Thing #19: Digital Storytelling

typewriter-2306479_960_720 The first time I tried Digital Storytelling was when I was an undergraduate at Michigan State University. At the time, Digital Storytelling was still very new and not a lot of people were using it. I immediately loved the end result and could see how using them in instruction would be a great tool. I also saw the value in having students create their own digital stories.

Since I first heard about Digital Storytelling, there have been a lot of advancements and improvements to technology. Today, you have many different tools at your disposal to create digital stories. Some of them are free, while others have a small membership fee. After trying a number of the resources, I decided to use Animoto to create my digital story, as it seemed the easiest for me to use.

Preparing to Make My Digital Story

Since I am currently teaching a program which is not aligned to any specific standards, I chose to use standards with which I am quite comfortable using–the Michigan World Language Standards. I taught lessons aligned to these standards for almost 5 years, and noticed that they haven’t changed since I last used them.

As the standards address the different domains of language learning, I decided that it would be quite easy to apply these standards for English Language Learners. I chose to focus on some of the Communication Standards. Specifically, this lesson is designed for:

1.3.M.W.a: Illustrate and present materials in the target language such as an information brochure or instructions for accomplishing a task
1.3.M.W.c: Present brief written reports about personal experiences, school and community happenings in the target language

I chose to slightly modify these standards and also include spoken language.

Once I had selected the standards to teach, I had to think of an example I could share with students. As one of the most common reasons my students are learning English is for travel, I decided to use travel as our topic. I shared my experience traveling in Poland, and addressed a lot of the main things we think about when learning about a new culture: food, clothing, monuments, language, and transportation.

Screen Shot 2019-03-03 at 16.50.30 — Click here to see my Digital Story!

Reflections

As much as I love the idea of using Digital Storytelling in my practice, it is not currently feasible. We simply do not have the time or the resources in my current capacity. However, I love the idea of at least creating and sharing my own digital stories with students in order to enhance our lessons. I imagine that digital stories are something that most of my students have not seen before.

I know that many of my students currently use programs like Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides to create presentations, so why not share another option with them–the Digital Story. I think that this is an excellent way to give students some freedom of choice with their learning, as well as learning new technological skills. For a more detailed reflection, click on the SoundCloud file below.

ISTE and CITW 9 Standards:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Using Digital Stories is an excellent way to engage students and really get them invested in their own learning. As there is not a right and a wrong way of doing something, students are able to express themselves in a variety of ways.
Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: The look of presentations and reports has changed significantly over time, specifically with the advancements of technology. Digital Stories are the next step for sharing information or giving a presentation.
Model Digital Age Work and Learning: Again, the freedom of choice is key. Both the freedom to choose what and how. Providing students with various opportunities to use these new technologies will help them be better prepared for the future.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: In giving students the freedom to choose, we are also saying that we trust them. Having reviewed how to be a good digital citizen, students will be expected to demonstrate those traits when creating digital stories.

Thing #13: Digital Images

Using authentic and relatable images is a great way to connect with students and their families. There are a wide-range of tools and resources available to create slideshows, videos, and to edit digital images. What is great about many of these resources is that they are free and very easy to use.

I’m quite interested in photography, so I have used a number of programs to edit my photos. I do not think that there is a best program, but rather the program that is best for you. I recommend that you try a wide-range of editing programs before deciding which you like best. Once you have edited your photos, your possibilities are virtually unlimited.

Screen Shot 2019-03-02 at 12.18.51.png One great way to use your photos is by making an animated slide show. PhotoPeach is one popular tool to do exactly that! This program is extremely easy to use, very straightforward, and has many options available.

https://photopeach.com/embed/4vgquw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Click here to see an example of what an animated slideshow might look like when using PhotoPeach. The purpose of this slideshow is to engage students and families to talk about their happy places. I was happy to be able to share some of my own photos with my students, as I think it makes the lesson and learning experience more personal.

