I did my Digital Storybook on the Curse of Rasuputin. There are two Montana State Standards that apply to my story. The first is standard 2: Students analyze how people create and change structures of power, authority, and governance to understand the opperation of goverment and to demonstrate civic responsibility. The second standard that seems to fit my story is standard 4: Students demonstrate and understanding of the effects of time, continuity, and change on historical and future perspectives and relationships.
The learning objective for students watching this digital storybook would be:
1. Students will understand the way Grigori Rasputin's fate foreshadowed the future of the Romanov Family.
2. Students will understand how to create a presentation that is eye-catching and interesting, without the use of a lecture or notes.
I would use this digital story during a lesson on the fall of the Romanov Dynasty to give visual representations of the events that occurred and the intense influence that the life of Rasputin had on the Imperial Family. The relative advantage of having this technology in my classroom is that it would provide a visual that isn't stark and boring, while also showing students that there are alternative ways to present information besides a paper or a group project.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Week 6 Case Study
1. In using digital storytelling, students are able to learn new ways of communicating with a large group of people. They are also being given the ability to create an entire project on their own, with out the limits of something like writing guidelines. This technology also gives people the ability to communicate specific topics in an interesting way, which could help when trying to get a job, or create a presentation. Digital storytelling also gives the ability to be creative! Instead of focusing on one specific thing, students can take a project in a whole new direction, opening them up to things that they have never thought about before.
2. The proper training that a teacher needs to be able to implement digital storytelling would be at least one lesson and chance to use digital storytelling on their own so that they can understand how it works. Then they have the ability to help students out when it comes to figuring out what needs to be done and how to do a specific thing.
3. Digital storytelling is useful when working with shy students who are not outspoken because it gives them the ability to be just as expressive as other students. It does not require them getting up and giving a presentation, which could make them very uneasy. It also works with outspoken students because it puts them at the same level as those shier students. It also gives them the same ability, where they can explore new things and be creative in a different way than they are used to.
I would integrate this case study into a classroom by creating a balance of technological devices that help students bridge the gap between things that they are and are not interested in, and the content materials. Using old school ways of teaching something may help in one specific area of the class, without needing to grab the students attention in a different way. But for other things, I would be sure to use digital storytelling in order to show the significance of something that is not overtly interesting, or by having students create their own stories to put a twist on a subject or show what really gets their attention in a class.
2. The proper training that a teacher needs to be able to implement digital storytelling would be at least one lesson and chance to use digital storytelling on their own so that they can understand how it works. Then they have the ability to help students out when it comes to figuring out what needs to be done and how to do a specific thing.
3. Digital storytelling is useful when working with shy students who are not outspoken because it gives them the ability to be just as expressive as other students. It does not require them getting up and giving a presentation, which could make them very uneasy. It also works with outspoken students because it puts them at the same level as those shier students. It also gives them the same ability, where they can explore new things and be creative in a different way than they are used to.
I would integrate this case study into a classroom by creating a balance of technological devices that help students bridge the gap between things that they are and are not interested in, and the content materials. Using old school ways of teaching something may help in one specific area of the class, without needing to grab the students attention in a different way. But for other things, I would be sure to use digital storytelling in order to show the significance of something that is not overtly interesting, or by having students create their own stories to put a twist on a subject or show what really gets their attention in a class.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Week Four Case Study Response
Discusson Questions:
1. Mrs. Walker could have handled the plagarism sutuation differently. Instead of teaching the entire class how to properly cite something, when some of them may already know, she could have asked students individually whether they knew how to cite a source. She also could have had the students work in groups on a computer to help each other if they need to see how something is done properly.
2. I feel like wikis should not be used until students are in at least high school. If they are used before students are mature enough to understand the responsibility of having an online account, there is a possibility that the privilage could be abused or used in the wrong way. Also, for the reasons in the case study, students should be in high school. In most high schools, information about plagarism is drilled into student's minds right off the bat and is constantly reviewed, so teachers wouldn't have to worry as much about whether or not the student knows what they're doing in regards to citing a source.
