The Magic of Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling! How I love thee, let me count the ways. Yes, I am blog reading, again. Here’s a post that definitely got my attention. Alix Peshette, in her blog EdTech Gold Rush writes about the power of digital storytelling. There are so many points I find interesting in her discussion about her recent research (and grant proposal) using digital storytelling with Special Education students, but here’s what got my attention.

"Everything I read or see about 21st century learners speaks about their engagement through digital learning. What goes on in most classrooms are teaching styles that rely on textbooks, lectures and multiple choice tests.

A blinding flash of the obvious is that most school board members and district-level administrators have not been in the classroom (as students or teachers) since the advent of the Internet. They can mouth the words about the importance of technology, but deep down, they just don’t get it. They haven’t seen the engagement that comes from letting our students work in a modality that is second nature to them."

Because I chose this particular excerpt from her post, you may be thinking I am going to "go off" on administrators. Not at all! Remove any negative connotations you may interpret – for example, “They can mouth the words . . .” Replace that with, "They can blindly support . . ." Replace "They haven’t seen the engagement . . . " with "They aren’t lucky enough to participate in learning at this level. " See where I’m going with this? No, the administrators aren’t "there" where the classroom teachers are – teachers and administrators are doing different jobs. It’s as it should be.

Okay, so how do we communicate? Alix talks about a project she did as part of the grant working with 4th and 5th graders using PhotoStory3 (free!).

"In the space of five minutes, as each 4th grader recorded their voice and then listened to it, magic happened. The excitement rose, smiles were wide and friends were listening to each other’s recordings. All this with three-dollar microphones and free software!"

I think administrators get magic.

We offer several classes using free tools that lend themselves to digital storytelling, such as Digital Picture Projects which uses VoiceThread and PhotoStory 3 and Developing Mulitmedia which uses MovieMaker. In fact, much of what we do on the Eighth Floor is all about helping teachers make the magic happen. I’m just sayin’.

Here’s my suggestion: of course we want you to come up for classes, but more importantly, why don’t you come with your administrators or with your teachers (who you bring depends on what you do – see how that works?). Be the team that makes the magic.

Thanks!
Lee Anne

What About Blogs - April 30, 2008 Class

What About Blogs?
Welcome to the Eighth Floor class about blogging in education. As a collaborative and constructive tool, blogs have found their place in education. As educators, we are using them as learning tools not only for our students, but also for ourselves.

Blogs in Plain English



Lee LeFever of the Common Craft Show

So What’s a Blog?
Let the 6 & 7 year olds from Room 9 at Nelson Central School educate you about what they think a blog is and why they love using them!



Let’s Talk About Blogs
How is a blog different from a website?
What does it mean to blog, be a blogger?
Why do you think you or your students might be attracted to this as a form of expression?
The first step to being a good blogger is to be a good blog ____________?

Education Professional Development Blogs
Weblogg-ed - A blog by Will Richardson
Moving at the Speed of Creativity - A blog by Wesley Fryer
Blog of Proximal Development - a blog by Konrad
Blogs about Educational Blogging - a wiki by Support Blogging.com


Classroom/Student Blogs
Arthus - NewlyAncient (high school student blog)
The Good Habits Blog (blog for students)
Mrs Cassidy's Classroom Blog (elementary)
Blogical Minds (This is a blog created to explore what happens when 5th graders blog and converse about literacies in class and beyond)

Google Search for Blogs
http://blogsearch.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wb

Check out the following education/safety focused postings and articles:
MySpace Education
Change Agency
BlogSafety.com
Blogs, Fair Use, and Paying to Play

Blogging Tips and Tricks:
Web Blog Basics
Blogs - Anatomy
Blogs for Learning
Evaluating Blogging
Blogging Best Practices
Top 10 Blog Writing Tips
___________________________________________________________________

QUESTION!
Since this is a class about blogging, we thought you might want to do a little, well, blogging. So, what are some advantages to using blogs? What are some disadvantages? What can you do to minimize the disadvantages?
____________________________________________________________________

Add your comment to this post. Take a minute to think about the above questions. (Or share something else, if you choose, like an idea your already have for using blogs) Click on the "comments" link below and then type your answer. You can comment as "anonymous or other." Be sure to include your name somewhere so we know who you are. Read others’ comments and feel free to comment on their comments!

