EDTC 6433 USING PIKTOCHART TO CREATE AN INFOGRAPHIC

Autumn 2017

Wikipedia defines infographics as “graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.” The key to their effectiveness is the visual aspect, with color-blocked sections, images and icons, different sized fonts in different styles and colors, charts, graphs, and maps, and limited text to highlight main ideas. Because “vision is probably the best single tool we have for learning anything….the more visual the input becomes, the more likely it is to be recognized—and recalled” (Medina, 2014, p. 191). Thus, infographics are a great tool for teachers to create handouts, posters, and presentations that are visually impactful for students. Students can create their own infographics for a variety of purposes, such as a presentation, a component of a project, or even as a study guide.

One great resource for making infographics is PiktoChart. It’s an easy-to-learn way to make infographics quickly because of the large number of templates available to jump start the creative process. It is free, but upgrading to a fee-based membership allows for many more templates, animated icons, and higher-grade resolution for downloading and printing. There are discounts for teachers and a classroom package so students can have their own accounts. Still, I found that the free option had plenty of templates, shapes, icons, charts, maps, and graphs to suit my needs. There is also the option to upload your own photos for use. I really liked the versatility of this program. Although the template is provided, you can change anything and everything as you need to, including the number and size of the blocks in the template, color schemes, fonts, text sizes, and icons.

I created an infographic for the topic of digital citizenship for students at the high school level, applicable to any subject. It presents the nuts and bolts of copyright, fair use, and public domain, including their definitions, how to use media in these categories legally, and available resources such as Creative Commons and Photos for Class. I loved creating this infographic. It was a great way to focus a large and complex topic into manageable pieces visually broken down by the color-blocked sections. The creativity involved with selecting colors, icons, and text block sizes to make a visually appealing and informative infographic was engaging and fun, and I imagine students would view the process similarly. I was able to create it rather quickly, but I can see how easy it would be to get lost in searching for shapes and icons and experimenting with different color schemes, because it is fun! The one downside to PiktoChart is that there is no platform for group work, so students working collaboratively on an infographic would need to do it in class, with one person signing into the account and then passing the laptop around to others in the group to work on their parts. However, the fact that the PiktoChart templates are divided into blocks would easily facilitate group work, as each person could be responsible for designing one block in such a way that it leads to a cohesive whole.

Medina, J. (2014). Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School.   Seattle, WA: Pear Press.

EDTC 6433 DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROJECT

Autumn 2017

Digital storytelling “is the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component” (Educause, 2007, p. 1). In the classroom, this can be a powerful educational tool, linking technology use with “the traditional processes of selecting a topic, conducting some research, writing a script, and developing an interesting story” (Robin, 2008 p. 222). From a pedagogical standpoint, assigning a digital storytelling project to students fulfills ISTE NETS Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, which states:

            Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to    

            facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-

            face and virtual environments. (International Society for Technological Education 2007)

Digital storytelling is versatile, applicable to any subject and any age, integrative, uniting the use of different technologies into a cohesive whole, and creative, allowing students the ability to create their own online content, something most students have not experienced despite their exposure to technology (Kumar & Vigil, 2011). Because the nature of digital storytelling requires imagery and audio, this is a great entry point into the discussion of copyright, fair use, and public domain, a component of ISTE Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: “Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices” (International Society for Technological Education 2007).

But digital storytelling is not a technique limited to students; teachers can also use this method for teaching, “as an anticipatory set or hook for a lesson; to enhance current lesson plans with the use of a digital story within a unit; to support student research on a topic from a particular point of view” (Robin, 2011). In order to familiarize myself with the process of digital storytelling and experiment with its use as an educational tool, I chose to create a digital storytelling project as an introduction to a high school Biology unit on DNA. DNA is a complex topic laden with vocabulary students most likely have never encountered before, so what I hoped to accomplish in creating this project is a light introduction to the associated vocabulary, a view into the real world application of science, and, because the discovery of the structure of DNA is not without controversy, as a hook to engage student “interest, attention and motivation for the "digital generation"” (Robin, 2011).

