Digital Storytelling Workshop Reflections

*The extended version of this, which includes reflections, comments, and summaries from Jason Ohler's book (below), is in the PAGES section of this blog, linked to the right.

In November 2012 I attended a professional development workshop on Digital Storytelling, conducted by Jason Ohler. These are some reflections on that workshop, as well as revisions/ additions made as I read through his book Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning and Creativity. For those interested have a read for more detailed study. I'll start with copyright, one of the burning issues.

FROM THE WORKSHOP

A key idea in this workshop that I appreciated was the emphasis on the story and the process, not the technology. I’ve seen in the past how students often get hung up on the technology rather than concentrating on the content and the task itself. This of course may be due to poor planning on the part of the teacher (yours truly) and not scaffolding the process well enough. Key idea: the technology supports or highlights everything else and shouldn’t necessarily be the focal point. This whole idea help limit the habit of students being given high grades because the technology looks good, regardless of the quality of the content. Story telling can be anything. It can be a description of how to conduct a science experiment, a photo documentary, a local news event, or a fictional story about the monsters under your bed. Think of anything that can be told!

OHLER’S DAOW of LITERACY & APPROACH

• So how can we approach storytelling? DAOW: Digital, Art, Oral and Written Literacies 
• Concentrate on the narrative, not the media.
• Incidental music – make the audience feel what you want – relative to the theme, topic
• 30 seconds plus a soundtrack forcing the atmosphere
• Remind students to be aware of visual noise; the background that is distracting or irrelevant
• Be careful of images used – even on blankets, green screen background images
• Story vs Lists – tell a story, rather than listing “facts”, and you get greater student retention
• Flow of the story is important: Beginning, Conflict-Transformation, End (table below can be a god start
• ing point)

COPYRIGHT

Essentially, anything you produce and put online or in public is automatically copyrighted. You can pay for formal copyright, but it’s slow and can be expensive. (before I put my own original music in the public sphere I email it to myself and make a CD, and mail that to myself for the date and official “stamp”) See Chapter 15 of Jason Ohler’s book.

The United States’ TEACH Act:

For music, video, and animated you can use up to 30 seconds or 10%, whichever is shortest

For words, you can use up to 1,000 words, or 10%, whichever is shortest

For illustrations, photos, graphics you can use up to 5 images from one artist; you can use 15 works from a collection, or 10%, whichever is smaller

• In terms of using copyrighted material for education:
• Cite the source and creator(s) of the material used
• Seek permission but be prepared to be turned down
• Pay for it, if you’re willing

I think Ohler makes a very important point in his book: create your own material. GarageBand makes it easy and free (for Mac users), at least. Create your own images and scan them. Ohler suggests also using friends’ materials, as it’s easy to get permission. Use free-use web sites. Use pay-for-use web sites. Use Creative Commons. He does note, using the “rules of respect” noted above if you use other material.  

Check the Copyright Clearance Center. (remember, this can be based on country, as well)

ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS

• Set clear goals
• Assess the story without being overwhelmed or overly impressed with the media
• Assess everything the student uses in order to achieve the final result, for instance, the story map, the audio narration, the video, etc, (the build-up, not just the final piece of work)
• Assess the student’s planning process
• Assess the student’s understanding of what Ohler calls “media grammar” – a simple example being an audio narration that doesn’t have inappropriate background noise 
• Assess the student’s understanding of the content presented
• Assess the use of resources
• Assess the performance of the student (ie) the ability to act, how well rehearsed a part is, etc
• Have students self-assess

SOME SUGGESTIONS (will be updated)

The following are not necessarily only for digital storytelling.

TOOLS

Stop Animation (such as I Can Animate)

Audio programs (Reaper, Audacity, GarageBand)

Photo Story / Photo Story 3

Green screens ("How To" Guide)

Keynote / PowerPoint / Prezi ("How To" Guides)

iMovie / Movie Maker ("How To" Guides)

Online mind mapping (Mindomo, Mind 42, Mind Meister and more...)

Video Cameras

Flip Cameras

Smart Phones

IDEAS FOR A SOCIAL STUDIES CONTEXT (will be updated)

Social Studies is my field of expertise, so I thought I'd add to the post. These ideas can be used jointly (ie) record the audio and layer it with images. 

*Be sure all images, outsourced audio, and documents quoted are sourced AND historically accurate.

*Be certain that whole photos are used, and not altered.

