The little story of my digital storytelling
I didn’t want to start this post by the usual “I love stories”, yet I love stories…especially when they’re made digitally in French lessons.
En français!
I kept on asking my students to talk in French, reuse all the words they’ve been learning, to express themselves in French. Obvious to say that some students are natural-born communicator, always happy to talk and raise their hands even if they don’t know the answer and some others who blush just with the idea of talking in front of the group.
However when it comes to use technology in the French class and to record them, the activity becomes fun and even the more shy are happy to participate.
I regularly record my students when they‘re presenting, reporting to the class or acting out. I found a nice trick to have everybody excited about the activity: recording their feet! I can still hear them, they can still listen to them and everybody is happy to listen to the recording.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqGSj2EgMl4[/embed]
From actor to contributor
So far I was the one to use technology and to record them. I have slowly introduced my students, Grade 3-4 and 5 to use Screencast-o-matic to record their work/presentation.
[caption id="attachment_300" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Art portfolio for noise reduction - Image M. Brutel[/caption]It’s very simple and easy to do during the lessons. Each student can use a fizzbook to do it. But I believe there is more to be done.
As Alan November explains in “Students as contributors: the digital learning farm":
We have come full circle as globalization quickly becomes the norm, and it may now be essential for our students to compete with peers from around the world. Today, we can restore the dignity and integrity of the child as a contributor. Across the country, pioneering teachers are providing students with new roles that have students making contributions to their learning communities. We have powerful, easy-to-use tools such as screencasting and podcasting that give students opportunities to contribute content to the class. At the same time we can also provide them with rigorous and more motivating assignments and better prepare them to become more productive in our new global economy. It’s an exciting time.
And that is my responsibility as their teacher to show them how to do it.Very recently the long awaited I pad arrives in our French classes.I have started to mess around with some video/voice editing apps: i movie, Adobe Voice, ShowMe to find the one that suits me best.
Digital storytelling becomes powerful when they’re media rich and shared. David Jakes says in Towards a framework for visual literacy.
You have to share it. Understand Creative Commons. Post content online that others can use, that enable you to connect to other users, collaborate with others, create with others and contribute to everyone. So, teach kids to be able to do that, and in the process emphasize that…
Individuals must be capable of working in multiple mediums to create visual messages, in accordance with the principals of visual literacy.
Action!
To create my first digital story, I found Kathie Schrock's guide to everything very helpful.
And here it is! My very first movie made with i movie with an ipad!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbbOdguvhGY[/embed]
It took me just ….a very long time to do it! But that was fun!
On a legal note, I’m not sure that I ended it up properly for the attributions.
On a technical note, I realized that
- the clips are square. I should have held the i pad horizontally. Holding it vertically allowed me to keep an eye of the rest of the group while filming. (Yes! I’m a chameleon, my right eye on the screen, my left one on the students!)
- I needed to work on my filming skills as there are some blurred pictures and weird framing.
- I also found out that to adjust the duration of a title, I needed to split my clip.
On a teaching note, I can clearly see the benefits and the advantages for my students to do their own. Digital storytelling could be any kind of story and that would be such a powerful tool for them: speaking in French, being part of a real project, being creative and making their learning visible!
Bonjour Magali,
ReplyDeleteI think you made a great point addressing the idea of the role of students in videos/story telling. To move them from actors to contributors is definitely the way! A question that I’ve asked myself several times over this week’s assignment is till what extent digital storytelling is innovative (compared to story telling). The French are a little but more skeptical about it as you can see from this article: https://www.ludovia.com/2013/07/les-recits-numeriques-de-nouvelles-formes-narratives/. Your post pointed me in a direction that may give me an answer: contribution, interaction, and connection. Thanks for that!
Also, Thanks for introducing me to Screeencast-O-Matic! I took a look at it and it’s certainly a great tool. I often have students record themselves with QuickTime or PhotoBooth but this tool allow much more flexibility. You might have stumbled upon this page in your research but I like some tools/ideas that they propose here: https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/64-sites-for-digital-storytelling-tools-and-information
Bonjour Valdir,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments and for the links! I didn’t know about Ludovia and yet I’ve been looking for French contents about edtech. I have found a lot of them from Belgium or Canada.
Re screencasting, What I like with Screencast-O-Matic is that the files are in mp4, so very easy to share/upload. I’m also sure you know about Audacity audacityteam.org . You can record voices only but what’s great is that your students can record themselves at home.
Thanks
Magali
Magali,
ReplyDeleteI love how you are pushing what you have already done and now moving it into the hands of the students. Creating a digital story in french will have them using their higher order thinking just as the article said.
I've used Screencast-O-Matic as well for flipped math. At the bottom of this page (https://megankuemmerlin.weebly.com/flipped-learning-experience.html) you can find even more resources for screencasts. Also, here is another great link that explains them in detail: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/win-screen-recording-softwares/
It also sounds like you are learning first hand about presentation zen and some shooting techniques. This is all so exciting, I can't wait to see your students' and your work!
Cheers,
Megan
Hello Megan
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. And thanks for the list of resources about screencast. I like when it’s web based as the students can do that in the comfort of their home without downloading anything on their parents’ computer.
Wouah! I didn’t know really about flipped classroom but it seems very exciting!
Thanks again
Magali
One of the things I've always enjoyed with your posts is not only are you challenging your students to do new things, but you are clearly pushing outside of your comfort zone. Your reflection about your video is critical, but you should be so proud of the work and energy and learning going on when you created the video. I hope you are sharing with your students how you are learning...you really are a role model.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've bookmaked Screencast-O-Matic because that's a new one. And I think the idea of recording their feet is a great one. Thanks for all of the ideas!
Rebekah, thank you so much for your kind, supportive and encouraging comments!
ReplyDeleteThat’s really Coetail that pushed me with edtech. I’ve realized that tech integration is about starting little and that the more I try new tech things, the easier it gets in the classroom.