Digital Storytelling CEdO530 - Session Five

Well, I can tell you that I'm a little frightened to start the Pecha Kucha - I think that I'll have a difficult time finding just the right photographs to use in the presentation, making the building process lengthy. On the other hand, I do like the fact that the "thinking" part of the work is already done in my storyboard so I don't feel the pressure to be creative - I have a plan, now all I have to do is execute it. The other assignment was to create a rubric for a multimedia presentation. I already have in mind a plan and so with the background we have already had in rubrics from other classes and the resources in session five, I don't think that will take to much time.
The resources on buying guides have been minimally helpful. I am in the process of looking for a digital SLR camera right now and have found many resources and reviews online. Then I went to the two links from session five on how to buy digital cameras and found that my research and planning to play with some cameras in a store was right along the guidelines. In fact the guides really served only to reiterate what I already knew - but it was nice to know that I hadn't missed any major "steps".
I've taken a brief look at the two resources that my group is responsible for investigating (SlideSix and authorStream) and both programs seem fairly straightforward and easy to use and implement. At first glance both seem to have many similarities to VoiceThread without the commenting options from outside sources which may be an advantage to the question posed in class on Tuesday. I think Kara had asked what to do about the "openness" of these sites and how to go about controlling the commenting by third parties especially when using these tools with younger students. If I find any major advantages with SlideSix or authorStream, I'll be sure to address that in the evaluation.

Digital Storytelling CEdO530 - Session Four

After the long break between the session 3 and 4 I'm finding it hard to get back into the swing of things. (Not to mention last week it was my birthday, Friday was our anniversary and we were hosting 17 classmates/cousins for my daughter's pirate themed party yesterday - arrgh!) So this morning I finally got my computer out and spent some time looking over Prezi and the associated videos. I'm intrigued and feeling a bit challenged out of my comfort zone this week. The last assignment of revising an existing presentation within powerpoint and uploading into VoiceThread was less intimidating (although still time consuming)than learning a new presentation style & tool like Prezi. That feeling is compounded a little by also attempting to storyboard the Pencha Kucha. It feels like a lot but I am looking forward to the challenge and working on presentations that are so different from the norm. I feel like the Presentation Zen reworks what I already know and Prezi and Pencha Kucha are the new tools to attempt when presentations where the typical powerpoint (even one that's more zen-like) isn't the best choice.

Digital Storytelling - CEdO530 - Session Three

So, session three. First, I have to say that I really appreciated the break from grad classes as the new school year is starting up - it has eased the "to do" list quite a bit this week. I continue to enjoy searching out and listening / watching different digital stories as we work through this class. Many give me ideas for possible stories that I could do either on a personal level or for my students. I'm even tempted to let the students loose and create their own, but I need to check with other departments to be sure that I'm not stepping on any toes. At a minimum I could share with the other teachers all of the great resources and sites that we've been discovering in class.
I'm really still very happy with VoiceThread and I've been planning (yes, planning analog)some of the presentations that I want to create for particular lessons in two of my classes. I would have to say that the most frustrating thing for me right now is that I can think of a million applications for biology and that's the one class I'm not teaching this year! I'm also excited to start playing around with Animoto, but I haven't been approved yet (or my approval is sitting in the school's spam folder that I can't access).
I've had a wonderful time with the photos - it's forced me to pick up my camera and now instead of thinking I have to take pictures, my attitude has changed to what pictures will I find today and even though we've completed the required 28 photos, I find myself carrying my camera with me almost all the time now. I've even started a checklist of "images" I want to capture for some of my new presentations. I kind of wish this class had been a little earlier this summer as I'm finding tons of ways to incorporate what we've been learning about but I feel a time crunch as I have to use some of the presentations that aren't quite ready yet. Oh well - I guess my little OCD will have to be put on the back burner as it really isn't practical to try and have ALL of my presentations completed now.

Sorry for the delay in posting as I was unable to access the internet from home last night!