Image-Only

• Myths
• Journal reading from the "author" with supporting images
• Historical Documentaries
• A biography of an historical figure
• Narrative of an opinion on an historical document (or anything else)
• Narrative assessing images in history and describing them and why they were painted, photographed, etc. 
• Letter writing. Students can pretend to be a person in the photograph, outside the range of the photo, or the photographer him or herself. They can write a letter to a friend, a wife, a commanding officer, or even make a diary entry about the event. Source
• Have students create a diagram, such as a table or mind map, and have them explain it through an audio narrative
• Describe changes to a region in geography (ie) the division of the "Middle East", with several maps to go along with a narrative
• Make a children's story based in history
• Draw, scan and produce a storyboard for a period in history

Video

• Reenact a scene in history (write an original dialogue; write a dialogue based on modern language and social mores)
• film a puppet show (even a simple drawing on a stick puppet, sock puppet, or paper bag); draw a backdrop to scan and use with a green screen
• A newscast based on an event in history
• A political speech by someone in history
• Reading an original poem written about something in history (and use a green screen with an original image or historical image as the backdrop)
• Have students create a diagram, such as a table or mind map, and have them explain it with the diagram as the backdrop
• Interview a community resident about local history
• Film a rant about an historical figure as if they were a roommate

Podcasting
Have a look for some ideas on teaching podcasting here or here. Here is a good podcasting pdf file that goes beyond this discussion.

• A radio news broadcast of an event that happened yesterday
• A radio interview with a person in history
• An audio journal giving an opinion or theory
• A political speech by someone in history
• A (telephone) conversation between two historical figures
• A narrative describing a dinner party in history
• A biography of an historical figure
• Describe how a device in history looks and works (success can be judged by students ability to figure out what it is)
• A radio advertisement for a product of the past
• Write an historical rap or song
• Write an editorial or an editorial letter outlining concerns of the "consequences" of a present situation (in history) 

Keynote/ PowerPoint Presentations (developed by students)

• Choose Your Own Adventure story
• Jeopardy review game
• 20 Questions review

Global Online Academy: Online Courses for High Schools?

I read an article on the WSJ about the Global Online Academy, which my school has now become a member of. The article doesn’t debunk a trend in which researchers claim that elite private schools are resisting online learning (meaning the delivery of online courses), but it does make a valid point that online coursework amoung private schools is growing and GOA is an example.

GOA is non-profit, though there is a fee to take courses. The fees pay for basic administration, and for teachers to develop and deliver curriculum.

A little about GOA.

Students can work at their own pace, but there are deadlines that must be met. The structure is collaborative in nature, with students interacting with the teacher and each other. One teacher notes that there is still “human interaction” but that it is mediated differently. For myself, I enjoy online coursework, but I do prefer being in a room with people discussing ideas, problems and solutions. I think the online programs that require students to do on site training (such as during summers) the best of both worlds is met. In the case of teaching this is possible due to longer breaks.

What I like about the online world is meeting people living in all parts of the world. This point is made as a benefit of the program, along with other “pros”, such as an expanded choice of courses and the fact that classes are limited to 18 students. (so there can be meaningful interaction, if all participants engage each other and build a relationship) Drawbacks can be a lack of intimacy and spontaneity. (you’ll never have the situation in which you’re in class and jazzed about the topic and choose to carry over in the pub) I think the most important point, which can be said for any learning environment, is that it doesn’t work for everyone. Some kids need the four-wall structure and a teacher in the room. Online learning also benefits kids who are sick in the hospital, home as a teenage parent, or one who needs an extra course to finish school on time or early.

The article poses the question: Can it be avoided? I personally doubt it. I’m not convinced that online learning is going to replace traditional schools any time soon. There have been arguments that kids will learn at home, and schools will be places for community building activities and socialization, like fine arts and sporting activities. It’s possible, but not soon.

The article also points out the opportunities to break down cultural barriers. Yes, this is possible, but with any other form of media, it can be used for cultural conflict as well. People have access to publicize delinquent, and deliberately antagonizing material.

But all of that can be said for any kind of online learning platform. I like the potential benefits that GOA provides for students and teachers. For example, teachers who have to (or choose to) stay at home can earn money through online teaching. Students can pick up extra coursework, and possibly courses that are more attractive to their interests.

Perhaps I'm growing older, but didn't we have distance learning by paper just a decade and a half ago? 

Source Article:  Online Holdouts No More

Further reading: Elite Private Schools Unite to Offer Full-Credit Online Courses

The Story of Sugata Mitra's Experiments with Self-Teaching

An autodidact is a self-taught person. Something I love about this whole story (or experiment, rather) is that it demonstrates how intelligent kids really are. Being a teacher who has taught second language learners I have first hand experience with young people who have difficulty expressing themselves or demonstrating knowledge in a second language, but are otherwise highly intelligent people. 

Sugata Mitra is an education scientist from India. His TED talk, “New Experiments in Self-Teaching” is something all educators should study. Mitra suggests that good teachers don’t want to go in the places they are most needed (ie) impoverished communities/ countries. I have to agree with this, as a generalization. There are those teachers who love to travel and teach, but the best ones often aim for the elite schools.

