Continuing Discussion on Digital Storybooks: The Elements

               Thursday in class we reviewed the elements of a digital story. After reviewing them in class I remember using them while creating my digital story in 201. I had forgotten about them and I am glad we reviewed them before I created my digital story for this class.

                In class it was mentioned that if we were to have our students complete digital stories in our classrooms we might not have our students worry about all of the elements of the digital story. I agree that it may be difficult for elementary children, but I think that if a teacher works with them and shows them many examples of each element I think that they can do it. This is especially true for upper elementary students. The first element is point of view and I feel like that would be easy for students to understand. They just need to know that their story needs to be in the voice of a specific person. Elementary students would also be willing to tell stories about themselves more than adults. The dramatic question would be the most complex element for them to understand, but I think that they could figure it out. Children are more creative than most adults so it wouldn’t be hard for them to come up with an interesting way to tell a story. Emotional content would be easy to teach because you just need to ask the students to think about what kind of story they are telling. Is it sad, funny, exciting, or etc.? Elementary students also can work on their fluency and sound of voice when they are recording their voices. Teachers can teach this skill by having students listen to others telling a story. Have the students listen to a monotone speaker and then have them listen to someone who talks with excitement in their voice at a steady pace. Let the students decide which one they would rather listen to. Then have the students practice telling stories to one another with good voice. Economy would be something I would focus on a little bit too. I would explain that their stories should be short and to the point. Sometimes kids tend to ramble when they are telling a story, so I would do summarizing activities that works on getting to the main point of the story without all of the extra information.

I think that all of the elements of a digital story are necessary. We should teach our students how to do it correctly from the beginning because the elements are skills that they need in all aspects of their reading and writing. We as teachers need to have high expectations for our students. If we set the bar high then the students will work harder to meet it. If we set the bar low then students will not be showing their full potential. I struggled through the classes where the teachers had extremely high expectations, but when the class was over I understood why they had them because I realized that I learned a lot.  

               

Digital Storybooks in the Classroom

     I was excited to be able to work with digital story books in class today. I have used them several times before and I have created a few myself over the past four years at Iowa State. Every time that I have created a book or movie I always really become involved in the process. I love to edit the photos and display them in different layouts.The digital stories that I have created for classes have been really time consuming and challenging at times, but after you have finished you have a product that you are really proud of.  You have a finished piece that is your own and your hard work and time is all worth it at the end. If I feel this way after I finish one then I know that my future students would feel the same way when they finish their own stories. This is one reason why I will use them in my future classroom.

     Another reason why I will use it in my own classroom someday is because I think that is an awesome way for students to show their creativity and present their voice through a book or movie. It gives students a chance to tell a story or describe an event or person in a different way than a report. Written reports get boring after awhile and I feel that digital stories are a great way to revamp the standard written report. The students are still having to do the research and writing, but they are doing it in a fun and exciting way. They are also able to do more with them because they can add special effects, pictures, and music to them. They are able show their personality through their movies by adding these extras. It is also a great project for a group activity because everyone can get involved with the creation of it. There are many jobs such as retrieving pictures, writing text, recording voices, finding music, and editing them. Everyone in the group can have a job and can contribute to a great final product.

      In class we learned that it is more geared for upper elementary because of the time that is involved and the extensive computer work. I think that it can be modified though for the younger ages like how we saw in the Storybird example. The lower elementary teacher has to do a lot more work when scaffolding the activity for younger children because he or she may have to do most of the uploading and editing, but I still think the younger children can have a part in it. For example, the students could take the pictures, write what they want to say, and record their voices.

     Overall I think that digital storybooks are an excellent addition to a classroom curriculum. There are many possibilities for how they can be used and can be used in all areas of the curriculum. They are a great way for students to work with technology in an innovative way!

Research Article on Technology Integration with Kindergarten Literacy

In my last student teaching experience I worked with kindergarteners so I decided to find an article that related to the use of technology in a kindergarten classroom. I wanted to find an article that discussed ways that a teacher can use technology with kindergarteners in a way that they can do it independently. In my experience there were some students that knew how to use computers and other technology and there were some that had never been exposed to it before school. This makes it difficult for a teacher because he or she needs to learn to scaffold the technology opportunities so that they will work well with all of the students. The article I found talked about ways to deal with this and examined the use of daily technology in a kindergarten classroom. 

  Rice, M. L. (2010, June 27) International Society for Technology in Education Conference. Raising Elementary Student's Expectations and Achievement with Technology Integration. , 1-15. Retrieved May 10, 2011, from http://center.uoregon.edu/conferences/ISTE/2010/handout_uploads/KEY_49939442/Rice_UsingTechnologyinKindergarten_RP.pdf

Available online here

In the article it talked about the debate about how much technology young children should use or if they should use any at all. It also talked about how technology is part of everyday life for most children now and it is a part of the way children play, communicate and learn at home and school. There have been many studies that have examined the use of computers with young children and it has been found that there are positive effects in the learning and development of young children. The purpose of the study was to study the effects of the daily use of technology on kindergartner’s learning. It also examined how additional technology would affect kindergartener’s learning of those who began school without knowing basic skills such as the alphabet.

One positive aspect of technology on learning is that it can provide a variety ways of learn. There are many different types of learning styles and technology can be used to address every learning style. For example, some students are auditory learners and learn best by listening to things. There are many podcasts available or e-readers that allow these learners to listen to what is being taught to them. Technology also helps to support the constructivism type of teaching that is being emphasized now. Technology provides many formats where students can actively construct their knowledge and build upon it.

The research for the study was carried out in a kindergarten classroom with a first year kindergarten teacher who was excited to implement technology into her teaching. The teacher found many websites and software that focused on phonics and other literacy skills to use in her literacy center rotation. The students worked on the computers while she taught guided reading. It was a difficult start using the computers, but soon the students became proficient at them and the teacher began to implement more difficult websites and software on the computers.

The point of the research was that the teacher had been having a difficult time with her lower achieving guided reading group. She knew that the students could read the books she was giving them, but they did not want to try. She then observed these students when they were on the computers using the difficult Phonics software and noticed that they were doing things that they couldn’t do in their small reading groups. The teacher then decided to use the computers to her advantage while teaching the small groups at the tables. She mimicked the software during her teaching so that the students would see the connection between the computers and her teaching. It worked and over time many of the students were reading better and were able to move up to the higher reading groups.

This study proves that technology can be beneficial for younger students. It is a way to motivate students because they don’t realize that they are working because they are having fun. It also improves their self-confidence because they are making gains in their education. This was a good start for this teacher, but I would do more than just the computers in my classroom. There is more technology that can effect students’ literacy development than just websites and reading software. There are an endless amount of possibilities!