To begin my digital storytelling project, I first researched the chronology and the contributions from the scientists involved in the race to discover the structure of DNA. I used diigo, an online bookmarking site, to manage the articles and websites I found. The annotating feature was particularly helpful, as I could quickly locate references in my diigo library. I also used Creative Commons to search for images I thought would be relevant and available for use in the classroom, and chose the “modify, adapt, or build upon” feature in case I wanted to modify something to make it more relevant, either for content or for creativity. Flickr, Google Images, and Wikimedia Commons proved to be the most fruitful for the images I was searching for, but nevertheless, this was the most time-consuming portion of the project for several reasons. First of all, searching for images is addictive, and I found it difficult to select one instead of continuing to scroll through to find something better suited for what I was trying to convey. Secondly, it took a lot of time to create the lengthy reference list for the scrolling credits at the end of the project. And thirdly, there came the creative process of matching the script to the images. I found images first, then wrote the script, and finally realized in combining the two that either a) I did not have an image for a particular piece of narration; or b) I had an image, but it did not fit as exactly as I wanted with the narration. So I went back to Creative Commons for further image searching. If I did assign this project in a classroom setting, I would assign it as a small group project. Students could divide up the images they needed to search for, greatly reducing the workload and time commitment per student. I have also since learned about Photos for Class Photos for Class, a student-safe site for available images that are automatically watermarked with the appropriate attribution. If students used images from this site, then perhaps their credits list would be much more manageable, limited to a few isolated attributions for images not found on Photos for Class and music attributions.

I assembled the images in iMovie, an application I am familiar with, although using the narration feature was new to me. It was remarkably easy to use and I was able to re-record at various points as necessary without much trouble and fairly intuitively. I used ccMixter through Creative Commons to search for instrumental music according to various themes. There was a great selection and I found the site easy to use, but I had difficulty navigating the conversion of a downloaded mp3 file into iTunes in a format that iMovie would accept. I spent some time searching online forums for answers, but most of the answers weren’t applicable to my particular issue. I finally figured it out on my own through trial and error.

Creating this project was a great tool for highlighting my own strengths and weaknesses with various technology/software applications. I learned which areas I am comfortable with and which I am not, which kinds of software I find intuitive and which require more structured research to figure out its particulars, and where I am significantly deficient in basic digital language. For example, with the mp3 audio file, I needed to convert it into a file iTunes would allow iMovie to accept. But what kind of file is that? Lacking this kind of basic terminology made it extremely difficult to focus an online search on the information I was seeking. It basically became two searches: one to find out the terminology of what I needed, and one to seek the actual information.

I enjoyed the creative process quite a bit, and I imagine students would too. Storytelling is an ancient and timeless art, and the ability to add visual imagery and music to it is engaging, not only as the creator, but as the viewer. Even though I knew the story of Watson and Crick discovering the structure of DNA and the controversy concerning the lack of credit given to the female scientist Rosalind Franklin, after completing the digital storytelling project, I felt as though I had brought the characters to life. No longer were they abstract names on a page; they were living, feeling human beings all striving toward the same goal. If I felt that way, hopefully my students would too, and with this hook into the material, they might be more engaged and willing to dive into these complicated concepts.

The Race to Find the Structure of DNA

Educause Learning Initiative. (2007).  7 things you should know about digital storytelling. Educause Learning Initiative.

Retrieved from https://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7021.pdf

International Society for Technological Education. (2008). The ISTE
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.kent.edu/sites/default/files/file/ISTEstandards.pdf

Kumar, S. & Vigil, K. (2011). The Net Generation as Preservice Teachers: Transferring Familiarity with New Technologies to Educational Environments. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 27(4), 144-153.

Robin, B.R. (2008). Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21^st Century Classroom. Theory into Practice, 47, 220-228.

Robin, B.R. (2011). Digital Storytelling Hands-On Lab. TLA 2011 Annual Conference
April 12 - 15 Austin, TX. Retrieved from http://faculty.coe.uh.edu/brobin/TLA/index.htm

EDTC 6433 TEACHING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP ISSUES OF LEGAL USE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Autumn 2017

How can I demonstrate and teach my students a) legal and ethical behavior regarding the use of online resources such as images, music, videos, and documents; and b) social responsibilities that accompany an online presence?

PowerPoint presentations, Prezis, digital storytelling, YouTube videos: these are all wonderful ways for students to use technology to integrate digital tools and media with content in a creative form of expression. However, with these formats comes another facet of technology that students must learn: not everything online is available for use. Images, music and other audio resources, videos, and documents such as articles, textbooks, and handouts, may be placed online for viewers to see, not share, modify, alter, or use personally or commercially. Students must be taught

Digital Law: As in Real Life (RL), if something is taken which has value, it is stealing. Students need to see the connection between RL (Real Life) and OL (Online Life) and understand that those basic laws apply to the OL, as well as the RL. (Ribble & Miller, 2013, p. 140)

Waters & Burt’s (2017) The Educator's Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons is a great place to start for clear definitions of these terms, as well as helpful videos that are appropriate for teachers and students alike. It also explains Creative Commons as “an organization which provides free content license known as a creative commons license that people can apply to their work,” allowing “everyone to share and adapt creative work without the concern of copyright infringement” (Waters & Burt, 2017). One particular resource recommended is Photos for Class,  a search engine for student-safe images in Creative Commons Flickr. One great feature in Photos for Class is the automatic watermarked image that states the name and author of the image, a link to the original, and the licensing allowing it to be used:

Not only is this an easy way for students to learn how to correctly attribute the author of works with “no worry about plagiarism or stolen work” (Photos for Class), it is a great way for teachers to quickly check if a student’s work is properly shared and cited. Using Photos for Class imagery in my own presentations would model these techniques for students as well. My classmate also recommended 11 Free Resources For Your Next Presentation with 11 different links to websites offering free use of photographs, including animated characters, vintage, and abstract, giving students even more opportunities to stretch their creativity legally.