Voki

This is one great site where you are able to create avatars. It’s a unique way of Screen Shot 2019-03-02 at 12.43.19.png introducing yourself in the virtual world or even sharing content with students in a new and innovative way. While I had fun designing my Voki, I found that it took longer than I expected. Also, the intonation of the recording is not the best, so I am not sure that using this resource would actually be helpful for English language learners. If you want to see what my Voki looks like, click here!

Screen Shot 2019-03-02 at 12.44.55.png — A snapshot of what my Voki looks like.

Thing #11: Content Area

I’m currently teaching English as a Second Language to students in France. Unfortunately, there are not consistent standards or expectations when it comes to English instruction in France. I have actually found their system of language instruction to be quite outdated (often using rote memorization). So rather than using non-existent standards, I am going to be using the Michigan Merit Curriculum: World Languages.

One of my favorite lessons to do with students is comparing and contrasting schools in France with those in the United States. This is a great way to learn new vocabulary (which is not only practical, but necessary in the classroom) as well as to learn about the culture of an English speaking country. The Michigan curriculum standard that relates to this topic is: Intermediate Low and Intermediate Mid (M): 2.1.M.E.a: Compare the educational systems in a community or country in which the language is spoken with one or more other communities or countries.

Screen Shot 2019-03-02 at 10.25.26.png Trying to find resources about American culture while living and working overseas seems like a double-edged sword most of the time. I spend a ton of time researching quality resources and materials, and when I think I’ve found a video that will be perfect for my lesson, when I try to open it I receive an error message along the lines of “due to copyright law in your region, you are unable to view this video.” When exploring the PBS Learning Media website I found so many videos that I thought would really enrich my lesson. Unfortunately, none of the videos were available for viewing in France. As this has become a common occurrence, I’ve become quite good at finding videos through a variety of means. However, this also means that I spend a lot more time preparing my lessons.

In order to teach my lesson about American Schools, I would begin with a KWL chart with my students. Then, I would introduce an article describing American schools, such as the one that I found on the ieLanguages website. Here are just a few of the resources that I found which I thought would enrich my lesson.

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Finding an appropriate audio/video support for this lesson proved to be much more complicated. After much research, I stumbled upon the American English website. On this website I found audio files for students talking about their experience in American high schools. In additional to the audio files, there were also documents with the text written (an important support for ESL learners). I liked that students could hear a variety of accents by listening to many interviews.

CITW9 Connections

When thinking about the nine categories of best practice instruction and how these resources could help me to support and meet these best practices, I came to a few conclusions.

Nonlinguistic Representations: I love the idea of incorporating relevant media into my lessons. Adding videos and audio files is especially important when teach a language.
Summarizing and Note-Taking: Students will be expected to organize their ideas using a variety of resources. Creating Venn Diagrams will be extremely important for comparing and contrasting.
Cooperative Learning: Students will be expected to work together and exchange ideas in order to develop a richer understanding of the content.
Identifying Similarities and Differences: Students will not only be expected to identify similarities and differences, but to then add personal reflections and experiences.

Thing #7: Productivity

Technology is amazing! I’m always fascinated when I learn about new ways that we can use technology in the classroom. While technology has proven time and again that it is a useful tool in the classroom, there are still some difficulties and frustration which arise as a result.

Shared Calendar

With everyone being so digitally connected it seems like a simple datebook is simply, well, outdated. Don’t get me wrong, I use both an electronic and a paper planner, but when trying to communicate with a large number of people, I definitely see the appeal in using digital calendars. I’ve already mentioned that I love all things Google, and it’s no different with Google Calendars. What I love about Google Calendars is that I can create different calendars for different purposes (professional, personal, birthdays, holidays, trainings, etc.). The color coding makes it very easy to read and interpret the information being displayed on the calendar, and you can choose to view as many or as few calendars at a time as you want.

