Take Six: Elements of a Good Digital Story

This article was more of a guide to getting started with creating a digital story. It really goes into detail about the different elements digital stories should have. Also included was a checklist to guide the creators of the stories to see what they have or need to have in their stories.

However, this article may lead to be confusing to some that may not have background information on digital storytelling and why it is so important and beneficial. A good idea would be to show this to students AFTER reading "The Art of Digital Storytelling".

The Art of Digital Storytelling

by Bernajean Porter

This article was based on the core elements of creating an effective digital story. Porter explains and stresses that "telling stories together about things that really matter has an extraordinary effect on people". This is extremely important, especially when creating a digital story. One of the most important aspects of the story is not only the content, but the voice of the story as well.

A good digital story doesn't just tell what has happened, but the audience and readers may (or should) actually feel what is happening in the story. Through emotion, feeling, and connecting, digital storytelling is a very creative and sometimes challenging process.

I especially liked this article where it mentioned an example of a story transformation. A story was written, and then later 'beefed' up to really change how the readers would feel about the person telling the story (or the person in the story).

This article also mentioned the six elements of good digital storytelling:
1. Living Inside Your Story
2. Unfolding Lessons Learned
3. Developing Creative Tension
4. Economizing the Story Told
5. Showing Not Telling
6. Developing Craftsmanship

NETS for Students

This is a great handout for teachers to always have with them when creating a lesson based around or incorporating technology. The technology standards for students would also be a good overview for the actual students to see and take a look at, or even obtain a copy of (this would be most beneficial or helpful for the intermediate grades - 4th grade to high school).

Also, this may be a great resource for teachers and educators to help create a lesson, using the standards as a starting point.

NETS for Teachers

After all of this extensive research and overviews of standards in all content areas for various different subjects, I found it interesting to find standards for teachers.

Since technology is always changing, and even at a fast pace, I feel that having technology standards for teachers is extremely important. Of course, standards for teachers in every subject is important as well, but even more so for technology since it is changing so quickly.

I feel the most important (teacher) technology standard that every teacher should be keeping in mind when creating a lesson, are the social, ethical, legal, and human issues (standard 6). This is most definitely important in a TESL - Teaching English as a Second Language - class (and for any class for that matter). As educators, it is so important to "model and teach legal and ethical practice related to technology use" (standard 6.a).

21st Century Skills (A Partnership)

This article is about a non-profit organization - The Partnership for 21st Century Skills - provides a deep overview of what they're all about.

"The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has created a new way of looking at teaching and learning today", in several different ways. For example, they focus on the core subjects and address learning and thinking skills.

The purpose for this article, or partnership program, is intended for students to learn new things in new ways so they can live and work in a changing world. Among other purposes, this Partnership has many useful ways of how students may succeed in this ever changing world.

Among the Partnership's framework, we can see that it includes the standards, curriculum, environment, and assessments that districts must implement.

This article was a great read for anyone entering the teaching/education field. I thought it was important when this article mentioned that "students today 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."

Also in this article, we learn that 21st century learners are:
*collaborative, networkers, and communicators
*adaptive and creative
*information, media and technology savvy
*partial to instant gratification
*reliant on media in its various forms

So, when becoming a teacher or educator of any sort, we must ALWAYS know are students and where they are coming from. Things are always changing!!

AASL: Standards for the 21st Century Learner

This was yet another useful and practical guide to show educators, parents, and even students the standards for computer and technology uses and resources. I liked how this artical included "common beliefs" regarding technology or other sources of information. This artical/guide really emphasized on specific skills, resources and tools geared towards learners of technology use. Included in this are:

"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 aestheic growth."

Throughout this resource and abundance of information, these guiding principles are clearly spelled out and defined, which also include key questions towards the end to wrap it all up.

I could definitely see myself, as a teacher, using this.

Copyright 101

This article gave a very good overview of what is okay and what is not okay for copyright use. Copyright 101 focused on intellectual property laws, which are “designed to encourage the creation of original works, to stimulate creativity in society in general, and to protect and promote the creation and use of products of the human mind” (page 10).

