This article is about digital stories more specifically the art of writing a digital story. The author explains the Take Six method to storytelling in depth and provides an example of an elementary teacher teaching Take Six to her students. The teacher wrote two versions of the same experience to show her students the difference between telling the reader what happened, and actually putting the reader in the moment (showing). The teacher’s example was about a negative experience with her program director that almost made her not become a teacher. Version 1 was a summary of what happened to her, and in version 2, she transformed her story by using the take six method to get her students to experience the emotion in the story.
Reading this article opened my eyes to storytelling. The article does a good job of describing what needs to be included in a digital story. I really like how the author gave an explicit example of what is telling verses showing the reader. Storytelling seems like a very effective way of sharing experiences with on another and would like to learn more about how I can use this in my classroom.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Take Six: Elements of a Good Digital Story
There are six elements defined in the article, each element is a step to creating a good digital story. The six elements are: (1) Living Inside Your Story, (2) Unfolding Lessons Learned, (3) Developing Creative Tension, (4) Economizing the Story Told, (5) Showing Not Telling, and (6) Developing Craftsmanship. The first element is about getting the audience to your feel like they are experiencing your story first hand by you sharing who you are, what you felt, and what the moment/event means to you. The second element explains that a good digital story has to make a point, and the viewer should feel like they learned a lesson, or gained understanding. The third element, developing creative tension, is about making your audience feel the tension. There should be a problem/tension in the beginning that gets solved later on. The fourth take says a story needs to have a destination, to make a point. The article described the fifth element as, “Good stories use vivid details to reveal feelings and information rather than just saying something was tall, happy, scary, or difficult to do.” The sixth element is about combining media elements to convey meaning rather than just being artsy and decoration.
I appreciate how this article describes the elements well enough for the reader to understand while still being crystal clear. Another aspect of the article I like is how they relate creating a digital story to making a movie. For example you want the view to feel as though they are experiencing every emotion right along with you, just like a movie. The rubric at the end of the article will be helpful for when I try to create my own digital story.
I appreciate how this article describes the elements well enough for the reader to understand while still being crystal clear. Another aspect of the article I like is how they relate creating a digital story to making a movie. For example you want the view to feel as though they are experiencing every emotion right along with you, just like a movie. The rubric at the end of the article will be helpful for when I try to create my own digital story.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•S) and Performance Indicators for Students
Like the national educational technology standards for teachers, there are also six standards for the students. The six standards or performance indicators are: “(1) Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. (2) Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. (3) Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. (4) Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. (5) Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. (6) Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.”
These standards will serve as a helpful tool for when I begin teaching. Like other standards, I will be able to look at the list of standards and know what is expected of my students, and therefore what I should be teaching them. I also like how the article breaks the standards up into the 6 categories: (1) Creativity and Innovation, (2) Communication and Collaboration (3) Research and Information Fluency (4) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (5) Digital Citizenship (6) Technology Operations and Concepts. As an education student, looking through standards can be extremely overwhelming, so I really appreciate how this article has organized the standards. They are laid out in a clear manner that allows teachers to easily see what students need to know and be able to do.
These standards will serve as a helpful tool for when I begin teaching. Like other standards, I will be able to look at the list of standards and know what is expected of my students, and therefore what I should be teaching them. I also like how the article breaks the standards up into the 6 categories: (1) Creativity and Innovation, (2) Communication and Collaboration (3) Research and Information Fluency (4) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (5) Digital Citizenship (6) Technology Operations and Concepts. As an education student, looking through standards can be extremely overwhelming, so I really appreciate how this article has organized the standards. They are laid out in a clear manner that allows teachers to easily see what students need to know and be able to do.
National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers
This article states the national educational technology standards for teachers. There are six standards teachers must meet. (1) Teachers are required to demonstrate they understand technology operations and concepts. (2) Teachers are obligated to plan and design an effective learning environment and experiences that support technology. (3) Teachers’ curriculum plans must include methods and strategies for applying technology in order to maximize student learning. (4) Teachers are required to use a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies. (5) Teachers should use technology in a way that enhances their productivity and professional practice. (6) Teachers must understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and abide by all when teaching.
As a future teacher, I think it is nice there are clearly laid out technology standards for what teachers are expected to be able to do. As a digital native, six standards seem easy enough to follow.
As a future teacher, I think it is nice there are clearly laid out technology standards for what teachers are expected to be able to do. As a digital native, six standards seem easy enough to follow.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Education for the 21st century the basics
This article talks about how to teach students of the 21st century. It focuses on the elements of 21st century learning. “The elements include focusing on the core subjects, the areas identified in NCLB legislation; 21st century content, the emerging content areas such as: global awareness; financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; and health/wellness awareness”. The article goes on to explain that students are partly shaped by their environment, which is, “media rich, immediate, fast, engaging, dynamic and instant. It is electronic and digital, a communication medium implying instant gratification”. Therefore as teachers we must change the way we teach to fit their needs.
The ideas in this article sounded awfully familiar to me since the author discussed how to teach digital natives. Given that we have covered this topic before, the article did not hold my interest at all, and to be bluntly honest I wanted to stop reading after the 2nd page. Obviously children of the 21st century need to be taught differently than children 100 years ago. Because there is more technology, students are used to quick results, thus teachers need to adapt their teaching styles to better meet their learners needs.
The ideas in this article sounded awfully familiar to me since the author discussed how to teach digital natives. Given that we have covered this topic before, the article did not hold my interest at all, and to be bluntly honest I wanted to stop reading after the 2nd page. Obviously children of the 21st century need to be taught differently than children 100 years ago. Because there is more technology, students are used to quick results, thus teachers need to adapt their teaching styles to better meet their learners needs.
Standards for the 21st century learner
The article is from the American Association of School Librarians and covers 4 standards areas for the 21st century learner. The article elaborates on the 4 areas and lists out all of the standards for each area. “(1) Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. (2) Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. (3) Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society. (4) Pursue personal and aesthetic growth“.
This article is very confusing out of context, and I’m not quite sure what to think of it. I could benefit from seeing some in the classroom type of examples of how these standards are used. The article was not clear if these are just suggestions or actual standards for educators.
This article is very confusing out of context, and I’m not quite sure what to think of it. I could benefit from seeing some in the classroom type of examples of how these standards are used. The article was not clear if these are just suggestions or actual standards for educators.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Copyright 101
The article Copyright 101 speaks to two policies; copyright and fair use. The author defines copyright as it “protects original works including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as novels, poetry, songs, motion pictures, computer software, and architectural works. In essence, copyright protection goes into effect as soon as an original work is fixed in a tangible form of expression. The copyright in the work immediately becomes the property of the author”. The article defines fair use as “a copyrighted work can be used or copied for educational purposes as long as the use is not solely a substitute for purchasing the work”. The article also provides some basic examples of fair use in schools.
This article was not very helpful, and to be truthful it was also kind of lame. Although the article included examples of what teachers are and are not allowed to do, the examples were common sense. We all know teachers are allowed to copy an article from a journal and distribute a copy to their class. The example that really bothered me was,” A teacher wishes to use a very expensive textbook for his or her class. Due to the high cost, the teacher makes copies of the entire book for class distribution.” Come on! To think any real educator would do this is down right insulting.
This article was not very helpful, and to be truthful it was also kind of lame. Although the article included examples of what teachers are and are not allowed to do, the examples were common sense. We all know teachers are allowed to copy an article from a journal and distribute a copy to their class. The example that really bothered me was,” A teacher wishes to use a very expensive textbook for his or her class. Due to the high cost, the teacher makes copies of the entire book for class distribution.” Come on! To think any real educator would do this is down right insulting.
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