eBooks & Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is new to me yet similar in that it reminds me of a beefed up PowerPoint. I can see fourth and fifth grade utilizing digital storytelling for large units in Reading and Social Studies. Because creating and composing the stories is so time consuming I don’t know if there is only enough time for any more than two to four videos during a single school year. Hopefully if fourth grade teachers are willing to take the time to teach their students this skill, the fifth grade teachers will continue the trend the following year. This is a large undertaking to ask of the fourth grade teachers but with the right support digital storytelling could be very successful and meaningful for students. The media specialist could provide example videos, a catalog of royalty free audio, video, and images, and offer their support during the construction phase. The media specialist can also assist teachers in creating a digital story to introduce or conclude a unit.

My answer to Christopher Harris’s question, would children select a traditional, printed or a digitally enriched electronic version of a book would be the printed version overall for my age level (elementary). I feel many of the younger students would be intimidated with the electronic version, especially those without a computer at home. The special needs students will also need print versions of books. As an educator I would not mind giving my students an electronic version of a book but it would take time to train the students on how to use the technology and ensure the “cool” features will not be a distraction.

I have not given eBooks to much thought because my students aren’t asking for them yet. I guess I am old fashioned & like the paper/book in my hands, I like to dog-ear pages or highlight when appropriate. I usually print anything I need to read off the internet. Even when I’m writing a paper I’ll type the rough draft version, print, then edit the hard copy, & make the changes on my computer. With all the possibilities David Lankes brought to mind in his article, Ereaders, the iPad-Is That All There Is?, I see an eBook is/should be more than a copy of a book. With an electronic book a student should be able to double click words and have the computer read it to them and have the option of having it defined. Electronic books should be able to be enlarged for visually impaired students. Electronic books should come in color with full graphics and/or animations, http://www.tumblebooks.com/ is a great example to illustrate what I am saying (sign up for a free month trial, my students loved it)!

I still feel the need for eBooks is limited from many schools financially and logistically. My school does have a few picture eBooks, teachers access them through the OPAC in their classroom for student viewing or to project through the LCD projector. I feel if a student is doing a writing on a book then it would be more functional to have it in hardcopy that students can share and pass back and forth.

I viewed a couple different books on the International Children's Digital Library but could not see this as being a valuable tool in my elementary classrooms. The “online” version of the book was just a photograph of the book one page at a time; there was very little electronic about it. Many times I could not zoom in close enough to even read the pages.

I found Project Gutenberg to be just as helpful as the International Children's Digital Library because most of their books were so old I couldn’t find a current, pertinent children’s author there. Every book was black and white plain text.