In addition to considerations concerning Digital Law, teachers must also address:

Digital Etiquette: Starting at a young age, educational leaders need to begin make [sic] parallels for students between being good to each other both in the classroom and in the digital world.” (Ribble & Miller, 2013, p. 139)

Ribble & Miller (2013) discuss the connection between technology misuse and lack of empathy:

Increased exposure to media content (three times more than in the past) was mentioned, and the increase of violent media that “numbs people to the pain of others” [11, p.2]. In addition, the lack of face-to-face interaction can serve to dehumanize the other person, adding to this lack of emotional connection. (p. 139)

Gimenez Gualdo, Hunter, Durkin, Arnaiz, & Maquilon (2015) also noted “that the absence of direct contact between perpetrator and victim lowers the cyberbully’s emotional engagement regarding feelings of remorse” (p. 232). In light of this, it seems clear that, much like teachers must teach the similarities of Real Life and Online Life with regards to digital law (Ribble & Miller, 2013, p.140), teachers must teach the similarities between cruelty on the playground and cruelty online.

             Common Sense Education  has a K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum “designed to empower students to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in our digital world” (https://www.commonsense.org/education/scope-and-sequence). With units entitled “Turn Down the Dial on Cyberbullying” and “My Online Code: What does it mean to do the right thing online?” this curriculum covers social responsibility, safety, privacy, and copyright laws organized by grade level. Each lesson is aligned with Common Core State Standards, ISTE Standards, lesson objectives, and assessments. The lesson plan may include videos and handouts as well, and the materials are free. Teachers can use these in the classroom before students begin a media project or online search, or even at the beginning of the school year when classroom expectations regarding cell phone and technology use are explained. I can also imagine beginning the school year with a small group activity where each group creates a short presentation covering different topics such as copyright law, public domain, internet privacy, etc. Each group could share their presentation, and then everyone in the class would learn from each other about digital law concerning the use of online images, music, videos, and documents, and digital etiquette, including cyberbullying, privacy, safety, and other aspects of online social responsibility.

Gimenez Gualdo, A.M., Hunter, S.C., Durkin, K., Arnaiz, P. & Maquilon, J.J. (2015). The emotional impact of cyberbullying: Differences in perceptions and experiences as a function of role. Computers and Education 82, 228-235.

Ribble, M. & Miller, T.N. (2013). Educational Leadership in an Online World: Connecting Students to Technology Responsibly, Safely, and Ethically. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 17(1), 137-145.

Waters, S. & Burt, R. (2017, January 20). The Educator’s Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons. The Edublogger. Retrieved from https://www.theedublogger.com/2017/01/20/copyright-fair-use-and-creative-commons/

EDTC 6433 TEACHING DIGITAL LITERACY TO ENHANCE TRADITIONAL LITERACY SKILLS

Autumn 2017

In today’s technological society, it would seem that students, who have grown up with and engage in technology on a daily basis, would already be adept at the skills needed for digital literacy, which is defined as

the capability to explore and face new technological situations in a flexible way, to analyze, select and critically evaluate data and information, to exploit technological potentials in order to represent and solve problems and build shared and collaborative knowledge. Dragon & Ewa, 2012, p. 1755

However, Kumar & Vigil (2011) have found otherwise: “undergraduates’ use of new technologies reported more use than creation of online content by undergraduates in the last decade, along with limited or no transfer of technological familiarity to academic environments” (p. 144). In fact, there is a “large gap between Web 2.0 use in their daily lives and in their coursework, as well as negligible online content creation” (Kumar & Vigil, 2011, p. 144). If this is the case for undergraduate students, then it stands to reason that despite younger students’ ease and facility with using iPhones, iPads, online video games, and social media, they need to be taught how to transfer those skills to use in the classroom. Furthermore, as educators, it is our job to teach them: the ISTE, NETŸS, and Common Core State Standards all include digital literacy in their standards (Kumar & Vigil, 2011, p. 144; McPherson & Blue, p. 2369): “Web 2.0 technologies are the 21^st century tools that students use for communicating and collaborating and are essential to students meeting the Common Core State Standards whose purpose is to prepare our young people to be successful in college and in the modern workforce” (McPherson & Blue, p. 2371-2).

