Through experiencing a range of Web 2.0
technologies in our practical session I am better equipped to use these varied
resources as a source of stimulus and learning in my future classroom. This was
a valid opportunity to explore and discover new
literacies, thereby working against the observation of Marsh (2003) who found
that too few student teachers are equipped with the skills to navigate new
media and technologies as part of their initial teacher training (Dean, 2010).
Encounters with Web
2.0 technologies, defined as applications that can be created and edited by
users of the Internet, help to widen children’s horizons in terms of the means
and incentive to read, write and create (Stone, 2011). It
therefore goes to satisfy the aims of The Primary
Framework (2006) regarding the teaching of reading on screen as teachers who
are proficient users of technology are better equipped to support their
children.
With further practice I hope to confidently employ
some of the Web 0.2 technologies encountered during that session including Wordle,
Taxedo, Fotobabble, Mybook and JigZone. I have since explored the StoryBird
website further and was struck by the breadth of what can be achieved through
it. Uploaded stories are created by both adults and children and cover a
variety of topics from adoption to zebras. I found StoryBird user-friendly and believe that it
would be a great resource to spark creativity and improve writing skills in my
class. With a great potential for imaginative and visual
stories, the website may be regarded as a means to a new pattern of story reading
and telling. According to Levine & Alexander (2008) Web 2.0 storytelling is increasingly open-ended, branching, hyperlinked,
cross-media, participatory, exploratory, and unpredictable, accelerating the
pace of creation and participation while revealing new directions for
narratives to flow. StoryBird therefore satisfies the growing expectation
from children for interactivity, as, rather than turning a page, they instinctively
explore hyperlinks (Bearne, 2003). A
consideration presented by Barnes (2012) however is the email-confirmation
required by the site as not all schools provide children with an accessible
email account.
In finding the best means to engage children
in varied literacy, the role of the teacher is to find the forms of media and
new technologies that children hold affinity with and plan for learning around
these areas as children will be willing participants (Vasquez, 2005). The
internet, alongside other new technologies is recognised by the Byron Review
(2008) to offer a range of
opportunities for interactive and stimulating classroom based activities (Pahl
& Rowsell, 2005). This goes to satisfy the aim of DfEE (2013) for pupils
to be responsible, competent, confident and creative users of ICT.
Please refer to my previous blog entries to
read of my first encounters with Taxedo, Jigzone and Wordle.
References
Barnes, M. (2012)
How-to video: Creating digital stories with Storybird http://learnitin5.com/storybird
Bearne, E. (2003).
Rethinking Literacy: Communication, Representation and Text. Reading Literacy
and Language, 37(3), 98–103.
Byron, T
(2008) Safer Children in a Digital World – The Report of the Byron Review Nottingham:DCSF
Dean (2010)
‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C (Ed) Teaching Media in Primary
Classrooms London:Sage
DfEE (2013) ‘The National Curriculum for England:
computing programmes of study key stages 1-4’, Qualification and Curriculum
Authority: London
Levine, A.
& Alexander, B. (2008) Web 2.0 Storytelling: Emergence of a New
Genre http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/web-20-storytelling-emergence-new-genre
Pahl, K., and Rowsell, J. (2005) Literacy and
Education: Understanding the New Literacy Studies in the Classroom. London:
Paul Chapman Publishing.
Stone, G.
(2011) ‘WWW: Wikis, word clouds and web collaboration to support primary
literacy’, English 4-11 (41) pp. 8-11.
I agree that Storybird is a fantastic website and would really engage and motivate pupils. I was unsure about your comment addressing the issue about children's restricted access due to needing to sign up with an email address. The Storybird teachers website (see links below) now allows teachers to sign up classes of pupils into a school account, therefore meaning there is no need for their emails. These classes can be made private, meaning stories do not have to be approved by the public before being made available to look at by others in the same class, instead the teacher is responsible for the content. Teachers can then set tasks, review children's work, give private feedback, award reward badges and share work onto mediums such as the school website.
ReplyDeletehttps://storybird.com/teachers/
http://help.storybird.com/customer/portal/articles/793676-classes
I think you make a valid point that teachers need to be better equipped to use technologies in the classroom. Prior to the seminar, I had little experience in using a range of technologies thus resulting in my lack of confidence to use them. However, I now feel better equipped and more confident to use them with children as I have a better understanding of how they can motivate and engage children in their learning.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Storybird is a useful website that can be used in the classroom. Not only would it develop children's writing skills but I think it would make them more motivated to write stories as it is a different way of approaching story writing.