3. To ensure that all students are involved in the writing and editing process, teachers can make sure that all students have the information and ability to work on a wiki. A way to ensure this would be to make sure that all students have the login information so that they can work on the page. Another thing would maybe be creating class time for students to work on the wiki. Taking all of the students to a computer lab would give them all equal possibilities to work on it because some of them may not have computers at home or may not feel like they can contribute when they are on their own.
4. I feel like it could be a touchy situation when it comes to plagarism. There is a possibility that some of the students genuinely may not know that they plagarized, even if they are in high school. But if they know how to cite something properly and didn't, then school rules regarding plagarism should be enforced. Rules should be enforced especially if the students have been told what they were and weren't supposed to do prior to the day that they were caught by their teacher. For the students that may not know how to cite something properly, they should be given taught what they are supposed to do and then should be held to the same standard as everyone else.
5. I don't really know what other concerns I personally would have with the use of wikis. The only things that I can think of are the things mentioned in the case study. I think that plagarism is very important and needs to be monitored. And the fact that wikis give students the ability to comment and change things on other's pages could be a problem if that ability is abused. But other than that, I don't see any problems with the use of wikis for school purposes.
Additional Question:
The thing that really resonnated with me isn't mentioned in the case study very much but I think is important because it is not. It doesn't say that there was any way to monitor the amount of work each student contributed so there is not way to know which of the students was responsible for plagarizing in their presentation. I think that the inablity to see what is going on, to a certain extent, could be damaging to individual students because they could all get in trouble as a response to what one student did. I do agree with the use of wikis in the classroom because they seem to be good learning tools but I'm not sure how much I would use them. I worry that certain students could be disadvantaged as a result of wikis used by groups.
1. Mrs. Walker could have handled the plagarism sutuation differently. Instead of teaching the entire class how to properly cite something, when some of them may already know, she could have asked students individually whether they knew how to cite a source. She also could have had the students work in groups on a computer to help each other if they need to see how something is done properly.
2. I feel like wikis should not be used until students are in at least high school. If they are used before students are mature enough to understand the responsibility of having an online account, there is a possibility that the privilage could be abused or used in the wrong way. Also, for the reasons in the case study, students should be in high school. In most high schools, information about plagarism is drilled into student's minds right off the bat and is constantly reviewed, so teachers wouldn't have to worry as much about whether or not the student knows what they're doing in regards to citing a source.
3. To ensure that all students are involved in the writing and editing process, teachers can make sure that all students have the information and ability to work on a wiki. A way to ensure this would be to make sure that all students have the login information so that they can work on the page. Another thing would maybe be creating class time for students to work on the wiki. Taking all of the students to a computer lab would give them all equal possibilities to work on it because some of them may not have computers at home or may not feel like they can contribute when they are on their own.
4. I feel like it could be a touchy situation when it comes to plagarism. There is a possibility that some of the students genuinely may not know that they plagarized, even if they are in high school. But if they know how to cite something properly and didn't, then school rules regarding plagarism should be enforced. Rules should be enforced especially if the students have been told what they were and weren't supposed to do prior to the day that they were caught by their teacher. For the students that may not know how to cite something properly, they should be given taught what they are supposed to do and then should be held to the same standard as everyone else.
5. I don't really know what other concerns I personally would have with the use of wikis. The only things that I can think of are the things mentioned in the case study. I think that plagarism is very important and needs to be monitored. And the fact that wikis give students the ability to comment and change things on other's pages could be a problem if that ability is abused. But other than that, I don't see any problems with the use of wikis for school purposes.
Additional Question:
The thing that really resonnated with me isn't mentioned in the case study very much but I think is important because it is not. It doesn't say that there was any way to monitor the amount of work each student contributed so there is not way to know which of the students was responsible for plagarizing in their presentation. I think that the inablity to see what is going on, to a certain extent, could be damaging to individual students because they could all get in trouble as a response to what one student did. I do agree with the use of wikis in the classroom because they seem to be good learning tools but I'm not sure how much I would use them. I worry that certain students could be disadvantaged as a result of wikis used by groups.
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