Thanks!
Lee Anne

Intro to Photoshop on the Eighth Floor - THE MOVIE!

We have ordered some Flip Video cameras for our Eighth Floor classes this summer. I can't wait to start using them in class! These are seriously easy to use video cameras. You know me, I don't like anything too complicated. You also know that I couldn't help playing with one and in the process making Scott my victim.

Since he is teaching an Intro to Photoshop class this morning, I thought I would video the start of his class and thus share the course topics with anyone interested in taking the class. So! If you want to know what you will learn in this very popular class, watch the video.

Even if you don't care about the class, watch the video! I confess that I didn't spend a lot of time "editing" the video and cleaning it up, sorry. I'm dying to, but I just don't have the time right now. I'm going to guess this first attempt at this took me about one and half - two hours including creating this blog post. I'm sure I will be faster next time!




Here are the tools I used: Flip Video, Microsoft MovieMaker, YouTube, and Blogger.com. Except for the Flip video, these tools are all free, and of course, "stuff" you can learn about in our classes.

(Thanks, Scott, for always being such a good sport!)

Just playin'
Lee Anne

Transformative is a Beautiful Word

I've been working with a group of graduate students (all educators) on some pretty sizzling topics like public domain, fair use, and copyright. Let me tell you, these are topics that can really get a madcap party started. I'm just sayin'!

Understanding copyright is a challenge - and that's kind of putting it nicely. But I read a post by Joyce Valenza, Fair use and transformativeness: It may shake your world, and suddenly I felt like it was a little easier to breath. You know, kind of like when you have a cold and you pop a mentholated lozenge in your mouth. Air can suddenly pass through swollen passages. It's a miracle. The word "transformative" was like a mentholated lozenge for us.

Here's a taste of what she has to say about fair use in education.

"My new understanding:

I learned on Friday night that the critical test for fairness in terms of educational use of media is transformative use. When a user of copyrighted materials adds value to, or repurposes materials for a use different from that for which it was originally intended, it will likely be considered transformative use; it will also likely be considered fair use. Fair use embraces the modifying of existing media content, placing it in new context.

Examples of transformativeness might include: using campaign video in a lesson exploring media strategies or rhetoric, using music videos to explore such themes as urban violence, using commercial advertisements to explore messages relating to body image or the various different ways beer makers sell beer, remixing a popular song to create a new artistic expression."


There's much more in the post. And, even though the effects of the lozenge don't last for very long, you feel good for a little while, right. I thought her discussion was worth reading and thinking about.

If you want or need to do a little more reading on copyright (or copyleft) here are links to enough information to keep you busy for a few minutes.

http://del.icio.us/lamorris/copyright
http://del.icio.us/lamorris/copyleft
http://del.icio.us/lamorris/Library

Just sharin'!
Lee Anne

Wanna SEE your Delicious Network?

This is seriously cool!

Here is a way to "see" your learning network.

If you have a social bookmarking account with Delicious, you are going to love this. You can "explore" your network - who hooks up with whom, etc. I was surprised by the number of people who are fans with many of the people in my network.

Delicious Network Explorer:
http://www.twoantennas.com/projects/delicious-network-explorer/

If nothing else, it's entertaining!

Just sharin'!

Lee Anne

What does Web 2.0 Mean?

