Update: It's Been a Long Time!
10 years ago
Friday, October 17, 2008
Making a digital story
I chose to use Voicethread for my digital storytelling. I used Jamaica Kincaid's story, "A Walk to the Jetty," which is chapter 8 in the book Annie John. I use this story in my ESOL Reading course and I thought a voicethread that introduces the author's background and additional information about the writer's intensions and reasons for creating this story would be helpful to students. I think adding visual to any story can make it more meaningful. I like the idea of the "comment" function because then students can also provide their own thoughts. I would encourage students to interact with the pictures and post a comment. We could also view the slide show in class and then I could have them write their thoughts or type them. The type function is really small so with a large class it might get cluttered. I think the voicethread would be a good way to present the story and get students more interested in reading it. I don't think I would have students create their own voicethread because I am afraid I would spend too much time teaching the technology rather than the content. That is a fear I have. I have found that students need a lot of instruction with technology, at least this is true with ESOL students. I think young kids who come out of the American schools are better prepared for that kind of activity. However, I like the digital story telling for another way to get my students involved with the text and the language. Certainly it is more engaging that a lecture.
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2 comments:
I really like your idea of having the students provide comments on your voicethread.
I agree that using technology in ESOL classes can be challenging because it can feel like you're teaching the technology - not the language. However, I think Voicethread might be the best tool your ESOL students could use because it really is pretty transparent. Plus, if you do your activity as planned you've already built in some good technical scaffolding - you're getting the students used to the interface and to the ins and outs of posting comments. So, the next step could be creating individual voicethreads - then you can just teach the uploading of images (and maybe to make it easier, you could have a file of images from which the students choose).
I agree - it could take some extra time in your class, but your students might really enjoy it and with Voicethread, their writing and speaking skills could be activated!
A very nice VoiceThread! However, please recheck the audio on the slides from the jetty to the cover of the New Yorker. It looked like there was supposed to be audio, but I heard nothing. The audio worked fine on the slides up to the one with the jetty. The audio also worked on the slide of JK in white when you talk about the analysis of the story.
I agree that the visuals would be very helpful for students, and I also agree that too much typing in the "comment" feature would be hard to read.
I also agree with what Alyssa has to say about integrating VoiceThread into your classes. DO IT. I think the advantages, the pay-off, outweighs the disadvantages. This will excite the students, it will get them thinking, it will get them using the language, and it will better prepare them for future endeavors!
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