should be. Another problem with gamification is that some students may not be as excited by competition, especially those that do not feel comfortable with the content. 

Implications for teaching and learning?

Despite the concerns that some may have for gamification, it does create interactive experiences that engage student imagination and increase motivation. Gamification promotes student recognition and allows students to compete and socialize creating a sense of community. 


It is important that teachers and parents get involved in implementing different strategies to help their students do well in school. Parents should understand that their students are not simply playing games, they are relating the content to their lives so they can better retain the information. As teachers we should take advantage of activities that the students are already interested in and use them to relate the content and gamification does just that. Through gamification the students will understand that games are a way that they can compete with themselves to accomplish their individual and team goals.

Learn more about gamification at EDUCAUSE