Final Reflection on 5391

So for this final reflection I tried a new app for a digital storytelling reflection, 30 Hands.  I think the students would love to use this in the library for such activities as book trailers and research projects.  You will have to listen to my link in order to hear what I thought about some of the tools we used this semester, but here is a sneak preview of some that I talk about :  .    



Link to Final Reflection on 30 Hands

References

Adapted from Hatmaker, J. (2015). For the love: Fighting for grace in a world of impossible standards. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books. 

Kapuler, D.  (2018, September 7).  Top 30 tools for digital storytelling.  Tech& Learning.

         Retrieved from 

          https://www.techlearning.com/tl-advisor-blog/30-sites-and-apps-for-digital-storytelling.

Podcasts

Podcasts have steadily grown in popularity in recent years.  They are a way for a different style of learner to learn to grow and appreciate reading in a way they may have never been able to before!
For this blog post I researched three different podcast applications, Audacity, Soundcloud and Podbean.  They each have their own pros and cons, and practical application can help the listener decide which one they like the most!

Audacity
Audacity is a great, simplistic podcasting tool.  Plus it's free!  All you have to do is set up the microphone and press record, which would be easy for the students in the library to do.  You do have to upload the file to another podcasting site though for others to be able to listen to it, such as Garage Band or Audioboom.  The website was also not as developed as the others.

Soundcloud
Soundcloud had some great podcasts and website, but would not be as geared towards students as I would like a website to be.  A lot of the songs that came up when the site was loaded would be inappropriate, especially for the elementary ages.  People can share and comment on others' podcasts, much like social media platforms, which high school age students would probably enjoy.  It is also free, but the free platform only allows 3 hrs. of recording time.

Podbean
Podbean was the platform my group ended up choosing for our podcast.  It seemed the easiest to use for the assignment we had to do.  Like Soundcloud it also has an iOS app, but Podbean's was easier to follow.  If it was downloaded on devices such as iPads, students would have a great time using it in the library.  It is also free and allows you 5 hours of recording time.  If you apply music and effects to your recording WHILE you are doing it, they are easy to follow.

Our Podcast on Banned and Challenged Books, recorded on Podbean

With all 3 of these platforms, adding embellishments to the podcast was very difficult.  We finally got it to work on Podbean, but had to re-record the podcast.  None of the free versions we tried allowed you to add effects or music to a podcast you had already made and saved.:( . (At least not that we could figure out easily!!)

Podcasts in the Library
Podcasts would be a great addition to the library that auditory learners would especially love!  If the apps were downloaded on the devices the students should be able to easily figure them out, especially Podbean.  A challenge would be finding quiet places for students to record their podcasts, particularly if a whole class was doing them at one time.  They prob would lend themselves to a station more easily, especially if students were listening to a podcast online.  I introduced the podcast 6 Minutes to my students this week and they absolutely loved it!

Ways to Integrate them in the Library :

• Summarization
• Book Talks
• Book Trailers
• Reading stations
• Comprehension Practice
• Visualization
• Announcements
• Book Recommendations
• Library Events
• Digital Portfolios

Where You Can Find Educational Podcasts :

• The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified - The tales of world famous radio reporter Eleanor
• Short and Curly - podcast about all sorts of ethical questions for kids
• Tumble - stories about science discoveries
• The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd - the ongoing battle between Dr. Floyd and the evil mastermind Dr. Steve.
• Brains On! - science and kids
• Storynory - online audio stories
• Welcome to Night Vale - the local radio program for a desert town
• Freakonomics Radio - the hidden sides of everything
• StarTalk Radio - talk about all things space
• The Allusionist - the English language and all its oddities
• Stuff You Missed in History Class - events that may have been overlooked in history class
• Listenwise - content to build listening skills
• Serial - One story, told week by week
• Criminal - stories about people who have done wrong
• Revisionist History - Malcolm Gladwell looks back at history
• This American Life - themes in America
• Youth Radio - podcast by and for teens

Resources : 

Kokias, M. (2017, July 7).  18 Best Podcasts for Kids in Elementary, Middle and High School.

           Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/best-podcasts-for-kids/.

Cartoons and Comics

For this post I researched the different types of cartoons and comics that students can make online in order to see which site would be best to use in my library.  I was looking for a comic site students would find easy to use so they could work independently, as well as a site that would keep their interests.

Make Beliefs Comix            https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

Pros

• Easy to use, create, can share, print, edit and email
• Has lesson plans you can put into place in your library
• You can make such items as greeting cards on the site
• Has ideas for how special needs students could utilize comics
• Saved as a PDF easily
• Easy for kids to use
• Has a parent section as well!

Cons

• Limited amount of characters, backgrounds, etc. you can add and not a lot of variety
• Can’t enlarge text box
• Simplistic images

Toon Doo                       www.toondoo.com

 

Pros

• There are variety of horizontal and vertical layouts
• Spanish options
• You can enlarge text box
• Lots of options for  images - shrink, clone, etc.
• You can write in the boxes and color them in
• Upload pics from computer can be uploaded for background
• You can make the pic you took of a person look like a cartoon
• Easy to create

Cons

• Young kids may find it overwhelming, but older ones would love it
• Took me a while to find out how to save the image

Pixton https://edu.pixton.com/

Pros

• Has more of a professional, almost Google type of feel
• Scenes are colorful and engaging
• Kids would like being able to build and customize their own avatar, which would be entertaining for them
• You can add assignments/comics as a class

Cons

• You are locked into a certain scene at the beginning in the free version, so there isn't much creativity.
• You can't seem to move the figure around once you add it to a scene, besides changing the pose
• Not a lot is free
• It took a little bit of time to understand how to save it

My Choice : If more of Pixton was free, I would have that one as my top choice. It would still be fun to play around with. Since it is not, I would pick ToonDo to use the most in my library with my students. I think that Make Belief Comix is great, but the graphics would cater more to the younger grades.

If I was explaining it to my faculty, I would be sure and talk about how it can continue to build on student success and be integrated into what they are already doing in the curriculum. I would mention such activities as these from the Make Beliefs Comix website :

* Summaries

* Autobiographies

* Vocab words

* Digital citizenship

* Social Skills

* Help for ESL students

* Creative writing

I would finish the presentation of by showing the teachers some student examples of the comics!

Here is the link to the Tellagami I made. It was a bit hard to get the app since the creators said it has not been updated to the latest version of iOS, but I found a device I had that already had it loaded!

https://tellagami.com/gami/5OWF3F/