Additionally, your Google calendar is easily synced with all of your devices. It’s also super easy to share the calendars with other people. What I really like about Google Calendars is how intuitive it is to make changes. Because of this, it’s not a hassle to update them regularly. With that being said, I think an electronic calendar such as this is a great way to communicate information with both students and families. If there’s a last minute change, no problem. Everyone is alerted quickly and easily. I also really like the reminders that you can set for upcoming events.

Here’s an example of what a Google Calendar might look like for one month.

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Shortening URLs

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 11.33.59.png As wonderful as the internet is, correctly copying it from the board to the search bar can prove to be problematic, regardless of age. There are many great tools that we can use to make this task easier for our students. Tinyurl.com and Bitly are two great examples of how to create shortened web addresses.

To give you an idea, I used tinyurl.com to create a shortened address for my students.

The original address was: https://www.internationalstudent.com/study_usa/way-of-life/american-culture/

The tinyurl became: https://tinyurl.com/y37dmmm8 Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 11.35.38.png

Converting Files

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 11.51.06.png One of my biggest pet peeves is that all file types cannot be opened using the same program. How incredibly frustrating it is to create a document and then try to open it using a different computer, only to realize the file type is not supported! As a Mac user, this is something that happens all too frequently to me. Luckily, there are a number of resources now available to quickly and easily convert file types. One great program is Zamzar. You simply upload the current file, select the file type you want to create, click ‘convert’ and boom! Your new file is there for immediate download.

Imagine this: you created a file using Pages but need to modify it on a Windows based computer. Normally, this task would be impossible, but with programs like Zazmar, the task becomes super easy.

Honestly, I was quite surprised by how quick and easy to use Zamzar was. This is definitely going to be one of my go-to websites from now on. I can also see how this website could be very useful for students who are in a similar situation — not having the appropriate program on their home computer to open a file is no longer a problem.

ISTE and CITW 9 Standards Addressed:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: All of the resources discussed in this post truly make learning easier for all students. When technology is able to be simplified, especially for young learners, it is a good thing.
Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: Teaching students about time management, organizing appointments or meetings, and modifying documents as necessary are all essential skills.
Model Digital Age Work and Learning: Each of these resources will prepare students for the future, as well as any other technological advancements that may occur.
Assigning Homework and Practice: I love the idea of using a shared calendar to communicate homework and assessments with families. While students still have a paper planner, it is not always the case that all necessary information is written down.

Thing #6: Communication

I still remember AOL Instant Messenger being an essential part of my being when I was growing up. I remember the awful sound of dial-up as your computer connected to the internet. Back then, I thought it was the best thing ever and there was no way that anything better would ever exist.

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 13.33.07.png It’s funny how time and experience really change your perspective and expectations. AOL Instant Messenger seems like something that existed 100 years ago. With the integration of Social Media and messaging, our lives are constantly becoming more and more connected.

Today, living half way around the world is not nearly as scary or intimidating as it used to be (in my opinion, thanks to technology). I’m able to call and see my family and friends regularly thanks to a number of applications or resources which make communication much easier. Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 13.32.27.png

I used to use Skype quite frequently, however, in recent years, I find myself rarely using it. I find that I am relying more on FaceTime or WhatsApp for video communication. For that reason, I decided to take some time to explore and reconnect with Skype for this Thing.

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I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of changes to Skype. Firstly, I found the appearance to be much cleaner and clearer. Secondly, I liked the ability to make group calls and create group chats. This was a feature that I often felt was lacking. I also liked that you had the ability to make either a video call or a normal call.

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 13.31.45.png Overall, I was pleasantly surprised to discover all of these changes, but still feel like Skype is becoming a slightly outdated resource. I still prefer the other platforms with which I have become more comfortable and familiar in recent years.

LinkedIn Experience

I have used LinkedIn for many years. I love how easy it is to connect with professionals from all over the world. I’ve been able to make many great connections over the years, many of which have created new professional opportunities for me.

Not only is it an excellent place to make great professional connections, but it is also a great environment to share ideas and experiences–essentially, to collaborate with others.

