Aug
2023
Digital Storytelling Topic Proposal: Padlet Maps For Creative Writing
Year 8 English students at my school complete a creative writing task, using Book Creator and taking inspiration from By The River (Herrick, 2004). Learners are instructed to create three pieces of prose or poetry that explore their relationship to their neighbourhood. This has been the case for three years and could be refreshed.
(Methodist Ladies College, 2023)
Using a mapping tool would also shift the project from being a written response with some bells and whistles into the field of ‘locative narratives’ which use a performative creator to embody setting (Rettberg, 2020, p. 185). The new task would be unique in our curriculum and, by recognising the ubiquity of mobile devices and location services, potentially more appealing.
I propose to use the map template in Padlet. This is a familiar platform to English students although they have not used maps. The flexibility in posts, including audio, video, photography, and text is attractive and intuitive. Padlet’s mobile app also makes it suitable for ‘on-site’ recording and would encourage experimentation. All students at the school have a laptop with a camera, should they not be able to use the phone app. The example map for this proposal will be freely viewable without an account or download.
It should also be noted that the current Book Creator projects are not visible to all students, and it is not suggested that students all contribute to one map but rather create their own, which should forestall any embarrassment or comparison. In addition, for privacy reasons, students would be directed to not include the location of their home.
References
Herrick, S. (2004). By the river. A&U Children’s
Methodist Ladies College. (2023). Summative assessment writing folio – by the river [Subject Outline]. Canvas.
Rettberg, S. (2020). Electronic literature. Polity Press.
tcroft
September 8, 2023 at 8:05 am (1 year ago)This sounds like a great idea, Andrew, and your proposal demonstrates a clear purpose and audience for the proposed digital product created. User needs are succinctly presented, though I would have liked a bit more clarity as to what narrative you plan to model in your example map. It’s interesting to see Book Creator being considered as ‘old hat’ and needing refreshing! I look forward to seeing your work on this.
misswei2013
September 12, 2023 at 11:11 am (1 year ago)Hi Andrew
It’s encouraging to see you refine an existing unit and make use of geo-tagging in Padlet Maps to construct locomotive narratives through poem and prose. I think the Year 8 would find it more relevant and engaging.
Some initial wonderings I have:
Can students’ view each others’ writing during the process or only after submission, since it appears to the summative? Is there an exploratory opportunity for reader feedback, from teacher or students, after the submission of one draft writing? Ballester (2015) has mentioned opportunities for reader feedback to enhance edits.
Will students be encouraged to explore images of the area first before writing the poems? The iTell project with highschoolers noted they found writing less challenging when they had images to ignite ideas (Tackvic, 2012). Will students refer to images from Google Earth or Google maps?
You mentioned the mobile -app with audio, video features enable on-site recording and experimentation. Are we envisioning students’ potentially adding sound effects relevant to the poem or location? Such as kookaburra sounds in the park? Can they only add 1 sound effect per text box or poem? If that’s the case, should each stanza have it’s own text box and sound effect? Something to consider for the viewer experience.
All the best with your Digital Storyinng Project.
References:
Ballester, A. (2015). Change of direction. In Manresa, M., & Real, N. (2015). Digital literature for children: Texts, readers and educational practices. Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften.
McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just because it’s digital, doesn’t mean it’s good: Evaluating digital picture books. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2017.1399488
Tackvic, C. (2012). Digital storytelling: Using technology to spark creativity. The Educational Forum, 76(4), 426-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2012.707562
akzincke
September 12, 2023 at 11:21 pm (1 year ago)Hi, thanks for your comment! As I’ve been sketching it out a bit more I do feel that opportunities for feedback are needed and I’m weighing this with the issues of comparison. I need to give the image and audio ideas more thought, making my own model will help with this. My feeling is that I want learners out in the places they are picking for their poems and recording their own images and audio and then using those for inspiration, which may need to be an explicit step in the process. There’s a lot to be worked out. Thanks again for confirming areas I’ve been pondering too, that makes me feel I should spend more thought on those aspects!
jopearson
September 13, 2023 at 7:00 am (1 year ago)I feel the students will enjoy this task. Particularly starting with a map and building from there.
The suggestion of Geocaching will really appeal to this age group and provide an additional link to the curriculum through orienteering and mathematics 😊.
Making the text interactive through the recording of environmental sounds. Have you thought of also using hyperlinks. Linking the typed text to another site, dictionary, map, picture or an oral story adding depth and personal connection. This would also be a great way to showcase the schools meaningful locations and then used as a promotional tool, adding student voice to the schools community.
TEDx Talks. (2016, June 25). I ♥ e-poetry: Discovering digital media poetry | Leonardo Flores | TEDxUPRM [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/qN9fret0PNo
Alice Evans
September 16, 2023 at 6:22 am (1 year ago)Dear Andrew,
I like how you have enhanced the theme of the importance of location in storytelling, and in our lives, by creating a student-generated map. It appears to be a highly original idea, and a study by Md Deni and Zainal (2018) details students’ view of Padlet as a flexible and engaging tool.
You mention that Padlet is a familiar platform to the students, apart from the “maps” function – I am interested in how you will prepare students to use this tool effectively and with confidence? Md Deni and Zainal (2018) explain that Padlet is not solely designed for student use, and requires explicit teaching and practice to overcome potential barriers to learning such as overwhelm and lack of familiarity with tools, features and processes. Will you strive to model all possible features of Padlet in your example text? And how will you ensure all students can access and apply these features in their own work?
Best of luck with your assignment!
Alice
References:
Md Deni, A. R., & Zainal, Z. I. (2018). Padlet as an educational tool: Pedagogical considerations and lessons learnt. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 156–162. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290511.3290512
akzincke
September 17, 2023 at 11:35 pm (1 year ago)Hi Alice, yes I will be modelling different post types in Padlet in my example text. I would certainly say teachers of any kind shouldn’t ask students to do anything they would not or have not done themselves, of course students often take things further or into other spaces, which is part of what keeps things interesting. You have reminded me I need to explain the level of students’ familiarity in my context. Thank you!
becross91
September 17, 2023 at 10:09 am (1 year ago)Hi Andrew,
What an exciting proposal. I like that you are planning on using a different digital tool to reimagine a previously used unit.
I personally hadn’t used Padlet before but after reading this and some further investigation myself, it looks like an extremely engaging and interactive way for your students to create their written pieces. This tool will enable the students to create ‘graphical poems’ (Funkhouser, 2008) enabling them to alter, accelerate, amplify, and, ultimately, animate the process.The ability for students to include audio, video and text I believe will really engage and allow them to be creative and innovative in their designs and content.
I look forward to seeing the final product.
Funkhouser, C. (2008). A companion to digital literary studies, ed. Ray Siemens, Susan Schreibman. Oxford: Blackwell.