Digital Storytelling

I went to a professional development seminar today on technology in the classroom. There were three session choices: blogging, iPad apps, and digital storytelling. I had to think long and hard to decide between the iPad session and the digital storytelling session, but I finally decided on the storytelling.

At the digital storytelling session the instructor introduced us to three products: VoiceThread, Meograph, and PowToon. Each looked interesting in their own ways, and each would be used for very different things. While he was showing us the products I tried to think of a situation where students could use them in the classroom.

VoiceThread:
VoiceThread lets you add voice narration over photographs. You can have just one photo or a slideshow of photos. It also makes it very easy for others with accounts to comment, via text or voice, on your VoiceThread. At first I wasn't sure what to do with this product, but then I thought for young kids it could be fun to take a picture of their artwork and then have them record a voice narration telling the story. Children often have very elaborate stories to accompany their artwork. I could also see VoiceThread being useful in an art class. Students could photograph their artwork and then record a voice narration to go along with it. Their classmates could then view the projects and leave critiques. It could be a way to include technology in art classes, and a way to teach positive critiquing skills.

Meograph: Meograph sounded pretty cool when he described it, but when I looked at the few samples he showed it seemed less cool. I'll have to go play with it myself for awhile and see what I can build. Essentially it is a tool that ties Google Earth with historical time lines. In his example he had students map earthquakes in time (timeline) and space (Google Earth). The final project is a presentation of sorts. I could see Meograph being useful for an ancestry project, or perhaps a historical project that involves different places over time, such as the Lewis and Clark expeditions.

PowToon: PowToon lets you quickly and easily create animated movies or presentations. I think you could use this for little videos about a topic or as a dynamic introduction to a lesson or unit.

After the instructor introduced each of the three products, we were set loose to create something on our own. We were actually instructed to come to class with a story in mind, but sadly I came with none, so when we were turned loose I chose to make a little animation with PowToon. Not too shabby for a first try. :) The meeting also counted as professional development. I wonder if that counts for anything at this point in my life.