EDUC 6305: Photo Story

Today's assignment involved creating a photo story by use of Microsoft's Photo Story 3. In putting my Photo Story together, I focused on pictures taken during a trip I took to Europe with my fiance last summer (many of the same and related pictures can be accessed in the slide shows ebeded in the left-hand colum and toward the bottom of this page). After assembling the pictures into something loosely resembling chronological order, I used the editing tools to tweak the transitional process between pictures, add text, make a soundtrack, and embed some voice-over narration. It was a time consuming process, but very fun well as well. You can access my Photo Story below.

As far as practical uses for this tool in classroom instruction are concerned, they are many and quite varied. Students would have a great amount of autonomy in putting together stories related to themselves, class content, presentations, collaborative work, and cross-curricular projects in extremely creative ways. This of course also carries with primary instructional use by teachers, to better facilitate lessons, activities, and document class progress in a readily accessible manner. Ultimately, this presents as yet another wonderful tool marrying the concepts of technology and education to benefit both.

TPACK
In using this, and like processes, for classroom instruction, teachers might more readily demonstrate technological competence in teaching within their content areas (TPCK). As in previous assignments, this application and activity can easily be modified to provide an avenue for teachers to model technological skills and methods, and promote modern technological responsibility related to privacy and appropriateness aspects inherent to publicizing material online.

Teaching English requires the integration of current, historic, and developing linguistic and literary materials, events, topics, and movements into the class. The cited content theme of story presentation incorporating pictorial representation (CK), is relevant to the English curriculum and content field both directly and indirectly, as it can be used readily to address issues related to literature, composition, and language. Products using this application can be established and maintained in my lectures, presentations, and student activities (P), in order to pursue content comprehension, application, synthesis, and evaluation, as well as assess student learning outcomes. Varied cross-curricular instructional avenues and possibilities for engaging multiple learning domains also coincide with this tool. The development and online accessibility of my visual tools (T), and those of my students, can greatly assist me in creating and using instructional methods/materials.

Relation to standards
The process of developing online graphics and diagrams, and linking them in one cohesive project relates to several ISTE NETS standards, primarily #1 Facilitate and inspire student creativity and innovation by promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes; #2: Design and develop digital age learning experiences by developing technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress; #3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning by demonstrating fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations; and #4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility by promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.

Integration
As an English Teacher I will be required to teach English language and literature. The use and incorporation of PhotoStories in my instruction will serve to improve instructional effectiveness within content and affective domains. The quality of my classroom facilitation and inherent presentations may be improved by the systematic collection, development, archiving, and retrieving of electronic resources including graphic representations.