Week 7 & 8: Digital Storytelling & Podcasting

Week 7 was all about Digital Storytelling. This was all new to me. It is the practice of using computer tools to tell stories. There are many websites on the internet that are designed specially for this. There are also programs on your computer to make storytelling fun as well. iMovie, Powerpoint, and Animoto are just a few examples of resources available. The stories can have video clips, music, pictures, etc.

Podcasting is a recent phenomenon. Week 8 was all about this new and exciting way of communicating. Podcasting is where one can make a sound-based video that includes images, music, voice overs, etc. A lot of college professors podcast their lectures. Podcasting is downloadable so that it can be played through ipods or phones on the go. Garageband on MAC computers has a podcast application. I find this to be the most difficult and confusing technology that we've learned thus far. But, everything starts out difficult then gets easy.

Both digital storytelling and podcasting can be used in the field of education to expand learning techniques. Digital storytelling is a great way to get the children interacting with the internet. Many things are going technology based these days, so to get an early start on the computer is always a benefit. Digital storytelling is also nice for explaining sequence based lessons. History, science, and math all have sequences which can unfold in a story. Podcasting is a fun way to involve parents into the learning atmosphere. Activities that are done in class can be posted for all to hear. Also, any classroom updates can be sent via podcast for all parents to download and understand. Spelling words, for example, can be read aloud into a microphone and parents can let their children listen to them to become more familiar with the tense. This helps detour for typical writing activities.

I found Podcasting to be rather difficult. I feel like the video provided below gives a short, easy explanation on how to go about creating a podcast. It is very helpful!

Week 5 and 6: Media & Visual Literacy

In class during Week 5 and 6 we discussed a lot on Visual Literacy. Photoshop is one example of how something can be changed to how you want it. We watched a slideshow of pictures before and after being edited. There were drastic differences that completely changed the outlook of the picture. Also, we learned that food industries incorporate specific colors, etc. into their logos so that people relate a company with its logo. The importance of visual effects and images is to attract attention to the desired image. We each individually created a visual literacy project that incorporated 5 varying changes to an image.

In the field of education, visual literacy is extremely important. People as a whole are becoming more visually stimulated. In education, it helps to incorporate all 3 learning styles into a lesson plan for all types of learners. Visual aspects helps children to correlate, mentally, how things relate to one another. Thus, extending the knowledge into their long term memory. Photographs allows for students to become visually aware of what is going on in todays world. It is easier to grasp a concept when it is presented in more than one way.

The image below provides an outline of how visual literacy relates to children in a classroom and it's importance. I find that this is directly related to my major and what was covered in class.