Also included in this article was the definition of copyright, the U.S. copyright law defined, and fair use defined. A major passage of the fair use was very beneficial for teachers and educators wishing to use resources of others for instructional purposes and personal resources. What I really liked about this article were the good and bad examples of fair use. Although I already have learned (quite some time ago) that it is not okay to photocopy an entire book or textbook (or any form of literature or “work”), there may be some people coming across this article that may not have known that.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that promotes the sharing of creativity for the public. The "commons" - a body of work - is free for the public to use. Although this is not an alternative to copyright, the creators of their work have a specific license that they decide what others may use. Creative Commons is a great way to share your work that you may want others to use, while still having the power to put restrictions on your work. By having this license, users have the opportunity or privilege to change their copyright terms. If interested in getting a Creative Commons license, it is a very easy and simple thing to sign up for (you can do so by logging on to creativecommons.org).

Throughout reading this article, learning about the Creative Commons license gave me a better perspective as to who can get a license: anyone! I also found this 'idea' to be very beneficial in knowing that the authors already have the 'ground rules' laid out for the public to use... instead of using a particular piece that may take several months (or who knows how long!) to get permission of use.

Universal Design of Web Pages in Class Projects

by Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph. D.

One of the reasons why I really enjoyed this article was the fact that the article explicitly stated the reason for this article: "This publication is designed to give guidance to instructors of precollege and postsecondary web design courses as well as to those who, as an activity in their classes, have students create web pages" (Burgstahler, p. 1). If a specific reading I come across (or I am assigned to read) indicated the reasoning and audience, and it pertains to me, that gives me all the more interest in reading it.

I also found it very valuable the importance of why the design of a website is so important and the reasoning behind creating a website to meet everyone's needs. For example, this article indicated that the audience of a website can range from someone with visual impairments to being a senior citizen; the design or layout of a webpage may really impact it's specific audience.

Another key factor of this article was that it explained the objectives of making an effective website, adhering to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Ranging from "students will be able to describe how individuals with different types of disabilities access information technology, including web pages" to "students will be able to locate and apply accessibility features of a web authoring tool" (Burgstahler).

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

by C.A.S.T

This guide was a short but explicit handout that is a great resource for anyone to keep track of before building any sort of website.

The 'design' of the websites included three different categories with various sub-categories. The Representation category included options for perception, language and symbols, and comprehension. The second category was expression. This included ideas and reminders for giving options for physical actions, expressive skills and fluency, and options for executive functions. The last category was intended for ideas for engagement. Under this specific category were ideas for options for recruiting interest, options for sustaining effor and persistance, and self-regulation.

This is a great handout for anyone building a website - from beginner to expert.

Design Your Web Site from the Bottom Up

by Peter Pappas; edteck press

Thank goodness for this article or I would have been lost as to how to start my own website! Of course, there are countless resources to review and research, but this almost seemed as an honest and simple short cut to help first-timers such as I to get started with building a website.

The whole purpose of this article was to introduce an alternative approach to simplifying the way one may start building and designing one's website: Designing from the bottom up, as the article's title indicates. "All websites need to educated and inform their viewers, so this method will help anyone designing a website" (Pappas, P. 1).

The following steps are given to start the process:

1: Brainstorm - list the items of ideas for your website

2: Grouping - put those items in to 2 to 4 categories

3: Critique the categories - answer a set list of questions to decide if these categories will work

4: Revise Your Categories - as needed

5: Develop a flow chart - to make it more organized

6: Design a navigational plan - create effective short cuts, and remember to use a navigational bar

7: Page Layout - clearly identify the title of the current page, the most important information should be at the top of each page

8: Don't Forget to Keep it Simple - no clutter!

9: Make the homepage - putting it all together

10: Upload to server - updating will be an ongoing process

Overall, this was a very well laid-out and step-by-step guide (however, it had MANY 'type-0's'!!)

Focus: Five Rules for Writing a Great WebQuest

This article, by Bernie Dodge, was a very beneficial guide in finding out how to make an effective WebQuest (as it is explained in the title). The title, “FOCUS”, is described by the following;

1. Find Great Sites – Be comfortable with the sources you use, as well as narrow down and master a particular search engine that works for you. Keep in mind to save what you find.

2. Orchestrate Learners and Resources – Use people from the community and around you that can help you to master a lesson or topic to be taught to the class. Decide how computers in the classroom will be used as well as using time efficiently in the computer lab.

