Lets Create Tangled Together !

Let’s Create Tangled Together!

Date: 30^th August 2015/Sunday/8:50PM

No doubt storytelling can create the magic in our early year classrooms. I was actually able to clearly visualize this during one of the sessions with teachers about how to create interactive learning experiences. They were so motivated and engaged during the session, kept discussing ideas of how they could use the available education technology resources more effectively to engage learners in more meaningful and thought provoking learning experiences. We started off with exploring storytelling and ended up with numerous interactive activities that if used could energize your classrooms like anything. So as always I thought of sharing with all of you.

I believe in Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence (1991), that students possess different minds and that they learn, perform, remember and understand in different ways. He says that such differences challenge our educational system where we expect all children to learn a concept in exactly the same way. We are blessed to have access to a number of ET resources in our classrooms, if used appropriately, embracing technology can definitely help us create opportunities to meet the needs of our digital natives (Mark Prensky 2000).Different activities that we discussed actually helped catered to the differentiated needs of the learners in our class. Details below.

We had an interesting discussion on how storytelling has evolved in recent years. Session triggered a number of thought provoking questions which include: What makes Tangled, Frozen and Maleficent worth watching?  How could students create their own version of Tangled? Can the available education technology resource in the classroom empower our digital natives to create a digital movie called Tangled 2 or Frozen 2? How could education technology facilitate such learning experiences in the classroom? What skills would be enhanced in light of such experiences? What tools are available online to do this? What is the impact on learning and teaching in this way? How would story telling emerge in the coming ten years? And so on.

But the discussion was worth it, as teachers themselves could visualize a change in story telling due to introduction of multimedia. They all agreed that digital storytelling has the power to ignite love of learning in our kids, encourages research, critical thinking, and creativity, retain knowledge longer, gain valuable technology skills and most importantly teaches them to communicate their ideas more effectively. Midge Frazel, author of, “Digital Storytelling: A Guide for Educators”, in his book also talks of how digital storytelling can enhance creativity, research, collaboration, innovation etc. among learners. 

Our early year classrooms are equipped with numerous education technology tools which include the beebot (a small programmable robot) which could be used to enhance language and numeracy skills, interactive whiteboard with a built in software, an all in one PC with multiple functionality, 6 android 10 inch tablets, digital camera, scanner, and a printer. This is not all, there are different learning corners which include the reading corner, writing area, kitchen corner, construction area etc. which are equipped with traditional tools, toys, gadgets etc. to engage learners in more real life experiences. 

Teachers have the power and potential to create some magical learning experiences for learners using both educational technology and traditional resources. Beebot is just a small robot which could be used to teach numbers to learners, teachers could design a snake and ladder game (the one we used to play when we were all young) , ask learners to program the beebot to move to the next number, the same beebot could be used for sequencing the events in the story, the teacher asks questions and the learner actually moves the beebot to the different scenes in the story. Once learners get hold of the idea, let them design their own games using the beebot, they could design own floor mats. Beebots could be programmed to play a soccer game etc. We have to prepare our digital natives to face tomorrow’s world which appears to be more challenging. Our natives should be able to think critically and problem solve and we need to prepare them to face any situation.

There are a number of digital story telling tools available that combine sound, animation and visuals together. These include my storymaker, bitstripsforschools.com, storyjumper (you could create illustrated books using super easy tools), Microsoft photo story 2, movie maker, audacity, bookcreator, kids creation, drawing pad etc. and list is endless. What is important here is to understand how best these tools could help you meet objectives of your lesson. I have always encouraged teachers to consider four aspects while selecting an education technology tool for an activity, these include purpose of using the tool, its relevance to curriculum, how the tool would engage learners and most important how will the use of tool lead to progression in learning (PREP). 

Learners have all three options of either listening, watching or creating a story themselves. This can be an independent task or a group task. Learners could audio record their version of Tangled 2 using audacity, add effects and upload online on podbean which is a free podcasting website. They could actually narrate their readers in their own voice (giving them a chance to improve their vocabulary and improve intonation. They could actually start a morning show and share their favorite recipes or become investigators and explore a natural phenomenon etc. This just needs a Wi-Fi connection, a microphone, audacity, podbean and computer or a laptop.

Leaner could create their own comic stories online using bitsripsforschools.com website. It’s one of the best educational tools available online which engages learners in a fun and flexible way. The tool provides learners with ample resources (built in library which includes characters, props, backgrounds, add text, import photos etc.) to create amazing cartoon comics. Learners could actually create a dialogue where their avatar explains e-safety rules to a new learner in class, they can create a comic strip to depict what can be done to save our planet, create a new cover for their favorite book , practice their storytelling skills by showing what happened on the best day of their summer vacation etc. This just needs a Wi-Fi connection, a computer, could be done using and interactive white board as a whole class activity or given as pair work.

One of my favorite story making tools online which we explored is my storymaker tool online developed by Carnegie Mellon University. Learners can select and control characters and objects and build a story. It provides the option of adding actions to characters and objects, thus making it fun and interactive. The tool comes with a vast built in library of objects, characters, scenes, animations, effects etc. Learners can either type their own text or let the tool complete the sentences for them, this is very helpful for young learners. Stories could be saved, printed or published online. The tool not only encourages creativity among learners but helps enhance their communication and literacy skills as well. Tangled on the way!

Purple Mash is another online tool which comes with built in open ended innovative activities linked to various areas of the curriculum.  For example 2Write allows learners to work collaboratively in real time, they work on the same document, could be used for word and idea walls, peer assessment etc. Use 2Design and make can actually let learners create their own 3D models of a car, house, truck etc.  Use 2Investigateto build collaborative databased and interrogate data in a visual way, build own data base and explore from footballers to polar animals etc. My favorite tool 2Create a story to create an animated story book. I can add text, choose scenes from the library, use paint tools to draw characters, add animations and sound effects and bring my story to life. Imagine Tangled 2 in the making! Simply wow! These stories could be printed and shared online. Finally 2Animate can be used to animate sequences and processes using the available drawing tools, and play back animations. Learners could actually make their own animations. Imagine creating an animated version of Maleficent.  What more with 2Sequence learners can drag and drop sounds into a grid, explore harmony and build their own musical story using the various musical instruments! 

We as teachers are in a position to empower learners to become creators and producers of the content rather than simply focusing on being mere users of the content. This is the power technology holds, we just need to take a little step further to explore the exact potential it has in store for us. So grab a seat and be ready to take off on this super amazing journey in your classroom using education technology to create a Frozen or Maleficent of our very own!which i am sure we all can and will inshallah.

Happy Reading!

Sheeba Ajmal