Of course, the only way to teach digital literacy is to be digitally literate. I am fortunate to be taking this course as a big step in becoming digitally literate myself, and there are plenty of online resources available for educators as well. Google for Education Google for Education hosts a free training center for using Google Tools in the classroom. Topics are broken down into fundamental and advanced skills and cover subjects such as “Captivate Your Class with Video,” “Teach Students Online Skills,” and “Measure, Understand, and Share Student Growth.” TED Talks are another resource for video talks about how to bring technology into the classroom, and DigitalLiteracy.gov has a section on “Lesson Plans and Curriculum,” which provides information on a variety of topics through a variety of methods, including pdf, PowerPoint, and video. Any information gleaned from these resources could easily be carried into the classroom and taught to the students as well.

Crowley’s article What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom (2014) lists ways to weave digital and traditional literacy skills together, such as Google-a-Day, a trivia question that teaches online research skills, as demonstrated in this YouTube video: A Google a Day in the Classroom.  This could be used as an entry task, either individually or in small groups, and followed with a class discussion on how students found their answers, because different students will use different search strategies. Further strategies could then be taught and practiced, such as those provided here here (Crowley, 2014) and in this article my colleague recommended, which also addresses how to evaluate online resources for validity and bias: Teaching Students Better Online Research Skills (O’Hanlon, 2013). These activities would be a great prelude to a research project or other activity requiring online research, thus linking research skills needed for reading and writing to digital literacy.

TED Talks are another great way to introduce digital literacy into the classroom. TEDEd hosts a library of videos in multiple subjects, which would be useful in class or in a flipped classroom format. But they can also be used as models for students to make their own TED Talk presentations, utilizing video, audio, and other media in a presentation that allows students the opportunity to create content involving reading, writing, speaking, and listening literacies. Assigning these TED Talk presentations as a small group activity would add in a collaborative piece, and publishing them online in an ePortfolio, a Wiki page, or another platform would allow for interaction with a broader audience.

The key for using any technology in the classroom is purpose. For example, Twitter is fun and contemporary, but what would be the purpose of a 140-word comment in an English Language Arts classroom? Rob Sterner talks about exactly this on his blog post Web 2.0, Higher-Order Thinking, and Macbeth: Part 1: The Simplicity of Twitter https://nosternerstuffthanthis.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/web-2-0-higher-order-thinking-and-macbeth/, the beginning of his six-part series on planning and implementing Twitter “in a way that would require higher order thinking especially analysis” (Sterner, 2013). From an educator’s standpoint, I found the peek into his thought processes to be particularly valuable: how he envisioned clear goals, did research about the use of this technology in the classroom, evaluated the feasibility of assessments (how long does it take to grade 2000 tweets?), and ultimately found a way to use tweets as a jumping-off point for character analysis.

Digital use does not necessarily equate to digital literacy. These are skills that must be taught in the classroom as part of our job in meeting the standards set forth by ISTE and NETŸS, namely “that teachers have to “model digital citizenship and responsibility” and “design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments” to help students become digital citizens” (Kumar & Vigil, 2011, p. 144). In order to do any of this, first educators must be digitally literate themselves, and secondly, technology must be used with purpose in lesson activities. Tying digital literacy to clear learning objectives and targets, linking them with standards, and assessing thoughtfully with formative and summative assessments will not only teach students digital literacy, it will also enhance their skill development in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Crowley, B. 2014, October 29. What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom. Education Week Teacher. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/29/ctq_crowley_digitalliteracy.html

Dragon, K. & Ewa. W. 2012. Relationships between Digital Literacy and Print Literacy: Predictors of Successful On-Line Search. Conference: Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference,1755-1758. Retrieved from https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/24664/files/759117?module_item_id=170193

Kumar, S. & Vigil, K. (2011). The Net Generation as Preservice Teachers: Transferring Familiarity with New Technologies to Educational Environments. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 27(4), 144-153.

McPherson, S. & Blue, E. Literacy Goes Digital: Web. 2.0 applications for UDL instruction. 2369-2382. Retrieved from https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/24664/files/759085?module_item_id=170189

O’Hanlon, L.H. 2013, May 20. Teaching Students Better Online Research Skills. Education Week Teacher. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/05/22/32el-studentresearch.h32.html

Sterner, R. 2013, January 31. Web 2.0, Higher-Order Thinking, and Macbeth: Part 1: The Simplicity of Twitter. A Chance to Live Many Lives.

Retrieved from https://nosternerstuffthanthis.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/web-2-0-higher-order-thinking-and-macbeth/