EDUC 6810 Philosophy

            As an educator, my goal is to inspire my students to have a passion for learning, and to seek knowledge throughout their lives.  I want to help them build a solid foundation that will prepare them for their future.  In today’s world, that foundation revolves around being a digitally literate citizen.  “…successful participation in our digital society includes the ability to understand, think critically about, reflect on, and respond to the societal, cultural, and economic forces that shape our interactions with and through technology…” (Avila and Pandya)

            There are very few places you can go without encountering some form of technology.  To simply ignore that it is there, and insist upon using the “old school” way of teaching, is to do a huge disservice to our students.  “When educators and policies deliberately exclude the opportunities demonstrated through mobile media and participatory media pedagogy, they are perpetuating an achievement gap that further cleaves society.” (Jenkins 2008)  In other words, if we don’t prepare our students for a digital world, we are hindering their potential to fully engage in the world around them.  They simply won’t be equipped to keep up with their peers.

            Whether it’s a smart phone, IPad, or social media account, digital media plays an important role in our students’ lives.  Why not embrace that opportunity and use it to our advantage?  “…as images push words off the page and as our lives become increasingly mediated by a popular visual culture.” (Avila and Pandya) Technology shouldn’t be a tool that is pulled out once or twice a month to meet a demand of “I have to have technology in my lesson plans.”  It should be integrated into everything that we teach.  The possibilities are enormous.  You can create a classroom blog, where students could discuss a book they are reading.  They can read their peers’ thoughts and provide authentic feedback.  Your students can Skype with other students or experts in another country.  They can do research, create digital stories, or create a podcast featuring what they are studying.

            As a first year teacher, I realize just how lucky I am to have the availability of the technology resources that I do.  It enables me to provide a student-centered learning environment where the students have the technology in their hands.  They are engaged and DOING something, not listening to me lecture about it.  They are thinking critically, collaborating with their peers, and creating solutions to problems.  They are laying the foundation for a bright and promising future.

Resources

1.     Digital Wish.  Website with multiple lesson plans for creating digital stories.  http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/view_lesson_plans?keyword=storytelling

 

2.     Edutopia: A Blog on Classroom Technology.  http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/tag/classroom-technology

 

3.     Global Warming and Climate Change.  A lesson plan that integrates science and technology.  http://www.mrsoshouse.com/pbl/globwarm.html

 

4.     Kidblog. A safe and simple blog for students and teachers. http://kidblog.org/home/

5.     Problem and Project Based Learning Activities.  A great site with numerous lessons plans that integrate technology.  http://www.mrsoshouse.com/pbl/pblin.html

 

 

 

EDUC 6810 Weekly Reading #14 and Digital Story

"...as images push words off the page and as our lives become increasingly mediated by a popular visual culture."

 

I chose this quote because I think it sums up why digital stories are so powerful and so important to our audiences.  Words are no longer enough.  To really connect with someone and their story, we want to see images and video; to feel like we are a part of their story.  We are more likely to watch a digital story about someone's life than to read an essay about it.

 

 

I chose this image because it goes with what I was saying above: digital stories are a great way to connect with others.

 

1. How does digital storytelling support academic literacies?

 

Digital storytelling supports academic literacies because even though you are making a video, there is still writing and problem solving involved.  You have to problem solve what you want your message to be and create a storyboard for it.  You can have written or verbal text.  You either have text scrolling across the screen, or you write a script to be recorded.

 

2. Now that you have created your own digital story, do you think that using images, words and music to create a message is simplistic compared to traditional alphabetic print based argumentation?

 

I think creating a digital story is a powerful way to tell a story.  The story becomes interactive to the audience because they can view your images and hear text and music.  Telling a digital story is more involved than traditional print, but it so much more meaningful.  You can really set the tone with music and sound.  And you bring the story to life with images.

 

3. After creating your own digital story, do you see how digital storytelling can help develop a stronger sense of agency in their own lives? Do you think this might have a positive impact on students academic lives? How? Why?

 

Yes, I believe creating digital stories would have a positive impact on students' lives, both emotionally and academically.  They are given the opportunity to use their creativity and really have a voice in their storytelling.  I think they will be proud of the finished product, and want to share it with others.

 

Sources

 

At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times by Glenda Hull in Research in the Teaching of English Journal Vol. 38 no. 3 229-233.

 

Image obtained from Langwitches Blog.  (2013).  Retrieved from  http://langwitches.org/blog/2008/04/19/digital-storytelling-part-i/


Digital Story