Thursday, March 10, 2011

Digital Story Board Example using Prezi

an image from my digital storyboard example
Intro
I expanded on a lesson plan idea suggested in my post Explore Museums Around the World.... for FREE!!. Basically, I created my own personal example for students to look at while doing this digital storyboard assignment. I also made various drafts of my story outlines to show them how messy composing and revising can be (Beginning, Draft 1, Draft 2, Draft 3). This lesson could make a great art class project and it DOES greatly integrate history. Unfortunately, it is not supported by any particular GLCE that I know of, which means it would not realistically be used; most do not have enough time to teach even the basics let alone a project such as this. However, since it is already prepared, I could see it as a good enrichment project to be set aside for substitute days or days in which something unexpected happens and the teacher is for some reason standing there without a lesson plan or for unruly days such as just before a vacation (Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, etc.). In any school I have been in there are always at least a couple of these afternoons that get thrown to the wind….. which is interesting considering my statement before about how no one seems to have time to teach even the basics, but that’s diverging from the topic. Another disadvantage is that there could be much confusion from students if there is a sub who doesn’t have answers for their questions. Another drawback for this being a “quick, informal, afternoon lesson” is that the whole thing took me 2 days of my Spring Break to finish. So, it would have to either be more of a long term project or be modified and have different expectations than the one I created. It also seems logical that a lesson on copyright would make sense as a prerequisite considering the amount of research and media which is involved.  

Positives for using digital storyboards
+It makes it fun especially if students are used to presenting project after project on poster boards and standing in front of the class saying “Blah, blah blah.”
+It allows for multimedia (videos, text, images) and is aesthetically pleasing
+This is something they can show their parents and keep for years.
+If done in groups, it allows for students to work on it separately as opposed to having to meet physically for any accomplishment.
+Digital Storyboards offer student choice and variety between projects if they are allowed to pick their own tool. There are many options. However, it might be easier to limit their options since the teacher will likely have to provide assistance in using the tools.  

Pros/Cons to Prezi 
+loved the “zebra” tool for selecting, changing the size of, and rotating an object.
+creates a very modern looking and creative presentation
+provides a tutorial
+was fairly easy to figure out without watching the tutorial (since I rarely have patience for them, although I admit that sometimes it might save time and frustration in the end)
-one of my youtube videos takes a while to load, but that might not be Prezi’s fault
-you can’t control how long the auto play stays at each stopping point
-cannot add voice to it, I even tried recording on my laptop and uploading the sound file but it doesn’t allow that
-it ONLY allows embedding youtube videos, trust me- I tried adding a video from google-docs
-doesn’t allow for links to other sites, which would be nice considering the previous point, however you can insert the URL for viewers to copy and paste
-some images were pixilated but it could have been due to the quality of the original image and thus not Prezi’s fault
-became frustrated with the pointer automatically selecting objects without me knowing about it… had to use the “undo” button many times
+has an “undo” button :D

UPDATE: After more research, it turns out that this idea IS indeed supported by the GLCE's and could be a legitimate lesson plan used in the classroom as seen here

3 comments:

  1. After reading and looking over your Prezi and drafts, I am very intrigued. I heard someone say that Prezi was really hard to learn? Is that true? I've never used it before but I would like to learn. It didn't seem to be too difficult judging by your post.

    And may I add that it is really impressive how at ease you seem to be with technology in general. I am quite jealous. :-)

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  2. Prezi might be considered tougher to learn because it uses a unique and original method of editing media- the zebra. But this tutorial explains it very well even though it's kinda long.


    Thanks for the compliment. I think it helps that I like to explore, play around, and teach myself stuff. Patience is always good too, although I'm not as good at being patient with technology as I am at being patient with kids. If only technology had emotions and a cute little face, haha. Let me know if I can help out with anything.

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  3. I love it. It's great that you all of this and you shared it. I found this interesting. Still looking for some discounted digital board.

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