Category: INF533

INF533 Assessment Item 3: Digital Storytelling Topic Proposal

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Digital Storytelling Topic Proposal

  • Proposal topic: The Aboriginal Freedom Rides
  • Digital tools: Adobe Premier Pro and After Effects to create a video, then WireWax to transform the video into an interactive video.

  • Rationale:

The interactive digital story will track the journey of the 1965 Freedom Rides in Australia. The Freedom Rides were led by Charles Perkins and the Student Action for Aborigines activist group from the University of Sydney (AIATSIS, 2014). This story will present and explore the major participants, their motivation, effects and the legacy.

This digital artefact will act as a model for Year 10 History students who are completing the Australian Curriculum unit Rights and Freedoms. The accompanying assessment task for this unit requires students to explore a significant individual or event related to the Aboriginal civil rights movement. Students are then required to create an interactive story in groups of three and share their creations via the class Yammer group via Microsoft Office 365. Students can create their story using any movie editing software they are comfortable with; for example, Windows Movie Maker, Apple’s iMovie or the Adobe suite. Students will then upload their video to WireWax and create interactive overlays to explore their topic in more detail.

This project aligns with the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities, which require students to engage with digital texts and develop their ICT capabilities (Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority, 2015). History provides students with unique opportunities to experience primary and secondary sources in printed and digital environments. By enhancing digital formats with interactivity, the historical inquiry experience can be heightened. This task will also meet the needs of the Information and Communication Technology Capability learning continuum. Specifically, the task will meet the following two sub-elements of Level 6; “select and use a range of ICT independently and collaboratively, analyse information to frame questions and plan search strategies or data generation” and “select and use a range of ICT tools efficiently and safely to share and exchange information, and to collaboratively and purposefully construct knowledge” (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, n.d.).

The interactive story will include the following elements:

  • Written story
  • Audio features
  • Video footage
  • Images
  • Links to external sources of information and primary sources
  • Map
  • Embedded interactive quiz from Wizer
  • Branching features may also be included.

 

References

AIATSIS. (2014). Commemorating the Freedom Ride. Retrieved from https://aiatsis.gov.au/exhibitions/1965-freedom-ride

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Information and Communication Technology Capability learning continuum. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/media/1074/general-capabilities-information-and-communication-ict-capability-learning-continuum.pdf

Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority. (2015). Year 10 History Australian Curriculum in Queensland. Retrieved from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/ac_history_yr10.pdf

 

Digital Environments

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Over my teaching career, I have taught in schools with no access to digital material or digital technologies, schools with limited computer labs (dated technology and limited access to resources) and now 1:1 schools (school-dictated and BYOD). I have found enhanced textbooks from JacPlus have been very useful resources for exploring concepts in a variety of modes (text and video) but are still limited when I compare them against Apple’s enhanced textbooks (highlighting tools, annotating, etc.) as mentioned in James and de Kock (2013). As Lena said, new features available through ClickView have been very beneficial in my classroom. I have been able to create interactive videos with embedded quizzes throughout, which has replaced the paper worksheet but have I truly been successful in embedding these in my lessons or, as Combes (2016) and many others posit, is it just simply a replacement? I’m still working that one out. Does it become truly and effectively embedded when it forms a substantial part of the information seeking and learning process rather than just a way to save paper? I suppose it needs to enhance the learning experience in a way that paper-based does not. As many people have mentioned, professional development for teachers in the area of embedding digital tools into teaching programs would be beneficial. At this point, it seems to be a mixed bag of some teachers reimagining their units and embedding these tools and teachers who are simply changing tools. There are so many possibilities and tools that we can take advantage of to enhance our students’ learning. It’s been great to explore more of these so far.

 

References:

Combes, B. (2016) Digital literacy: A new flavour of literacy or something different?Synergy, 14(1), retrieved from https://www.slav.vic.edu.au/synergy/volume-14-number-1-2016/reflections-and-actions/611-digital-literacy-a-new-flavour-of-literacy-or-something-different.html

James, R. & de Kock, L. (2013). The digital David and the Gutenberg Goliath: The rise of the enhanced e-book, English Academy Review: Southern African Journal of English Studies, 30(1), 107-123, DOI: 10.1080/10131752.2013.783394 retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1080/10131752.2013.783394#.U4Aw0C8Vf38

 

[Forum Reflection: Module 2.1]

Interactive Multimedia Journalism

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While exploring digital literature thus far, I have found interactive multimedia journalism to be very engaging and filled with potential to incorporate in the classroom.