The First Experiment

Mitra embedded computer touch screens into the walls of public spaces (slums, in particular) in several countries worldwide and waited for the results. (public "hole in the wall" computers) The conclusion was that children are not only keen to explore, but they also have the ability to teach themselves to use computers without guidance: when are interested, they learn. (he jokes about how an extended version of the experiment, using speech to text software, led to children having changed their accents to be understood by the program) Another interesting observation Mitra had was that over several months children retained more information when they worked at a computer, but collaboratively. One computer for four students is one of Mitra’s criteria – forcing collaboration. He concluded in his experiments that one computer for one child hinders learning. (being at a one-to-one school, I can see this, though it’s a generalization and very much context-based)

Furthering the experiment, Mitra went into classrooms, with 4 students to 1 computer, and would ask them a tough question for them to figure out. Eventually they do. One question I have, though, is what quality the collaboration is. It’s human nature to have a leader and follower, even in situations of good collaboration, and some know more than others. To be fair, I haven’t looked at data from the experiments, but how does Mitra learn about the nature of the collaboration? Was it one student that had the tech skills and / or mind to figure out the answers? When a group solves a problem we have to question how they solved it and what contribution each student made.

Self-Organized Learning Environments

Mitra also discusses SOLE - self organized learning environments. His experiments are the foundation of this idea that we can organize our learning independently. (though I’ve not read Mitra suggest this is the best form of learning, but merely one facet of how we learn) “To go further, Dr. Mitra supplements SOLE with e-mediators, or the "granny cloud" as he calls it: amateur volunteers who use Skype to help kids learn online. (source)” A recent Google Power Searching course I recently took reminds me a little of the skills needed to search effectively for answers. The skills learned are not advanced in the sense that it takes a while to learn, but the search strategies are not always intuitive.

I think I need to lean more about SOLE.

Wall Street Journal Article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704584804575645070639938954.html

Here is an example school package that outlines a SOLE program based on Mitra’s work:

http://repository.alt.ac.uk/2208/)

Mitra also has a book, Beyond the Hole in the Wall: Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning.

Google Power Search & IB History Notes

I've been working on the pages, seen in the right sidebar. I'm slowly, at glacial speed, adding notes on the category 1 IB History course and a Google Power Search course. Have a look. The Google notes (and embedded videos) will benefit anyone. (you don't have to be an educator to gain from this)

Use Real Time Comments / Questioning / Polling Streams in Your Classroom

I wrote this for the upcoming JASCD Newsletter (Fall 2012). I'll be going back to the others I have written over the last number of years and post them here.


Do you know these simple user-friendly real time live streaming web sites? You can encourage your class (or audience) to make comments, ask questions, or simple brainstorm using the following sites. You can create and conduct an online poll in seconds. These web sites do not require registration and allow you to set up online collaboration simply and easily.


Today’s Meet is very much like Twitter, but allows more characters and does not require registration. You can download the transcript as well to use as a record, or even for grading participation/ quality of comments. The applications for Today’s Meet are varied.

http://todaysmeet.com/


Answer Garden is a good brainstorming tool. Simply type a question and wait for answers. You are limited in the number of words you can type, but you can edit the question later on.

http://answergarden.ch/


Poll Everywhere allows you to create a poll or survey quickly. Responders have the choice of text messaging from a phone or using a computer, and even by tweeting. Poll results can be downloaded as a slide or image, linked to Facebook, Twitter and Google Blogger. The poll can be e-mailed and downloaded for Prezi.

http://www.polleverywhere.com/

Innovation

This is a theme you'll see in education more an more. Here's a video presented by my school's curriculum coordinator on innovation in education. The speaker Mickey McManus is president and CEO of MAYA Design, Inc.

Essentially, he points out that the rate of technological change is exponential, but we're not capable of humans to keep up. CEOs of companies want "creative thinkers", but there are not enough out there because our education systems are so out of date that we're not educating our youth for the 21st century. Common phrases in education these days, of course, are "transformational learning" or "21st century learning", with student-driven learning and inquiry - the "flipped classroom" where students seek the answers and work collaboratively. (seems so natural to me, what were we thinking before???) I like the idea that "design" is not considered a literacy in schools, pointing out that it's all about "critical thinking". I agree. Basic problem solving skills are so necessary. (were they ever not?) I'll add to this: problem identification. Where is the problem or the need? Figure it out first, and then move on through the process of solving it. 

Human Centered Design is a concept McManus mentions in the video, explaining how he feels this is actually a new literacy. Another is SEL, Social Emotional Learning, that serves the purpose of people learning to collaborate better. (I say "people" rather than "students" because we all need this) 

One final idea presented in the video is the fun part - real world application. You see groups of young people who have been to a "boot camp" through LUMA, in which the get to "make stuff". The "stuff" they make is aimed to address real problems in their communities/ contemporary life. (sorry, can't find a link to LUMA)

Twenty minutes well spent: