Week 5 Essential Question

How can tools be used to increase understanding? Why can digital storytelling be an authentic assessment? Could digital storytelling be used in your classroom as an assessment? Should students publish their work?

Tools in general can be utilized to increase understanding in all areas of the curriculum.  I use manipilatives all the time with my students to make concepts such as making arrays or counting more concrete.  In regards to technology, there are many tools that can utilized in order to aid students in their learning and understanding of a concept or concepts.  For instance, my students and I just did a lesson on adjectives and nouns.  Using the Mimio they had to come up the board and sort the words at the bottom into their specified category (noun or adjective) and then explain their thought process.  In addition, whether using an overhead or a projector with document camera, I think the children get more out of completing a problem with them or going over an assignment step by step using the actual paper or supplies they will use and demonstrating in front of the class or small group.  If the children have a question about a problem they are working on, I find that technology is a great tool to project that problem on the board to explain, clarify, and deepen my students understanding of what they are working on.  These are just a few examples of how technology tools can be used to aid in learning.  There are many more and I could continue, but I think the idea is expressed.


Digital storytelling can be an authentic assessment if used in the correct manner, just like everything else.  Students, through digital storytelling, need to have the basic skills of sequencing, ordering elements, character development, understanding of concepts in the story, problem, solution, story development, the 5Ws.  In regards, to ideas and being able to create a story line, absolutely it can be used as a form of assessment.  Digital storytelling could be used in my classroom if I had the proper resources in order to implement it.  As of right now I have three computers in my classroom, which is hard to cram 22 students around or even have three groups with 7 and 8 students in each group.  In addition, in order for the programs they are using such as Animoto I would have to ensure that the connectivity is fast enough in order for them to load and be able to work on the story without interrupting or disconnection.  This would be a great place for iPads to come in.  Students creating Storybooks on the iPad and then connecting it to the projector would be amazing.  So all in all, storytelling could be an authentic assessment if used correctly and when you pinpoint what you are looking for.  I could tie in spelling and conventions, but as far as penmanship and formation of their letters, I would look elsewhere to evaluate.  It  would be the same as them creating a story with paper, pencil, and crayon, but it would be a different way of presenting the story, which is something I am explaining to them.  That information can be displayed in a variety of ways to present the same information (example: graphs).


As far as second graders are concerned, i do not think that their work should be published.  It could be displayed in the classroom and posted on the website with a password for viewing from home.  I would not feel comfortable posting their work for the whole world to have access to unless it was anonymous and no attachments to individual students.