24 February - Digital Stories

What?
We learned about Digital Stories.  They're basically the same thing as a vidcast...just better.  The music and the words is coordinated with the pictures/movies so that it seems more nicely done and more professional.  A lot of the Digital Stories we viewed had a sense of emotional hook to them.  They were way cool and pretty interesting.

So What?
So now we get to make some of our own.  Using digital stories seems fun.  It's a cool way to create projects instead of the regular old book report or whatnot.  I feel like we learned about them so that we can learn to use them in the classroom - use them as a way to teach, or a way for students to learn in a new way.  My vidcast was really fun to make, and once I've got a simpler version of what a Digital Story is, I feel like I can do it and it will be enjoyable to make also.  I can make them for whatever subject I want/need.

Now What?
For my future students, this means that they now have a new way to do their homework!  They have a new reason to come to school.  It's a new thing to learn too - once they know about how to make a digital story, they can use them for anything throughout their lives. Using Digital Stories in the classroom is a whole new way to teach.  I can make a DS outside of class when it's convenient for me, probably my first year of teaching and I can use it (maybe with a few alterations) up until my last.  As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, students can use Digital Stories for book reports and other ways of assessment.  It could be a term project or a test substitute for visual learners.  I think DS will be great in my future classroom - especially in a world that is becoming more and more technologically savvy!