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This week I was working with a class of Grade 7 students on a writing project. Like many teachers, I’ve always struggled with the fact that middle schoolers often join us with a pretty set view of themselves as writers. And for the most part – it isn’t such a great one. As I struggled for the hook to catch them, and hopefully help them take more risks with their work, I remembered a video that condensed the history of the planet Earth into 24 hours. In that video, we learn that in that super shrunk day, humans have only been around for one minute and 17 seconds.

Which got me to thinking: if the history of just homo sapiens was miniaturized into 24 hours, how long have we been able to read and write? While it seems like such a long time to us, we are (from an evolutionary perspective) only wee infants. So, I crunched some numbers and if we use pre-cuneiform writing of Sumerians (3400 BCE at its earliest estimated date) as the first instance of writing, humanity has only been able to read for 39 minutes! And even then, it was a very niche skillset. In fact, over half of the world’s population has only been considered literate since the 1950s, or for 30 seconds of those 24 hours.

I hope that my speech connected with some students, and helped them realize that their reading and writing skills are truly miraculous. I did heavily emphasize that the newness of these skills doesn’t in any way excuse you from working towards improving them – just that you can be a little bit kinder to yourself when things aren’t that easy.

But it also got me to thinking about how young our model of education is in terms of humanity. And how did we teach each other before reading and writing made this model possible? Through experience and story, which I hope is a thread that can be carried on as we move education towards its future.

The Assignment

After much of brainstorming, detailed in my last post here, I loosely nailed down my interest in doing some reading and research on digital storytelling, storytelling tools, multimodal forms and cognitive load management. I think that these terms could be combined into projects and activities that I could run in any classroom and/or course at my school. I’m especially drawn to the idea of digital storytelling, because I think it is just as possible to tell a story through coding, or podcasting, as it is through video applications, and that stories exist in ELA and Social Studies just as much as they do in Woods, Math and PE. There’s just something about the ways that stories bring us together that I’m drawn to – and I think it allows many ways for me to incorporate various technologies and applications. 

I decided to start with a search through academic journals and papers, and stumbled upon the following articles: 

What is Digital Storytelling?

1) “Digital Storytelling in Language Education”, by Hamzeh Moradi and Hefang Chen. Published December 9, 2019 in Behavioral Sciences 

This 10-page paper, written by university professors in Guangzhou, China gives the best academic overview of Digital Storytelling that I can find on the topic. With 37 referenced sources, which also provide some useful jumping off points of their own, this paper seeks to review the use and implementation of digital storytelling in education. It gives a basic definition, sets out the benefits, explains the stages, sets out the elements of effective examples, describes the steps for creating, and discusses the opportunities for enhancement of achievement in using DST in education. I think the article provides a good foundation of knowledge on the what and why, but it still left me wishing for more of the how and with what. So, onward I must go on my search. 

Why should I use DST?

2) “The effects of digital storytelling on student achievement, social presence, and attitude in online collaborative learning environments”, by Chang Woo Nam. Published January 2016 in Interactive Learning Environments 

This 17-page paper written by an education professor at Dong-A University in Busan, South Korea caught my eye because one of the conclusions from the previous article was about the lack of research into the effectiveness of the format. This research, although small in study size, followed two groups of middle school students taking a chemistry course. They were split into two groups; both being taught by the same instructor. The first group took part in an online collaborative digital storytelling unit of study, while the second was focused on conventional online collaborative learning. At the end of the study, students self-reported on a survey that was used to determine three factors potentially influenced by their modes of study: their achievement, social presence, and student attitudes. While showing no significant differences in terms of achievement and student attitudes, there was a significant difference in terms of social presence. The author noted significant evidence for improved interactivity, online communication and privacy. The author does note that other studies have shown impact on achievement and attitudes with DST. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see studies and statistics that imply that DST will help students move towards achieving so many aspects of NCTEs ‘Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age’. And doubtlessly, although there is no way to quantify it, the project allows students to meet these literacy goals in many other ways. 

With what do I make DSTs?

3) “30 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling”, by David Kaupler. Published October 2018 in Tech & Learning 

After reading and annotating my way through several longer academic articles and spending some time testing the waters of YouTube, this brief one-pager was truly a sight for sore eyes. As its title clearly sets out, this is more of a list of useful websites and tools for use in digital storytelling projects. Listed options include photo narration apps, comic creation tools, sock puppets, storyboarding support, animated film apps, and script writing tools. I really enjoyed how the list was hyperlinked. I’m sure that there are more tools out there since this was released onto the world a year and a bit ago, but most seem to be established programs/apps and none that I can see are out of business. There’s a good mix of free and paid tools as well. It will give me some good jumping off points for formats and applications to test drive with students. 

What can DST projects look like?

4) Twitter hashtag searches for #digitalstorytelling, by all those who Tweet. Published all the time on the internet 

I’ve been making a concerted effort to dig my way into educational Twitter since the course began (and I finally reset my lost Twitter password). I’ve decided that I particularly like being able to scan through and see recent posts. By searching the #digitalstorytelling hashtag I have been able to find some prominent Tweeters in the digital storytelling movement, as well as find finished examples that students have put out to the world. These projects are great to have in the toolkit to show students as they begin to brainstorm and make their own creations to tell their own stories.  The two tweets below give me examples of projects, as well as handy tips for troubleshooting during their creation.

Our school partner @AlbaresColegio created this video to document their #socialinnovation project.
With limited technical resources, students, staff and parents worked collectively, using #digitalstorytelling to spread the word about their project.#nemesischangemakers pic.twitter.com/v2DVxaKGof

— NEMESIS – Social Innovation Education (@nemesis_edu) January 16, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

#digitalstorytelling tip!! If you’re ever stuck for a quiet space to record audio you can always try the chair and duvet/blanket technique! It works! Honest!! #whodhavethought pic.twitter.com/xhjHHM9dK7

— Curiosity Creative (@Cur_Creative) January 17, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

How do I teach people to digital storytell?

5)“Digital storytelling in the classroom: how to tell students to tell a story” by Alexios Brailas. Published January 2017 in International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies 

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After the rest of my digging around I had lots of ideas, but I was still at a loss for how to frame the process with students; and a handy Google search for “Digital + storytelling + classroom + outline” got me where I needed to go. The author shared many of my concerns and issues – many of the apps and technology required subscriptions that can be cost prohibitive, or required more time than would be available with a class. Thus, he settled on using Scratch and StoryboardThat as DST tools. While I would not probably set up assignments like these ones, I found it useful to gain insight into the thought process and steps that a teacher took while planning and engaging their students in DST work. 

Bonus – How do I make one?

6) “Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning: Digital Storytelling” a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Coursera.org from the University of Houston. 

I think I feel pretty okay with the idea of story-boarding and curating video, images and audio – but if I did not, I think that this would be an interesting use of my time in preparation (in practice I tend to be more of a try things out and troubleshoot as I go with students person, but for those who are not that type, this might be for them). I had heard the term MOOC in passing before, but it stuck out to me in Why School (Loc 118), and then while stumbling around on the internet here was another one directly connected to the topic I am interested in. The internet really does have everything. Maybe this is a task for my spring break? 

I still need materials regarding skills for Cognitive Load Management, but ultimately, I feel like this list is a good start on my interests. 

Until next week! 

Sources

Brailas, A. (2017). Digital storytelling in the classroom: How to tell students to tell a story. International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, 1(1), 1. doi: 10.1504/ijtcs.2017.10003059

Kaupler, D. (2018). 30 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling. Tech & Learning, 39(3), 8. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=132130210&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Moradi, H., & Chen, H. (2019). Digital Storytelling in Language Education. Behavioral Sciences (2076-328X), 9(12), 147. https://doi-org.wpl-dbs.winnipeg.ca/10.3390/bs9120147

Nam, C. W. (2017). The effects of digital storytelling on student achievement, social presence, and attitude in online collaborative learning environments. Interactive Learning Environments, 25(3), 412–427. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1080/10494820.2015.1135173

NCTE. (2019, November 7). Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age. Retrieved from https://ncte.org/statement/nctes-definition-literacy-digital-age/

Richardson, W. (2012). Why school: how education must change when learning and information are everywhere. New York, NY: TED Conferences.

Cover Image Source

Zuni rock art that depict the celebration of corn planting and corn harvesting and how important the sun was to Zuni survival. [Photograph]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.
https://quest.eb.com/search/110_364871/1/110_364871/cite

Growing up in small-town Manitoba, my K-5 education was not really so far removed from what my parents received. Sure, I didn’t start my schooling in a one room schoolhouse, as my parents did, but the teacher who taught my dad Grade Three was still around to teach me Grade Three-Four-and-Five in a seven-room schoolhouse. The main differences between my schooling and that of my parents were that:

3. There were only three grades in a classroom instead of eight.

Otherwise, most of how we were taught was pretty much the same – right down to Mrs. Johnson, the teacher. Spelling tests, World Book Encyclopedias, the rote memorization of facts, and learning that (for the most part) never left the four walls of our classroom.

The world has changed a lot since then, probably triggered by the fact that Mrs. Johnson retired.

I jest.

But more seriously, these changes are often the topics and areas that I am drawn to in terms of education. They are also topics that I imagine becoming focus points in education in the coming years. And many of them couldn’t even have been imagined 25 years ago. Some of them probably can’t even be imagined now.

My interests

Unlike the classroom of my childhood, where the computers in the school were the only computers anyone really had access to, today not everyone has the same access to resources. I see a growing divide in classrooms between those who have access to their own top-of-the-line devices, and those who are limited to the often lagging or broken laptops and other technological tools provided by the school. Significant access issues also exist between urban, rural and northern communities – leaving 10% of Canada’s population without high speed internet access according to a 2018 Auditor General’s report.

I see educator’s struggling to bridge the divide between older curriculums and expectations that are very fact heavy and outcome-based, the need to quantify student learning with a mark, and providing students with the opportunity for deep-learning which is so very difficult to boil down to a number. And frankly, that number or mark-based assessment ends up missing the point and not accurately representing the learning and growth made by students. When curriculums are shifting and changing with the times (like the New Grade k-8 ela curriculum in manitoba, which focuses heavily on digital literacies).

I see teachers struggling to make the shift between teaching outcomes in isolation and a more holistic view of learning. I would argue that there is significant room for improvement in how we teach students skills and strategies to help with Cognitive load management as they juggle between countless tabs and windows while bombarded by advertisements and the pull towards other tasks that release way more dopamine into their developing brains.

I see plenty of opportunity to connect with students around the world and to provide students with an audience well beyond the snowy city of Winnipeg, and opportunities to develop cross-cultural competency. The growth and development of empathy and understanding among people of different life experiences can hopefully come from these opportunities.

I am interested in multi-modalities and the multitude of ways we now have available to teach and share concepts with teachers and students. Digital storytelling and apps are an interest that ties in with this concept. I have a pet student ‘writing’ project in the library called The Write Company, and I’m really interested in growing its audience beyond staff and parents. I’ve been using Sway in Office365 for its production but am interested in all of the different Adobe Spark products, which I have not used yet; although we have access to themthrough a division subscription. I’m interested in expanding The Write Company to include different forms of writing, like digital multimedia and student projects. Check out our first issue this school here!

And although sometimes I worry that we have moved too far past the point of no return on this topic, I’m interested in open source technologies, especially ones that aren’t limited to top of the line devices that need to be replaced every three years or the operating system is no longer updated/supported. Applications or programs that run across various operating systems would also be an interest.

I’m also interested in learning about how data from schools is used by major corporations such as Google and Microsoft.

School, divisional and provincial considerations

I teach in a Middle School/Junior High setting, so my interest would mainly be skewed to that age category – although I am always interested in seeing what elementary schools are up to because then we can scaffold and build on skills and strategies.

The division I teach in has a Standards for Success in Literacy document that has been a focus for professional development over the past several years. This tied in with a trial project at the Grade Four and Seven levels that has seen small sets of Microsoft tablets put in these grade level classrooms.

The division is also currently in the process of phasing out computer labs in K-8 learning environments. Laptop carts are also being slowly removed, and each homeroom is receiving six laptops. I hope that my exploration can some way assist teachers pedagogically as they move to a more Project Based and Inquiry learning model. This also needs to be kept in mind, because I am predicting that students will rely on their own personal devices more frequently under the new model, so using apps and programs that work across various Operating Systems is important. The 5-6 classrooms also have small banks of iPads, and there is a larger set that can be booked out of the library for all classes. 

I am fortunate to have a flexible schedule, which is great because the things that I explore with can be brought back into classrooms in project blocks with individual classrooms. What I choose to research should fit within this model. 

Potential Topics

Ultimately, because of school and division priority, my own personal interests, and the weighing of tech accessibility in classrooms, I am leaning towards a focus on digital storytelling. This topic lends itself to collaborative group projects, as a multitude of skills are necessary to complete a final project. I think that this fits very nicely with the new ELA curriculum in Manitoba, will give me the opportunity to support teachers in using new apps and can be tied together with Project Based and Inquiry Learning, and allows for the integration of multi-modalities. Because projects are digital in nature, I would like to learn about using Twitter as a tool to connect with others. I would also like this to tie in with skills regarding cognitive-load management that I could teach to students and teachers while working on projects. 

Search Terms

• Benefits of digital storytelling 
• Multimodal digital storytelling 
• Empathy and storytelling
• Empathy development and technology
• Storytelling apps
• Digital storytelling tools
• Cognitive Load Management theory and skills
• Open source educational software

Upon reflecting on this process, I think it is interesting that I have narrowed my focus down to some topics that are definitely very far removed from the classroom of my childhood. But yet, the common thread that holds these things together is something that has followed humanity since the beginning of language – stories.  I think that finding a way to connect these new skills and technologies to something so integral and ingrained in our history is a way for us to use these technologies and skills in meaningful and important ways. 

Sources Referenced

Government of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada. (2018). Report 1-Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_201811_01_e_43199.html

Manitoba Education. (2019, October). English Language Arts Curriculum Framework: A Living Document. Retrieved January 7, 2020, from https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/ela/framework/foundations.pdf

Pembina Trails School Division. (n.d.). Standards for Success in Literacy. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from https://www.pembinatrails.ca/Documents/Literacy Standards Brochure.pdf

Cover Image Source

Schoolhouse in Nebraska. [Photograph]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.
https://quest.eb.com/search/139_1904308/1/139_1904308/cite

I was a child of the internet. Sort of.

Growing up in rural Manitoba meant spending a lot of time outside on my family farm working with and feeding animals. But my mom is a journalist by trade, and during my childhood years did a lot of freelance work for various papers from home, which meant that we had access to computers well before many of my friends and classmates. We got dial-up internet service in 1997, the year I was 12, and we were even blessed with a second phone line so that I never even had to interrupt my web browsing when someone needed to make a phone call.

It was true love.

Chat rooms. Message boards. Fan Websites. The internet opened up a whole world at my fingertips.

I remember building my first Geocities website (RIP), and wowing teachers with documents that were typed. In. COLUMNS.

I’ve stayed a pretty active technology user over the ensuing two + decades, but more and more I find myself falling by the wayside. Hopefully this blog will help me as I try to ride the wave of useful educational technology tools and skills that I should be sharing with the staff and students I work with every day. Because I think it’s easily agreed upon that word processing and typing in columns (although a handy skill, for sure) is but a drop in the ocean of the necessary tech skills that our students need.

And so, this blog is to return to all of that. It’s also a place for me to share my work and thoughts as I work towards completing my Diploma in Teacher Librarianship through the University of British Columbia.

Thanks for joining my journey.