June+4+ClassNotes


 * For the learning portfolio:**
 * 1 page for each week
 * What hit home during the week?
 * What questions still remain?
 * Demonstrate that you're tracking the learning journey


 * Then provide a summary: I'm now at THIS place....


 * Digital Storytelling Assignment:**
 * Aim for 3 minutes total
 * Get the idea of telling a story
 * Understand how to use digital storytelling in a classroom to tell a story
 * If you need outside images, bring them in for next class

1) Review of last week - Collaboration Article

 * Many Edits 600+
 * Edits may not appear in final product, but they help other people develop their ideas
 * What is collaboration?
 * Is it working with others? Or working beside others?


 * Digression to: Collaboration in the classroom
 * Curtis' idea: Read/Write collaboration with music
 * Take a posted music piece and use it as inspiration for own work
 * Keep people's feelings in mind
 * People feel bad when it feels like their work has gone to waste
 * Brining in a lot = throwing out a lot i.e. Video editing

2) Choices by Children (pdf reading)
 * Class thoughts:
 * It addressed certain criticisms
 * i.e. Totalitarianism vs anarchy -- There is some middle ground
 * Sometimes students just don't want to take control
 * Perpetuated by students not choosing
 * Hard dealing with parents
 * Parents take their own 'school' experience and apply it to their children's experience
 * i.e. Parents expect a percentage grade when a teacher just decides to use a letter grade in a math course
 * Pressures:
 * People of today are different with their expectations
 * Parents - own experience, assumptions about university preparation
 * Universities - assessment practices have changed
 * Sometimes we 'think' we provide choice, but it's really pseudo choice
 * Studence can choose A or B, but if choose A, next time will be B.
 * University
 * 1st year physics: Class average was 35%
 * Students were not allowed to participate in how the learning was done
 * Learner not at the center
 * Prof worked on his own agenda
 * Class average should not be so low
 * Kevin's thought about choices: Let the students know what they would be getting into with their choices
 * Overall: Think about our experience in the classroom. What can we do to make it meaningful to the students? Think about choice in regards to learning, method, and content.

3) Webquests

 * Webquests are old-school now, but they're still really useful
 * The essence
 * They're a guided treasure hunt
 * Narrows down the number of potential resources compared to searching on google
 * Filtered (or 'nuggeted') way of getting at information
 * If search engines are used, points children to more 'useful' search engines > Yahoo Kids!
 * Does not necessarily have to be a 'done up' site
 * [|Webquest taskonomy]
 * Twelve types of tasks
 * The tasks start to get more challenging at: Consensus building and persuasion.
 * Emailed question: where can webquest concepts fit into your classroom without using webquests?
 * Overall: It's a good model of teaching and learning, regardless of whether an actual webquest is used.

4) Digital Storytelling

 * Jason's website - [|DAOW of literacy]
 * Art is a key aspect of digital storytelling
 * Allows participation that trancends lingual barriers
 * Links to stories
 * [|A Good Dad story]
 * [|Fox Story]
 * Jason's method:
 * Get students to brainstorm
 * Get students to draft their story
 * Use plotline (intro, rising action, climax, conclusion) rather than storyboards
 * Take your Learning Assistance students aside before doing the project. Make arrangements with the Learning Assistance students and teacher to develop the skills needed for digital story telling.
 * After training, use them as the experts with the technology
 * Try to avoid too much shaping (i.e. the brown flower)
 * Suggestion: Do audio fist > then add photos. But of course, photos > then audio is OK.