Digital+Storytelling


 * Digital Storytelling **

__ **Pros:** __

 * Interact with reading materials
 * Improve their reading skills
 * Increase their vocabulary
 * Increase reading comprehension
 * Learning happens socially through language
 * Multiple forms of media are used to deepen the meaning making process
 * Children benefit from opportunities to share what they know in a more creative way
 * Can be effectively applied to every subject
 * Allows students to express themselves with their own words and voices
 * Learning can be accelerated because of student engagement
 * Helps students retain information and make sense
 * Can be instructional, persuasive, historical, or reflective
 * Allows for multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement
 * Skill that can be mastered even by low-ability students or younger students
 * Emphasizes multiple intelligences

__ **Uses:** __

 * Alternative Assessment
 * Authentic Assessment
 * Increased student interest/engagement
 * Digital Portfolio Project
 * Classroom Website Artifact
 * Parent Conferences or "Back to School Night" show
 * Book reports

__ **Cons:** __

 * Time consuming
 * Direct instruction
 * Frustration by teachers and students
 * Chance that student loses sight of the learning goals and focuses on technology aspect
 * Difficult to assess because of the broad range of topics and disciplines
 * Teachers and students need to be aware of intellectual property issues that arise
 * Requires a great deal of storage space for programs on hard drives
 * Need technology support or access to websites to install/run program/website
 * Trying to run multiple computers on the same website might strain school server
 * School needs to assess the current level of technology is appropriate for using these programs/websites
 * Teachers need to be knowledgeable, know how to troubleshoot, and be confident in proctoring the project
 * Websites may be littered with unwanted spam or advertisements that are not appropriate for school
 * Things that need to be considered **
 * Educational goals need to be set so that there is a purpose for using the websites. Teachers’ standard based objectives need to guide student exploration.
 * “Meaning makers then media makers”. This means students need to learn the content first then explore the creative media.
 * Larger projects need to be broken down into chucks.
 * Most materials should be written out first, as a layout, in order to be organized.

__ **Websites:** __
> Animoto http://www.animoto.com > Storybird http://www.storybird.com > Glogster http://edu.glogster.com > Voice Thread [|http://ed.voicethread.com] > Grabba Beast [] > Voki [] > Build Yourself Wild @http://buildyourwildself.com/ > Kid Blog **[|http://kidblog.org] ** > Zooburst **http://www.zooburst.com **
 * ComicMaster- Lets you create your own graphic novels
 * Voki- Create personalized, speaking avatar
 * Story Jumper http://www.storyjumper.com
 * This is used to create an online book. You create scenes with characters, and upload images, and text. When using this tool you can turn pages as you do in a book. You also have the option of printing the pages and putting it together as a hard copy book. This is a free source for teachers. Teachers can set up accounts with user names for their students.
 * This allows users to create a multimedia slide show using text, images, music, and short video clips.
 * This is where art collections are used for story inspiration. You can build a book around existing artwork. However, there is not as much control over the layout.
 * This is a virtual poster board. You can embed videos, music, and pictures to tell a story or relay information.
 * This is a collaborative, multimedia slideshow where people can leave comments for each other.
 * This is a tool to create a unique creature as a character.
 * This allows you to create personalized speaking avatars.
 * This allows you to create half human, half animal avatars.
 * Student based website where projects can be shared and comments can be posted.
 * This is a tool that is **not recommended for children** yet due to the amount of advertisements that come up. However, it is a good tool for making 3D pop up books. So if you stumble upon this website, it may not be safe to use.

__ **Resources:** __

 * [|StoryKit] - Create an electronic storybook by drawing on the screen, uploading images, recording sound effects and voice, laying out the elements of the story (text boxes, images, and sound clips) freely by dragging them or pinching to resize, reordering pages, and uploading to the StoryKit web server. Email a link to the story. The application includes four public domain children’s books to rewrite and rearrange into a new story.
 * Animoto - Upload images, choose a soundtrack from the library, and click a button to make a 30-second video. Sync your videos with your Animoto.com account, download videos for offline viewing, and make longer ones with an All-Access Pass

__ **References:** __

 * Digital Storytelling and Literacy Resources for Kids
 * This website offers a great insight for teachers with non-native speaking students. The author discusses how she uses digital storytelling iPhone Apps with her ELL students. Great resource for anyone with ELL students wanting to get them more engaged.