AR#6
I teach in a middle class school. My students have access to computers at school by using computer labs or in my classroom where I have 3 student computers. The computer lab is becoming increasingly difficult to get into because everyone wants time in there. Yippe! It seems like teachers are integrating technology into their curriculum, right? Actually, most teachers are going in to have their students take computerized tests. I teach U.S. American History to 8th grade students (most are 13 to 14 years old). Sadly, the students typically come into class with the idea that history is boring.
I also spent some time evaluating the web sites I obtained my information from. I now see the need of developing a special way to evaluate these student technology based projects effectively, as explained in my textbook Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom by Shelly, Gunter and Gunter. The value of explaining to students the worth of a web site varies. They might need to do a few evaluations on web sites at the start of the year to understand everything they find on the internet is not accurate. I liked how the Office of information and technology described the internet as “The Web is not one large digital library. Libraries have trained professionals who carefully evaluate, select, organize, and index materials from credible sources.”
This week I was challenged to create an example of what I would like me students to do for a project using digital storytelling. The topic I want my students to focus on will be the thirteen original colonies. I really would like for them to learn what life was like for the people of the colonization time period. What might the person see, eat or do in a day?
I had a difficult time incorporating everything that I wanted my students to have in my “movie”. I am really going to have to dive deeper to what I want my students to learn. The objectives I listed in my assignment seem too complicated for the idea I have.
Objectives:
-What were the reasons Europeans colonized in America?
-What is the difference between New England, Middle and Southern Colonies?
-How was life in the colonies different from life in Europe?
-What are the regional differences?
-What are the best features to each of the colonies?
I was originally looking to have the students create their projects in photo story (a free program that our school already has). The project can still be done, but I always have grand dreams and high expectations. I want the expectation to be obtainable to my 8th grade students. Plus, I can only get the computer lab for about 1 week, sometimes less. I am going to continue to make adjust my expectations and make them a little more realistic.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI love your movie, what is the name of the software you used again? Your digital story is awesome; it’s like a little commercial or advertising for someone to move to Virginia, but an informative commercial. I think if that’s how you want it to sound then great if not, I would change a few things up. I think it’s terrible you can only get the computer lab once a week, either you would have to shorten the assignment or lengthen the time the assignment is due. Either way I think your digital storytelling project is turning out great, I don’t think you need to really change anything except for what I said earlier about it sounding like a commercial to move to Virginia. Although I know how great it is up there, I lived there for eight years!
I love the project you created. It would be a great project for 8th grade students to complete and is completely age appropriate. However, I can see how your objectives didn't match your project and I can understand having to rework them.
ReplyDeleteI also completely understand the whole hard to get into the computer lab thing. At my school, our computer lab is in our library and both have been closed for a month due to the various testing going on. It's obnoxious!
I loved your digital story. I thought you did a great job in relaying a lot of information in a short amount of time and it was designed to be very attention grabbing. I liked how you portrayed a person from that particular time period to make the viewer relate more and feel a connection. It hits on several main points that are important from that historical era. I liked everything about it and think it is very age appropriate for 8th grade students and would be a great opportunity for them to complete a hands on activity while learning important parts of American History. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI must say right up front that I live in a household of “history buffs” and I’m in awe of anyone who has a strong historical knowledge. I on the other hand don’t have a good knowledge of history and I’ve always wondered why. I enjoy watching documentaries and looking at old photos, and I even enjoyed teaching Social Studies to elementary students. Back then though, I didn’t have the technology that is available today, so I’m sure you are thrilled with the advances of so much information being just a click away on the Internet.
Your situation of having to share a computer lab is pretty common in most schools, but you have an advantage of knowing how to create a WebQuest in which you can direct your students to the right places to gain the knowledge you want them to gain.
I like your idea for your digital story and it is very age-appropriate. If you can convince them that history isn’t boring, then you’ve accomplished a lot! To me the thirteen original colonies would need some kind of technological slant to make them more interesting to 13 and 14 year old students. You have a good idea, and can see why you are rethinking your objectives. I believe you are on the right track and that narrowing the area of focus of your digital story would be helpful.
Best of luck on working with your students to create digital stories. I can’t imagine they will think anything about the project you are developing is boring. This should be a very meaningful learning experience and it is definitely student-centered, project-based, and integrated with lots of technology.
Thanks for sharing,
:-) Ruth