Chapter 8
“If there is one thing for certain it’s that the explosion in the last few years of multimedia publishing on the Web is going to continue, and that more and more of what we consume online is going to be self-produced, home-made entertainment (pg 111).” I definitely agree that people do a lot of home-made videos, and it’s only going to continue. With digital cameras having a movie feature on them, it’s almost a no brainer that home movies are going to be more popular since people don’t have to worry about lugging around a bulky camcorder. I knew that YouTube was a huge generator of home-made movies and videos, but I didn’t know until last semester that podcasting could be used the same way, even though it’s mainly for audio. I had never done a podcast until my junior year of college when I was at SUNY Cortland. We didn’t do much with it, but we all got into groups of 2-3 and had to reread a book chosen for our courses. It was an interesting experience for me because we were taught that we couldn’t make any mistakes, and my group members and I found ourselves reciting the chapters repeatedly until we got them right. The thing I like most about podcasting is that “most podcasters are just average Jills and Joes, with day jobs and kids and responsibilities, and ideas that they want to share (pg 113).” In Dr. Leogrande’s class, she showed us how podcasts can be used in the classroom; several examples she showed was reviews for tests as well as chapter guides. I think podcasts would be a great way for students to receive extra help outside of school, especially for a test. I also like how there were tutorials for guiding people through screencasting websites such as ustream, but I still think that the best way to learn about these sites is to experience them for ourselves.
The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
I never knew about digital storytelling before reading this article, and I liked that this article provided a definition right on the front page. I like that digital storytelling “revolves around the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video (pg 1).” This can be especially useful in classrooms, as different types of information can be portrayed in different ways. One project that could be extremely useful, as it lets the students talk about themselves, would be to have them do a personal narrative. This way, the students learn more about themselves and their families; if the personal narratives are presented to the rest of the class, the other students can learn about each other and where they all come from. One example I especially liked was how to use digital storytelling in the classroom, and it involved a teacher making their own stories. This way, the teacher learns the steps of actually creating their own story through digital media, and the students can learn more about the teacher and what goes on in their lives outside of school. While digital storytelling can be time consuming, students should feel proud of their finished products after spending so much time on a project. When people learn how to portray things on the internet through various ways of multimedia, it takes a great deal of time to figure it out then actually do it.
I never knew about digital storytelling before reading this article, and I liked that this article provided a definition right on the front page. I like that digital storytelling “revolves around the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video (pg 1).” This can be especially useful in classrooms, as different types of information can be portrayed in different ways. One project that could be extremely useful, as it lets the students talk about themselves, would be to have them do a personal narrative. This way, the students learn more about themselves and their families; if the personal narratives are presented to the rest of the class, the other students can learn about each other and where they all come from. One example I especially liked was how to use digital storytelling in the classroom, and it involved a teacher making their own stories. This way, the teacher learns the steps of actually creating their own story through digital media, and the students can learn more about the teacher and what goes on in their lives outside of school. While digital storytelling can be time consuming, students should feel proud of their finished products after spending so much time on a project. When people learn how to portray things on the internet through various ways of multimedia, it takes a great deal of time to figure it out then actually do it.
Podcasting in the Classroom
I think that college professors doing their lectures via podcast was a great idea featured in this article. I have sat through lectures and the professor speaks so quickly and nonstop for a whole hour that it’s impossible to take perfect notes, then when it came time for the test I would be unsure if my notes were adequate enough to study from. Having a lecture on my iPod or in my iTunes library would be perfect for a college student because if they missed something in the lecture or missed the class altogether, the lecture would be right there to listen to over and over and take better notes from. One thing that struck me was that Duke University gave an iPod to each incoming freshman, which had the capability to record audio. That would be perfect to use in lectures instead of carrying a bulky digital recorder around. Of course, as in the case of using podcasts in the classroom, it takes time to learn something and get it perfect before actually using it in the classroom. If students were to do a podcast for a project, the teacher would obviously have to learn how to do it first before instructing the students for the project. Digital Language Experience Approach
I had never heard of the D-LEA before reading this article, and I really liked how this article portrayed using this approach with three different students in the same class. I think that using this approach is very important in districts where technology is limited. However, I think it could also help to enhance the technology that is already there and make learning more interactive. For example, the three students that went through the D-LEA learned so much about literacy and technology, even if they didn’t know it. I liked how three students of different learning abilities were chosen to experiment with the approach, and I especially liked how the article mentioned the things each student learned, no matter what ability they were at. One thing that was evident from all three students, no matter what they learned- the instruction was authentic and tailored to their levels.
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