3. Challenge Your Learners to Think – “The first impulse of many teachers is to treat the Web as an extension of the school library and to assign the same kind of research report” (p. 9). ALLOW THE STUDENTS TO BE CREATIVE AND PROVIDE USEFUL STRATEGIES FOR RESEARCHING.

4. Use the Medium – Allow for conversation; using your personal WebQuest to initiate students’ comments and suggestions. Also, don’t allow your creations to be overstimulating and distracting – get right to the point.

5. Scaffold High Expectations – “Scaffolding is a temporary structure used to help learners act more skilled than they really are” (p. 58). Allow the students to be able to explain what they have done with their projects and web pages.

I found this article to be very beneficial when bringing the WebQuests to the classroom and to individualized students. It is helpful knowing how something can be effectively used for a large class of students!

The Student Web Quest

Without ever having previous knowledge of what WebQuest is all about, I found this article to be very beneficial for those of us that are not WebQuest-savy. Explaining the history of who created the marvelous WebQuest, as well as how it has changed over the years, WebQuests really seem to be a beneficial tool in class curriculum.

Not only does this article explain the minor details of WQ, it also includes examples of sites that can be used in the classroom for projects or other forms of teaching and learning. WebQuests can be modified to be teacher and student friendly, as well as provide an abundant – and reliable – source of information.

Also included in this article, was information on how to write (and build) your own WebQuest. Then, there was important information about going into the details of the essential parts and guidelines of a WebQuest. Lastly, this article by Maureen Brown Yoder explains how to evaluate a WebQuest.

Not having been familiar with WebQuest before, I found this article very useful and beneficial in getting started with building my own. Essentially, I hope to make more pages as I get further along into teaching. These resources seem very fun for learning, at the same time, keeping them academic and providing useful information for anyone at any age.

Family Guide to Child Safety on the Internet

This was a great guide to read and had a vast amount of important information for families using the internet. It was very clearly written as to what the mission statement, or the reasoning behind the importance of this internet safety guide. One of the purposes of this guide was that it “was established to educate parents on ways to make the best of the Internet’s benefits while protecting their children from these potential dangers” (Guide, p. 3). Although some parts of this informational packet were specific to the Baltimore community, there were several great websites that anyone could access.

One part of this guide was specifically written to parents in the sense that some parents may not feel completely okay with the fact that children use the internet when they are alone or with friends. There are not just ways for parents to prohibit their children from internet usage, but more of an understanding of where to come to an agreement, and most importantly, staying safe.

I really enjoyed this article, and with the permission, will hopefully use bits and pieces of this guide for my future classes and their parents. What I liked most about this article (or guide) was that because the creators of this guide said that this was a family guide, they really stuck to their words and used language for both parents and their children to understand. However, although the checklists of what to remember as a parents, it would have been nice to see a small checklist for their children to have, that wasn’t so overwhelming in length.

Developing Ethical Direction

This article gave a very clear understanding of how children (as well as others) may feel about using technology. Included in this article is a picture of a compass, divided into different categories of how one may feel about using a particular source or when they are coming across something they may not be familiar with. On the example of the compass, the different categories include: Right, I don’t know, It’s an individual choice, What’s the big deal, Wrong, As long as I don’t get caught, Depends on the situation, and I am not sure it’s wrong. When using this ‘internal compass’ while on the internet of other form of technology, this can be a useful tool students use.

The reason for using this compass is that “the complexity of technology and how society chooses to address technology use make it difficult for students to find true north. In this article, the different categories are broken down to go in depth of what students may lead to believe what is true about technology usage.
Above all, this article goes in depth of why it is important to learn good digital citizenship. Just like in elementary school, when we learned what it was to be a good citizen, future students can learn, also, what it means to be a good digital citizen.

This article had a ‘catchy’ way of giving an example of how students may be at different stages as far as their comfort level with technology. There are some students out there that may have no previous knowledge at what is out there on the internet, so what they think may be that they are not sure that what they are doing is wrong. Or, a student may have previous knowledge and education about proper technology usage, but they do things they are not supposed to do anyway.

