2/17/17As part our current unity of study, my professor, Len Scrogan (http://edtechfuture-talk.blogspot.com/), posed the following question: How does the story from this charming Irish video illustrate both the realities and challenges we face when facilitating online discussions?The obvious point that this video makes is that the words we choose to express our ideas are just as important as the ideas that we choose to express. I think that this assertion has a number of important implications f ...

How to Unlock Your (and Your Student's) Innovative Mindset “We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves.”                                                                       & ...

Growing Up Transgender​Assigned the designation of female at birth, Gabe knew from an early age that he was a boy. In this touching story, Gabe and Chris Lopez recollect the moment that Gabe discovered he was transgender and his struggle to tell his mother, Chris, that he was not the daughter that she thought he was. Ultimately, Gabe and Chris's story is one of love, self-identity, tolerance, and bravery. In the wake of the election of Donald Trump and the resulting fear running rampant t ...

Sure, we all know that Digital Storytelling is great! It helps all students, especially struggling writers, find their authorial voices. But, if we don't know which Digital Storytelling tools to use, we can't help our students unlock their inner Steinbecks. Luckily, Jacqui Murray has come to our rescue. After no doubt sifting through myriad Digital Storytelling resources, she has detailed some of the most useful in her blog entry, "9 Best-in-Class Storytelling Apps." Among the w ...

In light of the recent events at Standing Rock, it is no surprise that Storycenter selected Bill Tall Bull's Digital Story, "This is My Home," as their Featured Story. In his piece, Bill Tall Bull details the history of his Native American tribe, the Cheyenne-Arapahoe, who lived in what is now present day Denver. His story is a powerful reminder that before "America," a bold people occupied this land. He implores us not to forget this history, but to celebrate it as part of our national fabric.U ...

"I just wanted to be like the other girls."In her digital story, Alemitu Abebe details her inner struggle to choose her life's direction. Farming or education? In her community, located in the Konso region of Ethiopia, farming is a way of life. Alemitu wants nothing more than to be a farmer. Then her father decides that he wants her to attend school. Alemitu agrees, but is deeply conflicted. On her daily walks to school, she passes her friends working the land.She wants to work with them. A ...

"We are now part of a global movement, a little niche of a media practice that prides itself on gathering committed souls who cherish the opportunity to help people with their stories...Writing the history of this work is no longer the task of a single chapter in a single volume by a single author, but is worthy of countless retellings, from hundreds of perspectives."                                   &nbsp ...

For this assignment, we needed to take a "dramatic" photo of someone and superimpose it upon an unrelated background.Since I enjoy surfing and LOVE my niece, Lena, I decided to combine the two.So, without further adieu, I present....LENA GETS BARRELED!  ...

In Coffee Cart Compassion, the digital storytellers at Soul Pancake choose to highlight the efforts of Special Education teacher, Sadie Guthrie, to integrate her students into the Lawton school community. Sadie teaches students with severe cognitive disabilities how to run a coffee cart. They go out into the community and procure pastries to pair with the coffee that they brew in their classroom. Wheeling their cart through Lawton's hallways, they sell their goods to the staff.Not only does runn ...

 "Everyone has a story about a place that is important to her or him." In her paper, "Using Digital Storytelling as a Literacy Tool for the Inner City Middle School Youth," Pauline Pearson Hathorn of the University of California of Berkeley, recounts the summer that she spent working with middle school, inner-city youth in West Oakland, California. By participating in the  Digital Underground Storytelling for Youth (D.U.S.T.Y) program, she helped students create ...

For my Digital Storytelling class, I was asked to record a video of myself doing one of my favorite things. I like to play guitar, so, without further adieu, I present.....​ROCKING OUT! ...

In a PBS Blank on Blank interview from 1958, Aldous Huxley speaks about a future world where "impersonal forces....are pushing in the direction of less and less freedom." Among these forces he counts overpopulation, mind-controlling drugs, propaganda, and, most pertinent to this blog, technology."All technology is in itself moral and neutral. These are just powers which can either be used well or ill..."                      &nbs ...

In Chapter Seven of New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning, Lankshear argues that traditional brick and mortar universities are transmitting knowledge in a static vacuum that does not prepare students to think in the creative ways necessary to solve in-context (i.e. on the job) problems. Since this is the case, teachers need to transition from the “push” method of teaching to a “pull” method. ​Simply put, the push method of teaching occurs when a te ...

In her article, "The Art of Digital Storytelling," Bernajean Porter provides a brief description of what Digital Storytelling is, which I am not going to recount in this blog. What I would like to address are the elements that Porter claims are essential for creating an effective Digital Story: Living in the Story and Unfolding a Lesson Learned​. When she says that an author needs to "live" in his or her story, Porter is simply reminding Digital Storytellers that ...

Digital CritiqueIn "A Struggle Within Reach," Jacinta tells the story of Lucha Alcanzable, an indigenous Mayan woman living in Peru. Lucha’s father believes that she should discontinue her schooling so that she can get married, have children, and take care of her family. However, Lucha has plans of her own. She wants to continue learning so that she can help others in her community. Through hard work and dedication, Lucha eventually earns her college degree.Using Jason Ohler’s Digital Storyt ...

“Some see the format and process of remix itself as ideological in nature and part of a larger cultural critique of ideas and assumptions about authorship or the ownership of art. For this reason, reworking parts of the existing music canon (e.g., a Beatles song, a Beethoven symphony) and re-envisioning it is seen as a political act.” -Erik JacobsonMusic Remix in the Classroom, p. 31This week, I was asked to read and respond to Chapters 2 & 3 of Digital Literacies: Concepts, Policies and ...

"I never failed once. It just happened to be a 2,000 step process."                                                                                                                            ...

DIGITAL STORYTELLINGIN THE SPECIAL ​EDUCATION CLASSROOM In their case study, "Digital Storytelling in the Middle Childhood Special Education Classroom: A Teacher’s Story of Adaptations," Paige Michalski, Dodi Hodges, and Savilla Banister recount Michalski's mission to use Digital Storytelling as a means to help her Special Education students improve their writing. With adequate planning, appropriate scaffolding and a heaping dose of energy, Michalski's efforts ...

"When I first got into show business, my step-father bought me a wild shirt which....said more about what he thought show business was than what I thought it was."     Known as one of the most interesting interviewees around, Tom Waits delivers the goods in his PBS Blank on Blank interview, "Everything and Nothing." Though he is only asked four questions, Tom still manages to speak for over five minutes on topics varying from why moles are awarded prizes for burr ...

A LETTER TO KAYLYNNFirst, the background:In her moving account of her life as a Special Education student (published via Storycorps), Kaylynn details the shame she felt as she progressed through grammar, middle, and high schools. For her, having an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), was a traumatic experience that seems to have brought her more sorrow than help.For those new to the world of Special Education, an IEP is a lengthy document detailing a student's learning disability, along with t ...

DS 106 Visual Assignment: With drawing software, create a picture using only:4 lines5 dotsand 1 curve.MY SUBMISSION ...

A Response to Guy Merchant’s Visual Networks: Learning and Photosharing “Online social networking can both strengthen existing social ties with friends and family and help to establish new relationships.”-Guy Merchant, Visual Networks: Learning and PhotosharingIn his contribution to Knobel and Lankshear’s DIY Media: Creating, Sharing, and Learning with New Technologies (Chapter 4), Guy Merchant postulates Flickr, the popular photo sharing site, as a new platf ...