Content+Construction

Manfra, M., & Lee, J. K. (2011). Leveraging the affordances of educational blogs to teach low achieving students United States history. //Social Studies Research and Practice//. In this qualitative case study we explored the experiences of low achieving students responding to an educational blog. Our intention was to leverage the unique affordances of blogs to teach United States history concepts primarily by providing access to digital primary sources and facilitating on-line participation. Overall our findings point to the positive potential of blogs to enhance instruction with low achieving students. We found that the integration of the educational blog provided an effective instructional format to differentiate content instruction and deliver “equity pedagogy” (Banks & Banks, 1995). In this study student participation increased, students engaged in historical work (although tentative), and the resources activated their prior knowledge. Rather than withholding Web 2.0 technologies from low achieving students we encourage teachers to use them to meet the unique learning needs of all of their students. With thoughtful scaffolding (Brush & Saye, 2002), it appears teachers could leverage the unique features of blog-based activities to improve student experiences.

Kajder, S., & Young, C. A. (2010). Teaching English with digital video. In G. Bull & L. Bell (Eds.), Teaching with digital video. Washington, DC : International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

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Hi Stephanie and Polly...Here's what I've been working on in terms of procedure. Obviously there's a lot to do to make it ready for the institute wiki. I'd love your feedback. I'll continue to work on this today and have more done this afternnon pending your feedback. I'm not sure we made a final decision on the editing piece, so I've not fleshed that out much. I'd like to make it as much centered on the activity as possible, using Hiller's model from last year, but with the additional content piece we would like to add.


 * I. Initial table discussion (10 minutes)**
 * 1) How has storytelling changed in the past 15 years? What are some new ways to tell stories? What are some of the elements of these new stories? Do we also want to talk about the importance of telling stories? Culturally and academically? Should we define "stories" as well so that we get that informational piece in as well as the fictional/literary? I wonder if, given the audience, we could assume that most of them get the importance of storytelling. You are right about the need to define stories in a way that includes the informational piece. I think the video below does a nice job of defining it as a "digital explanation" -- a sufficiently broad enough definition to include creative, informational and persuasive modes.

