There are many ways in which I can use Digital Storytelling in what I do. I teach third graders, and I wish I had known half of this information when I did my nursing home project last year! I decided to integrate technology into a project I had done for a few years. Each year my students are paired up with nursing home residents whom they interview and get to know over the course of the school year. They use the information they learn about their residents to write a biography of their lives, which they present to their residents at the end of the school year. The residents love it, and my students get to learn from members of our elderly community, which is something that many of them would never have experienced otherwise. Last year I decided to upgrade the project and have them make movies about their residents using Windows MovieMaker. However, I didn't know anything about Digital Storytelling yet, and I hadn't really researched MovieMaker enough, either. My kids enjoyed the project, but it didn't really turn out like I planned. I really think the knowledge from this class would make the difference with this project.
I would also like to use VoiceThread with my students. I think it could really help them with their math processes, for instance, if I gave them a problem and had them each tell how they solved it, like we saw on some of the example Voice Threads. This is just one of the MANY ways I could use Voice Thread in my classroom.
I will also definitely use all the information I've learned about my previous PowerPoint presentations and where I've gone wrong. When presenting to my colleagues or the school board, or my classmates in this cohort, I will be able to apply all I've learned from Presentation Zen to improve my presentations so I don't bore my audience to death.
Andi, what a wonderful project you do with your students! I can see where Storytelling would be a great tool for the students to tell their stories about their residents. I believe there are so many tools that could be used to share stories for students and even personal reasons.
ReplyDeleteThat is a really cool idea. I actually have a nursing home with in walking distance of my middle school. That would be a fun little project that include the community. Get them story boarding, writing, etc. Do you have a list of questions or activities you do with the residents? I would love to see all that you did.
ReplyDeleteYou could also do a Comic Life project if you could get digital copies of photos of the elderly folks.