Digital Story Telling way to go!

Digital Storytelling refers to using digital tools so that ordinary people can tell their own real-life stories. Using digital storytelling and proper application can be an effective tool . This in line with Seimen's ...through interaction with, use of, and understanding of the exponentially increasing body of knowledge, individuals are required to connect with others to share experiences and to make sense of knowledge. People need to now become part of unrealistic society and to use the technology that is available to them, (Siemens, 2005 and Lee Lafever, 2009), to access the information they need for their current situations.
Digital storytelling will connect others and perhaps creating one would be advantageous to both creators and listener/viewers as they share their experiences. Through Digital storytelling, students will be inspired to tell stories to the next generation using moving image.

I can imagine reflecting and evaluating the students learning will be a central point of gathering data on how students learn through thier experiences. This could be use as summative assessment.Students will be engage through emotive or playfulness screening by movie makers. SOSE lessons will never be the same again. I can see students, as a viewre- will be engage through emotive screening by movie makers.

As Learning Manager/ educator using special screening lessons and hands-on workshops for students and teachers can be the author of their own learning.

One example down below.

Cheers,

MaryAnn

Digital story examples: Retrieved December 8,2009, from:ACMIAustralian Commision for Moving Images: http://www.acmi.net.au/digitalstorytelling.aspx

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retreived November 2009, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Google Earth .... -0'0- How you see it...

Don’t you hate it when you going somewhere and you can’t read the map? (Googly eyes!) Some of you can relate to this…age! So forget atlases and maps - they are old school! 'Sharon's Blog' made me so excited so much resources out there to use for Science and Math.
If we go with Maths, for example, Google Earth could well be a nominated Learning Resource when creating a maths Measurement and Space Investigation using the ICT Learning Design Framework (Oliver, 1999). The Learning Task, being problem-based, would require learners to plan a trip, including the route to take and the timetable or itinerary. It is possible for this to be a solely ICT driven Investigation, with Google Earth as the main tool used by children.

It could even allow learners to give directions to an unfamiliar destination, including the use of street names and land marks thanks to the technology.
Its limitless.What do you think?

Cheers
Mary-Ann

Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education, 20(2), 240-254.

The Power of...PowerPoint.

I have seen many students create PowerPoint’s and deliver reports or presentations to the class using this medium. Students do enjoy creating PowerPoints, though can be distracted at times creating animations, layouts, colours and fonts rather than focussing more on the content of their presentation. Non-the-less, I find PowerPoint’s a great starting point for students to begin adding images, hyperlinks, music and animation to their written work due to the fact that the program is relatively easy to use, navigate through and find help if needed. It is a great introduction to using computers as well as what is possible with blogs and other ‘web2’ tools.


The creating process is obviously fun and engaging for students therefore different learning styles are catered for when creating and viewing a PowerPoint. Students tend to be visual learners due to the amount of exposure to TV, DVD’s, and ICT’s, therefore PowerPoint presentations meet this type of learning, (Pearce, 2007).I have seen a recent example of a PowerPoint presentation used to add images and fonts to create emphasis to different aspects of the poem.


I have found personally, PowerPoint’s are great for delivering lessons….putting up key questions or images that all can see while you discuss the topic. It is a visual cue to keep students on track and the LM can keep referring back to the various slides. The lesson key points can be put on sequential slides which are easy to work through during the lesson. It is easy to move back and forward through the slides if necessary for revision.


In combination with data projectors In the past I have use PowerPoint at church which we use as a slide for songs, future events, and it was useful for as simple as using as a picture slide. One thing I like about PowerPoint is that you could also use and index to easily track or restore your songs (anything really). PowerPoint can easily be shared through email and now Slide Share.
I was involved in creating a PowerPoint recently for an assignment were we focused on the animations and timing of text entering and departing a slide to create focus. I must admit I still don’t understand it.
YEY!! More learning to do more exploring!!!


Cheers Mary-Ann

Discovering Avatar….

I have discovered that there are many educational blogs and wikis that provide information about how avatars can be used in the classroom. Classroom 2.0 gave an example that used avatars, wikis and podcasts in a global classroom collaboration, again demonstrating how the components of relate-create-donate are being used in learning environments….How can they be used in an educational context?
"Avatars provide a face to the students and a face to the teacher. They provide
the human element to online teaching" - Cohen, 2007
Avatars are a way of providing anonymity for students. They are a way for students to have a mask to hide behind when presenting information as well as protecting their identity. This addresses the needs of the shy student, while also relieves parental concerns about how their child is being portrayed online.
I can’t believe Cohen’s comment that Avatar’s are better than Sykpe! So I tried to e-mail a personal message to a friend it works!! Having to design your own appearance to suit the situation can give it an effective message. I can now say there is variety of ways you could use this in a classroom situation. Assignments prompters’ I can imagine emailing students and giving instructions in a playful way.

Avatar (means) the incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form:http://www.answers.com/topic/avatar

What do you think?