Journal_9

“Storytelling in the Web 2.0 Era” by Glen Bull (Learning& Leading with Technology, February 2008, PP10-11)

In this article, Bull discusses the Web 2.0 Storytelling. Alan Levine made the same digital story(about his dog Dominoe) using 50 different Web 2.0 storytelling tools. All of these tools are free and allow at least two or more types of media- text, images, sound, video, and animation to be combined to demonstrate a story.
Levine suggested some particularly useful tools in different subjects:
1. Slideshow tools
2. Time line tools in social studies
3. Mapping tools in geographic area
4. Comic tools: Toondo is one comic tool
5. Scrapbook tools
6. Media tools in stories through the medium of audio or video
7. Mixer tools with comment and annotate
The Web 2.0 ear offers a wide range of software at no cost to school. This 50 storytelling application is just one example, and Web 2.0 tools will provide more storytelling applications.

Questions…
1. How can educators find the proper tools to do their storytelling?
Since there are many different tools available, teachers should explore the main tools to get to know the features. Based on their specific needs, they can come to narrow down their tools. Some tools are universal while some of them are specific. We can grasp the main tools and add additional features on it little by little later.
2. As educators, how can we decide which version of these 50 storytelling applications is the best one in our classroom?
As teachers, we need get to know our students very well. Students are diverse with their strengths and weaknesses. First we need to know our students’ special needs. Thus, we can tailor our story to feed their needs. This totally depends our students.