A compilation of interactive journalism that I have read so far (some of which I have already used in the classroom):

Drowning Megacities [Geography/Urbanisation]

Urbanisation: where, why, when? [Geography/Urbanisation]

Out My Window [Geography/Urbanisation]

After the storm [Geography/Natural Hazards]

Jacob’s Story [History/Rights and Freedoms]

The First World War: the story of a global conflict [History/WWI]

Junko’s Story [History/WWII Hiroshima]

The Making and Breaking of Europe [History/post WWII]

Exit Syria [History/Modern Histroy “the greatest refugee crisis since WWII”]

How Far We’ve Come [History/Modern History Refugees in Australia]

 

Graphic Novel:

The Boat [History/Modern History Refugees]

 

[Reflection]

Exploring Digital Forms: Incorporating tools into practice

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It was fantastic to explore the different categories and examples of digital literature in this module. I find some modes of digital literature challenging to navigate and sites difficult to engage with (and some sites not offering all aspects due to regional restrictions and others no longer available – perhaps this is a big challenge of access for digital literature). By far, my favourite is immersive and multimedia journalism. I feel that this mode really engages the reader and develops feelings of empathy or connection between story and reader. This way of presenting information heightens the experience and delves deeply into the topic to explore it on a different level. The Guardian has created some fantastic interactive resources, which I will definitely be using in my practice. Their Visual Journalism catalogue has a range of resources, which would be suitable for schools. As well as the incredible FireStorm report, they also have a History of Australian Bushfires interactive and Jacob’s Story about an Indigenous boy’s journey through the youth justice system, which includes elements of “choose your own adventure”.

In terms of incorporating social networking sites for literature organisation and access into my practice, I think GoodReads provides an excellent opportunity. As part of our Yr 8 – 9 Literature Circles assessment (between the library and English Department), the project culminates with the students creating an audio book trailer. This book trailer could be ploaded to Good Reads in order to share their thoughts with a wider audience. Additionally, GoodReads could provide students with a place to contribute and share their ideas about the book on forums before creating their trailers. This collaboration could help to inform their final product. Alternatively, the students could upload their reviews to YouTube, which could be another suitable social networking site.

[Forum Reflection: Module 3.2]

INF533 The Beginning

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I’m incredibly excited to start this subject and am already buzzing about the potential to develop great resources and learn widely and deeply about digital literature. I’ve already come across a podcast from ABC, which outlines the significance of digital storytelling for Indigenous communities (2013). What a fantastic way of documenting verbal histories and cultural knowledge! Many individuals and groups work with Indigenous communities to record their languages and knowledge. Digital storytelling appears to be another way for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to document their stories and preserve their culture. A fantastic organisation already doing this is Sharing Stories.  Djungadjunga Yunpuingu, Sharing Stories cultural advisor, expresses that digital storytelling allows children to “make a bridge between themselves and other communities with technology” (2014). This concept is particularly relevant this year, as the theme for NAIDOC Week was Our Languages Matter.

Our Languages Matter. Winning poster for NAIDOC Week 2017 by Joanne Cassidy. Titled "Your Tribe, My Tribe, Our Nation".
‘Your tribe, my tribe, our nation’. NAIDOC Week 2017 Poster.

This already has me thinking about (and planning for) the topic I would like to use for my digital story, as part of Assessment Item 4. My Year 10 History students will complete a Rights and Freedoms unit in Term 4, with a particular focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights and freedoms; therefore, I may create a digital story about Charles Perkins and the Australian Freedom Riders. I can use this to illustrate the key events, motives and also impacts of the Freedom Rides. This will have great links to the Australian Curriculum, Cross-Curriculum Priorities, and relevance to my school context.

It seems that digital story telling has the potential to promote literature (and curriculum concepts) in a highly engaging and interactive way.

 

References:

Australian Broadcasting Commission. (2013). Indigenous students in remote community experiment with digital storytelling. PM: News and currents affairs radio. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3756653.htm

Cassidy, J. (2017). Your tribe, my tribe, our nation [Poster]. Retrieved from http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/en/content/dream-come-true-wiradjuri-artist-joanne-cassidy

Yunpuingu, D. (2014). Our stories. Retrieved from http://sharingstories.org/our-stories/