After reading this article, I feel that this particular passage gave a good, clear understanding about how to really know the different levels of where different students may be at as far as their understanding of how to properly use the internet or other sources of technology.

Teaching Zach to Think

After classroom discussion of children being so connected all of the time to the technological world, this article really emphasizes on a particular (and common) example among many while researching.

Without the proper education and knowledge, it is a given that anyone coming across the internet will believe what they are reading is true. Zach, a fourteen year old, was researching a popular university website about how the Holocaust never happened. Of course, not knowing to research the author of this posting any further, he was led to believe that this statement was true, simply because the author of this page identified himself as a professor at Northwestern University.
With just one example of a story like that, it is a wonder at what children may believe these days. As far as internet and other forms of technology, children are so used to having answers right away.

As explained in the article, “it is essential that students also learn how to validate the information” as well as “learn how to research, publish, and communicate working with the internet and other information tools” (Alan November).

After reading this article, I was somewhat surprised by a fourteen year olds answer in agreement to the Holocaust never happening. Fortunately for me, I was taught about the Holocaust in late elementary school. I also had the privilege to go to Washington, DC soon after that, and go to the Holocaust museum to learn even more about this time in history. Now, not every student and family has the opportunity to travel to and learn about rich history, but at least, fourteen year olds could be taught at a younger age as to whether or not what they are reading is valid or ‘safe’ to use.

With the proper education, and with enough practice, we can teach Zach to think.

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

This article goes in depth about what it means to be a “digital native” and a “digital immigrant”. Digital Natives can be explained as the “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games, and internet. When explaining Digital Immigrants, they are the older generations that do not know this native tongue of digital language. These immigrants speak a different ‘language’ when it comes to technology. This article also explains that we, as adults, and older generations behind us, will need to be right up there with the kids of our future, in learning the digital ways – especially if we want to become a teacher.

Monkey Wrench, a very successful computer program, was explained in this article as well. Created by a group of professors, this program was made in the hopes of getting young people interested in learning about software. This was an important part of the article, because it showed that although a child may be on a computer, playing games, does not mean that he or she may not be learning anything. This program puts a whole new meaning on putting fun into learning.

I found this article to be very well written, and had almost a humor to it. This is the type of article that I will immediately pass on to others, just to read it for the fun of it.

Tools for the Mind

With technology changing so rapidly and extensively, it is often a wonder how everyone will ever catch up at the same pace.

This article goes in depth about the struggles or reasoning behind why students are not receiving the proper education on how to use, and why it is important to bring technology into the classroom. There are many arguments and concerns as to whether or not teachers are being properly trained on how to effectively use technology resources.

One of the main arguments, however, is that of using the proper technological resources effectively, and whether or not they are being properly taught. For example, Burns explains "school districts often lack technology trainers who are proficient in the mechanics of these tools and in the conceptual skills they demand" (p. 51). This explains that although there may be an abundant amount of resources and different technologies to be learned and discovered, it is really up to the technology trainer to really go in depth with students (or new users) how beneficial and useful these technologies may be.

I found it interesting in Burns' article, when she explained the different strategies for changing the computer technology’s instructional potential; "Strategy 1: Teach critical thinking first and technology later" (p. 52). It is so important for not only the students to be aware of their critical thinking, but the teachers and instructors as well. When coming across questionable websites, such as not showing an author, or publishing date, or even of where the source may have even come from, it is important for teachers "to show students how to evaluate the information's veracity, reason logically, come to evidence-based decisions, create relevant new knowledge, and apply this learning to new situations" (p. 52). Oftentimes, students may just copy and paste what they think is important information, without even knowing where it came from. It wasn't until I was in tenth grade when my creative writing teacher wanted nothing more than to teach us to ask questions and think critically. He wanted us to not believe everything he says, but to really think critically and be evaluative students. This shows that not only would this skill of evaluating information online be effective in technological research and projects, but in everyday life as well.

The last part of this article explains how teachers may decide upon which types of technologies they want to use for their classroom and curriculum. Teachers must remember to follow state and national standards, as well as being able to come up with matching up with particular learning outcomes. Also, it is so important for teachers to have a support system in this ever-changing technological world. "They need opportunities to work together...to plan...activities in which technology serves to extend learning in ways that would not be possible without its use" (p. 53).