If you have ever looked up anything on Wikipedia, you have used a Web 2.0 tool. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0) If you have ever watched a video on YouTube or TeacherTube, you have used a Web 2.0 tool. If you have ever been on MySpace or Facebook or LinkedIn, then you have used a Web 2.0 tool. If you have ever watched a movie from Netflix on your computer, you have used a Web 2.0 tool. If you are reading this blog, you are using a Web 2.0 tool. (Check out WebWare for a pretty good list of Web.2.0 tools)

Web 2.0 tools are kind of becoming the way things are "done" on the web these days. Someone asked me the other day what was Web 1.0? Great question! Well, we didn’t really call it Web 1.0 at the time because like most things that change over time, we didn’t know there was going to be a newer version. Think of Web 1.0 as your basic website - a static page that contains information you can consume or access - a one-way form of communication, if you will. Web 2.0, on the other hand, is your two-way form of communication, often called the Read/Write web. This means you can not only consume (read) the information on the site, but you can also contribute (write) to the information. For example, you could leave a comment on this blog post and then you would be writing to the web.

What does this mean? Pretty simple - now everyone and anyone who wants to can be published on the World Wide Web. Everyone has a voice. Your learning network has grown exponentially. You have access to more primary resources than ever. Does that sound a little overwhelming? Don't let it be.

If you are interested in knowing more about Web 2.0 tools and what they look like when used in education, then we have a class for you, Web 2.0: The Lightning Round. In this hands-on class we will look at many of the tools being used by educators in their classrooms and for their own professional development. The class meets this Wednesday, April 2nd on the Eighth Floor from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm.

Hope to see you Wednesday!
Lee Anne

How Safe are Social Networking Sites?

Apparently less dangerous than we have been lead to believe!

I'm a little behind on my blog reading or I would have shared this much sooner. In his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity, Wes Fryer, in his post "Study encourages a less hyped view of social networking risks," writes about a recent study that "busts" some of the media induced myths about online predators and Internet safety. Wes does a quick review of the myths and includes links to the article and more.

I won't spend your time with a complete "regurge" - check out his post. It's worth the read if for no other reason than balance.

Thanks!
Lee Anne

What Should You Know About Social Bookmarking?

• You should know that it makes your "favorites" accessible from any computer.
• You should know that it allows for much more organizational control over your saved sites.
• You should know that it allows you to share your bookmarked sites with others.
• You should know that it is incredibly easy to use.
• You should know that it is an efficient way to manage the voluminous information you encounter daily.
• You should know that it is a class offered on the Eighth Floor.
• You should know that it will be offered next on March 27th from 4:00 - 7:00 pm.

Want to know more? Following are links to articles, etc. that will get you started.

7 Things You Should Know About . . . Social Bookmarking
Web 2.0 Wiki Page on Social Bookmarking
Common Craft Video on Social Bookmarking
Delicious - Effective Social Bookmarking
My own Delicious Account - Click on the tags to the right to get more specific.

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Twitter in Plain English

I ran across this new video and had to share. Lee and Sachi LeFever have come up with another video in plain English: Twitter in Plain English. Twitter might be described as a cross between blogging and instant messaging. Check it out.






Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

What do you think is the future of education?

According to Steve Hargadon, Web 2.0 is the future of education. Yeah, I kind of looked twice, too. Really? Web 2.0? Blogs, wikis, podcasting, all that? But you know me, I'm a devoted Web 2.0 enthusiast - so of course, I read the article.

He discusses 10 compelling trends. But even more fun is that he goes on to discuss what they look like in education and what we should/could be doing. Here's a tasty morsel:

I believe that the read/write Web, or what we are calling Web 2.0, will culturally, socially, intellectually, and politically have a greater impact than the advent of the printing press. I believe that we cannot even begin to imagine the changes that are going to take place as the two-way nature of the Internet begins to flower, and that even those of us who have spent time imagining this future will be astounded by what happens. I'm going to identify ten trends in this regard that I think have particular importance for education and learning, and then discuss seven steps I think educators can take to make a difference during this time.

Have a look at the post. What do you think? Will the Read/Write Web have a greater impact than the advent of the printing press?

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne