Digital Storytelling

Using webtools to create short digital photo stories, comic strips or even simple mini-movies like this one created using GoAnimate is a great way to get some creativity flowing into traditional conversation practice activities like role playing. Letting students create their own characters and backgrounds or choose from those available on some of the sites can be a lot more fun than simple writing dialogue on notebook paper and acting it out in class.

One of the advantages to creating a digital story of this sort is that once something like that is published or saved, it can be added to a portfolio, instead of just being forgotten as a classroom role play might be. This would be a great group activity or project, and the students could even develop the characters throughout the semester or school year, creating a series of comics or videos as different topics are addressed in class.

Technology is not Neutral

I want to learn how to use technology in my classroom in ways that are meaningful, in ways that encourage creativity and problem-solving and critical thinking. I'm not entirely sure what that will look like all the time, which is part of why I'm taking this class, but I do know that I don't want it to look like this:

Scott McLeod at the edublog Dangerously Irrelevant often posts insightful questions about what it means to truly integrate technology and learning, sometimes citing columns or comments/questions written by others that spark a discussion. Recently on his blog, he shared a link to another educator's thoughts about Three Competing Visions of Educational Technology. 

The author of that post, Gary Stager, emphasizes the importance of using technology for student-centered learning rather than simply using shiny, new gadgets to add some glitter to otherwise outdated and uninspiring approaches to teaching and learning. The line that really caught my attention was, "Technology is not neutral." Technology--and how we use it in the classroom--is always going to reflect how we think about learning in general. We can use to technology to stifle creativity and reduce "learning" to regurgitating knowledge, albeit through a more modern interface--as in the cartoon above, or we can give our students the opportunity to use technology to explore and create and construct knowledge that is meaningful to them and useful for participating in a world that is constantly re-creating itself. 

Engaging students through the technologies they use

Anyone who's forgotten their cell phone at home for the day can tell you how strange it feels to be disconnected from their device for a few hours. People often say it's like being without an appendage -- like a part of you is missing. Of course, it is not the phone itself that they miss so much, but rather the way that phone connects them to people and the world in which they live. We interact with each other through facebook, twitter, instagram, texting, facetime, and perhaps, even the occasional phone call. Most people I know only wear watches as fashion statements, because we even use our cell phones to tell time. 

These technological platforms are so well integrated into our daily routines that life without them is hardly imaginable. Is it surprising, then, that students would feel the same connection to technology? The statistics in the video below are from the early 2000's and show quite clearly, that even almost a decade ago, our students were well on their way to becoming "Digital Learners"!

As shown in the video, Pay Attention, our students, and even children under the age of 2, are using computers and looking at screens for several hours a day. They wouldn't do that if it weren't fun, interesting, or engaging for them. They would find other things to do. The level of interactivity provided by the technology we have today provides us with the opportunity to engage with communities and information in ways that can dramatically enhance education. However, there's no point in using technology in the classroom if we're not using it effectively. 

As this next video suggests, how we find information has changed drastically just in the past decade. Being able to share ideas and opinions with people you care about -- or even with people you don't know -- is a vital part of learning. Asking questions and having those questions acknowledged, or having to sort through a variety of answers, is a big part of using the internet for educational purposes, as shown in this video, The Networked Student:

The way that "21st Century Student"(in the video above) uses technology in his education is a logical extension of how the majority of people already use technology in their daily lives. We read an interesting news article and post it on facebook or twitter. Our friends and  the people in our communities respond with their opinions or post other articles that either add support or offer another perspective. People who have different backgrounds and experiences can engage with each other on topics that interest them. Reading the comments section on just about anything posted online will illustrate the importance of learning how to engage critically and thoughtfully with the viewpoints that others share in these forums. These are the kinds of skill for "real life" that education is supposed to provide!