CCR READING: Integration of knowledge and ideas: 7. CCR SPEAKING AND LISTENING: comprehension and collaboration, 2 and 3. CCR SPEAKING AND LISTENING: presentation of knowledge of ideas. 5 and 6. Polly: One possible activity is to have participants select particular standards that align to storytelling within their respective grade levels. Polly: I will create the Wordle > Pre-K - 5 (Grade 4) Speaking and Listening: Presentation of knowledge and ideas. 4). Report on a topic or text, tell a story or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace. VII. How can digital storytelling help teach explanatory and persuasive writing in Frameworks? A. Activity: Using Flipcams, write and film a 2 minute persuasive or explanatory video (30 minutes)** Homework: Edit your video and post to the Wiki.
 * II. General discussion of table questions for whole group (10 minutes) How should we capture this information? Could we ask people to pick three words or something (not collectively) and then throw them in a Wordle? That's an awesome idea. Perhaps during the group discussion we could collect the three words, and while one of us sets up the context, the other can construct the Wordle. **
 * III. Presentation of context: (5-10 minutes)**
 * 1) In the past 15 years a cultural shift: globalization, exponential change, crowd-sourcing, wi-fi, cloud or ambient computing, increased access to internet in rural areas, Youtube, Twitter, decline of print media, Facebook and social networking, new notions of privacy, transmedia, economic recession, narrowcasting, downloading culture à uploading culture, etc. I understand about half of this. I think using a Powerpoint to anchor the contextual piece could help reinforce that because the world has shifted so considerably in the past decade and a half, and because it will continue to do so exponentially, teachers NEED to incorporate these new forms of storytelling. Here, we can back this up with evidence from the articles at the top of the page, etc.
 * 2) This shift has changed the way we access information, allowed us to create information for public consumption w/o “gatekeepers” -- less of a top down model (Major networks, publishing houses as gatekeepers, etc.) and more a bottom up model -- Youtube videos may get greater cultural saturation than ad campaigns or achieve greater cultural resonance than TV shows. Content creation may be more of a social, collaborative experience… Polly: In the use of video, students can create an interpretation of understanding or recreate interpretation through unique perspective, hereby making their own stories.
 * 1) Schools are now teaching knowledge-producing students, active content creators, designers and cultural re-mixers. Polly: Xtranormal is a good way to develop conversational writing...again, presentation of knowledge and ideas or comprehension and collaboration. also language standards. I can be more specific here, but the concepts here are multi-leveled, so many grades apply.
 * 2) Produce and publish – authentic audience. Students feel “This matters.”
 * 3) Research, evaluation and communication skills are even more important. Polly: Video is a great avenue for demonstrating communication of understanding.
 * 4) “Artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big-picture thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys…meaning is the new money…stories matter.” – Daniel Pink
 * IV. New kinds of story formats: How will you tell your story? (5-10 minutes)**
 * 1) Twitter, Facebook – ongoing 1st person collaborative narratives (connect to digital footprint, etc.) – a mash-up of real-time autobiography and biography
 * 2) Blogs, Podcasts
 * 3) Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel //A Visit From the Goon Squad// features a chapter in Powerpoint: @http://www.slideshare.net/JenniferEgan/rockandroll97-2004cppt
 * 4) Interactive narratives and poems, gaming, hyperlinked narratives, non-linear narratives… @http://vectors.usc.edu/issues/4/publicsecrets/(Non-linear documentary exploration of life in the California Prison System -- Language/Content advisory) and Edward Picot's Interactive page for Wallace Stevens' Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird: @http://edwardpicot.com/thirteenways/blackbirdsinterface.html
 * 5) Transmedia
 * 6) Xtranormal movies/ “plays”
 * 7) Video Polly: Animoto and You Tube. Animoto can be placed into You Tube. Xtranormal can be saved into a You Tube as well.
 * V. Digital Storytelling video? (4 minutes) @https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP6CeGLPuOY&feature=player_embedded**
 * VI. What are the elements of effective Digital Storytelling? Guided discussion (in groups, then whole group?)**
 * 1) Point of view
 * 2) Dramatic Questions
 * 3) Emotional content
 * 4) Voice
 * 5) Soundtrack
 * 6) Economy
 * 7) Pacing
 * (V and VI courtesy of Greg McVerry:**
 * @https://sites.google.com/site/mcverrydigitalstorytelling/home/pedagogy will be included in resource page and documented.)**
 * 1) **Write and film a video for an audience of teachers convincing them of the benefits of teaching digital storytelling in an ELA classroom.**
 * 2) **Write and film a video for an audience of administrators convincing them of the need to include in their budget money for a proposed digital storytelling lab.**
 * 3) **Or something ELA related using Hiller’s format from last year? Something that includes research component, writing, filming and possibly editing?**
 * VIII. Time for editing software exploration? Or showcase Animoto/Xtranormal (@http://www.xtranormal.com/)**

Google Custom Search Stories


 * Reflection component -- What did you learn? Strategies, problems, etc.**


 * IX. Wrap-up video? @https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufVnMDVskLo&feature=related**

Transmedia Example Books Website Harry Potter Website Parodies media type="youtube" key="B77MxjIWixk" height="349" width="425" media type="youtube" key="MahTKZDHXaA" height="349" width="560" Fan Fiction (Transformation of Harry Potter stories into original fiction pieces) Harry Potter Fan Fiction
 * Additional Resources**

Online Communities Harry Potter Role Playing Harry Potter Fan Chat

Physical Experience Universal Studios

Google Search Stories Search Stories


 * Structure webpage with intro, embedded videos, additional documentation, powerpoint, and resources, including last year’s: http://newlitinstitute2010.wikispaces.com/Digital%20Videomedia type="custom" key="20483128"**