Digital storytelling can be used in schools for a variety of purposes; to share stories written by students, as a means for students to share information or what they have learned, and as a teaching tool that can make a scientific principle, historical event, or mathematical concept come alive in ways that reading print material or even watching a PowerPoint presentation on the subject, can't. The use of music, graphics, and sound effects, in addition to video and/or still photographs, can tap into students' emotions, entertain them, or explain an idea in a new way, especially for stories narrated by those who lived them. The media specialist can help to promote these both by featuring stories by others and allowing students and teachers the opportunities and know-how to incorporate them into lessons on every subject and for every grade level. It is vital, however, that he or she make clear the importance of copyright and fair use, especially if the stories are going to be viewed publically, such as being linked from the school's website. For this reason, the creation of kits such as the one we are using, is important, because the media specialist has more control over the materials students use while still allowing them creativity through the choices provided.
Since my mentor is out of state visiting her new grandchild, I spoke with the media specialist at Austell Intermediate when I went to volunteer Thursday. She told me that in Cobb County, there were a certain number of eBooks offered for download, but it was a package deal (about 60 titles total for all grade levels combined). Since a majority of the titles seemed to be for older students (the school is grades 2-5, and according to Mrs.Coker, many of them were on a middle and high school level), she did not opt in. She did know, however, that when an ebook is checked out by a student (either from school or by using their Destiny code from home) that only that child can access the book until it it checked back "in", just as with a print book. However, I know that a number of online references sources, including dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, atlases, and almanacs, are available through the Cobb Virtual Library, which can be accessed from home or school using a password which students can obtain through the media center.
However, after exploring the sites linked from WebCT and using (and even creating) 'story' eBooks in previous courses, I believe that there is so much they can offer, especially for students with limited media collections at their schools, such as if there are a number of outdated materials. In the case of eBooks with audio included, young students who are learning to read or those who are learning to speak English can also benefit, because they see the pictures, hear the words, and in some cases, even see the text highlighted as the words are read (This is something I have seen on other eBooks sites which were not free to the public). In addition, eBook sites offer books in a variety of languages and from a variety of cultures, which would help even students whose parents do not speak any English at all to still share books as a family.
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Lori,
ReplyDeleteE-books are gaining much popularity at our elementary school. We've subscribed to Tumblebooks and the teachers love it. They project onto their Promethean boards and it makes for a great experience. During my storytime last Thursday, I actually used a Thanksgiving e-book from a link through Capstone Press which we're trialing. The kids loved it. The only problem was the internet was slow and we had to wait a few seconds longer than I would've liked between pages. I think it's great to mix technology with traditional picture book reading for elementary students. Plus, e-books can help save your voice when reading and teaching back-to-back classes.
From the blogs and comments that I have read, it seems that more elementary schools are purchasing and using ebooks with great success. I am wondering if our special education department has considered using some of their funds for ebooks, since our media center does not currently have any. From what I have read, it sounds like our students with special needs in reading, both in fluency and comprehension, would greatly benefit from the pictures and highlighted words. Again, one of the concerns is never having enough computers in the classroom and our special needs students are not pulled from general ed classes.
ReplyDeleteI must agree with Lori that some of the more difficult science principles and social studies concepts may become more interesting to students through the use of digital storytelling. As a reading teacher, I am spending a great deal of time previewing and reteaching for the science teacher because the students are not 'getting it'. The students often tell me that social studies is boring. Digital storytelling provides avenues for those words and lives to come alive, while providing students a way to interact with the world around them in a meaningful way.
My mentor uses ebooks. She mainly uses them for references & told me both the students & teachers absolutely love them. These books aid the teachers in their own personal research for lessons, etc. and helps make students researching easier. The teacher does not have to make a lot of time for the students to research in the media center. The media specialist simply instructs the students in the use of ebooks. She has also put a link on her website to Gale, along with the username & password students/teachers are to use. By using ebooks in this manner, more students are able to use the same resources at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAs far as digital storytelling, I do like the idea of the media specialist creating kits, but am worried it is such a time consuming task. I am hoping that with practice, it becomes easier & faster. This is a must if kits are to be utilized, especially since it looks like my county is going to lose our media center parapros. Without them, I know that my time to do all that is required of me will become even more scarce.
I also like the idea oof the media specialists creating the kits; this insures copyright regulations and keeps the media specialists in collaboration mode with the teachers. The media specialists can always update or eliminate information as needed. We do not use eBooks at my school but I know the kids would absolutely love it, especially those novels that are at home reading. Many of them would love an online textbook as well so that they did not have to carry those heavy books home, and they are less likely to get lost if they donot leave the school or classroom.
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