For example, I was able to find this great resource from another teacher to help improve my students’ fluency. I commented on the usefulness of this video, which then connected me with other resources which I might find helpful.

ISTE Standards/CITW 9:

Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership: Using these platforms allows teachers to interact with people all over the world in a time and cost-efficient way.
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Using these platforms will give students ideas of new ways to use technology, both for educational and personal purposes. With the variety of platforms and uses available, students are encouraged to find personalized ways of using them.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: When communicating in a virtual manner, it is essential that all students understand and follow the expectations for online citizenship. Using backchannel chats and video conferencing technology is an excellent way to reinforce these skills.
Cooperative Learning: Using things like Google Hangout or Chatzy encourages students to work together and exchange ideas.

Thing #3: Visual Learning

There are so many great (and usually free) resources available not only to teachers, but everyone! In my experience, I often find a program or website that I really like and find easy to use, and then stop trying to find additional resources. This is something that I am actively trying to change about myself.

With Thing #3, I was forced outside of my comfort zone, and as a result found myself becoming frustrated with the websites that I was trying to use. In the end, I persevered, and as a result, now have many other tools in my belt to help integrate technology into my teaching.

During this unit, I learned about many resources to help improve my instruction for visual learners. I learned about a number of resources to help me to organize lessons and ideas in a visual format. Some of the ways I learned were:

-Graphic Organizers -Infographics

-Word Clouds -QR Codes

Graphic Organizers:

There are many, many great mind mapping resources available. I chose to try Bubbl.us because it was a resource I had never used or heard of. What I liked best about this website was how easy it was to manipulate and make changes once you got started. I think this website would be an excellent tool to organize brainstorming sessions during class. Here’s an example of a mind map that I would use to help introduce the idea of verbs to my students. We would then work together to add more information.

New Mind Map.jpg

Word Clouds:

I absolutely love using word clouds! I have used them for many years, not only for teaching, but in my personal life as well. I think word clouds are engaging and fun and can be used for so many different reasons. Students also love making word clouds. In the past, I used the online version of Wordle to create word clouds. Unfortunately, the online version no longer works and you must download the program. This has some potential drawbacks, especially limiting when and where it can be used. Here’s an example of what a word cloud might look like when talking about why English language learning is important. I’ve also shared this visual on my class website, as I think it’s an interesting representation of languages in the world.

Infographics:

I also love infographics! I have used them on countless occasions and find them to be very easy to use and understand. While I love reading infographics, I find creating them to be less fun. I became very frustrated when trying to create an infographic using Piktochart. While I absolutely see the value of this for some content areas and students, I do not think that this is a visual representation that I will use regularly in my instruction. Here’s an example of a inforgraphic representing the results of a class survey:

QR Codes:

For many years, I’ve been seeing QR codes everywhere I go. When I finally downloaded the application to scan them, I was quite intrigued. I thought this was a genius way of using technology to quickly and efficiently share information with a very large audience in a very short period of time. I find the available websites to be equally user friendly and easy to use. For this activity, I tried QRstuff.com. Unfortunately, this has not caught on in France. In fact, I can’t remember ever seeing a QR while living in France. So again, I think this technology has a very important place in learning, but not in my current situation. To get an idea of how QR codes worked, I made one to reach the website of the company I work for (the website is in French). If you’re interested in learning about the company I work for, scan the QR code below!

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I love the idea of incorporating things for all learner styles into my teaching. I think that the websites I mentioned in this post could be very useful for helping me to use more technology in my teaching.

Connections to ISTE Standards:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: As the possibilities are limitless with these resources, students would be given the opportunity to express themselves in countless ways.
Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: As technology is constantly changing, so are the resources which are available to us. Employing these new technologies will ensure that students are being given authentic opportunities to learn and explore.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: Remembering that once we create something on the internet, it is there forever (even if we delete it). Helping students learn appropriate ways of questioning and disagreeing.