While I was planning and organizing my technology initiative "iPad Fun Night", I found myself consistently asking, "Will this device work?". Each time I added or considered a new piece of technology, either to help support the event or to provide for the attendees' use, in the back of my mind, I continued to wonder if the device(s) would be functional on the night of the event. Throughout my career, I have helped colleagues setup and organize technology in their classrooms, prepared for assemblies, and aided peers in solving tech. issues. All of these situations have led me to believe that though technology can make the life of students and teachers easier, the leaders of the tech. use need to be prepared ahead of time for technical issues that may arise. Recently, in my own JK classroom, I had to solve a few tech. issues when recording the students' retells. I had used a video camera from home to record a few, until the battery died. Next, I had to search for and borrow the school's camera to record a few more. Then, finally I used my classroom digital camera to finish the project. In the first case, I had to use my personal video camera because the school's could not be found. In the second scenario, finding the school's video camera was not an easy task, considering no one in the school had seen it for a couple of years. And, when I did find the device, there was no memory card in it to save video on. Finally, I used my classroom digital camera to record the video. The quality is much better and so too is the sound. However, while loading the videos on to my school computer, I was stuck again because I had exceeded the memory capacity of the drive.
All of these difficulties are ones that may be present in any technology initiative. A really successful and fun event has already worked these glitches out before the night of the event, so that the attendees can participate and the leaders can share their expertise. Be prepared ahead of time is one characteristic I think all leaders of technology require in order to be successful.
I really enjoyed the digital storytelling task. Part of the reason why I enjoyed so much was the fact that it included a variety of multimedia. Recently, my JK class and I conducted a retell of the story of the '3 Little Pigs'. I wanted to create some excitement and really engage in the activity, considering it was the middle of May and some of the students were already checking out for the summer. So, we create puppets out of paper, straws, and markers. And, the original plan was to video tape the students retelling the story using the puppets. But, the students wanted more than that; they wanted to re-create the story of 'The 3 Little Pigs' using props., sound effects, narration, a backdrop, and the list went on and on. By the time we were finished and ready to present, it was as if the entire story had come to life. We videotaped each student's production and the students were loving it. I also happened to come across another picture book titled 'Miss. Smith's Storybook'. It is about a teacher who reads from a special book that makes the characters from the story actually come alive and perform in front of the reader's eyes. As I was reading it to the students, I had an 'aha' moment: this is exactly what the students in my class had experienced when we read 'The 3 Little Pigs' together. It was the reason why our retell morphed into a live performance! The book and its characters had come alive for the students!
In any case, this is how I see digital storytelling applying to junior/intermediate grade levels. It could provide the same avenue for older students, who may not be as keen to perform in front of their peers, but who can certainly use the same level of imagination through digital storytelling. Next year, I am teaching a grade 3 class and I will certainly look to use the technology tool to enhance students' demonstration of their learning, or atleast provide it as an option for those who are interested.
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