The link that follows this post is very important!!! When art is integrated into core curriculum, so many voices are heard. Throughout my elementary and secondary experiences as a classroom teacher, I taught students whose knowledge was suppressed as they continually failed due to fear of incorrect sentence structure, stupid or non-existent oral response answers, or the inability to understand the format of multiple choice possible answers. For many, the abstract, the aesthetic, the creative way of thinking needed to be allowed. For all, the artistic opened new possibilities.

As Elliot Eisner (2002) so eloquently reflected "what has been recognized - a lesson the arts teach - is that the coice of an approach to the study of the world is a choice of not only what one is able to say about the world, but also what one looks for  and is able to see. Methods define the frames though which we construe the world" (p. 215). So much of recent educational pedagogy is defined through the lens of  global success. Understanding that when standards of core accountability for some reason forgot to include the importance of the creative, aesthetic, and innovative as a means to enhance critcal iquiry and higher level thinking skills needs to be realized.

I agree with John Maeda when he states that "artists and designers,... are “'risk takers, they can think around corners.'” All students deserve the rush of succeeding.  When educators deny this rush because they are afraid of taking risks or don't understand how to turn corners, both teaching and learning opportunities are denied.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/12/01/13steam_ep.h31.html?r=1734395764&tkn=SOUF33yOAK2IkI%2BCvYbeMsKPUWP0STvHXAtn&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

A Voice for Everyone

"There are many languages besides those that are written or spoken. By learning a new language, a person acquires a new way of knowing reality and passing that knowledge on to others. Each language is absolutely irreplaceable. All languages complement each other in achieving the widest, most complete knowledge of what is real" (Boal. 1985, p. 121).

Diaries open the inner self to the same inner self. They speak, yet are silent with words only heard by the author. Entries are reflections safe from feedback. Vulnerability only occurs when trespassers violate the privacy and expose without permission. When this happens, it is an abuse, and like a rape the result is shame, fear, guilt and accusation. Diaries are life stories locked and hidden within unshared secrets.

Words that are written to fit an educational objective are locked in a predetermined product that cannot escape an assessment of one. The product is static with an identity shaped by standards of sameness,

Blogs are diaries freed of locks allowing the inner self an escape, still founded in “self-reflection, releasing pent-up feelings, and witnessing personal growth” (S. Stern, 2008, p. 101). Identity is defined by the author and the label ‘adolescence’ “negotiate[s] the boundaries of public and private spheres” (S. Stern. p. 97). Self-expression becomes the backbone of social networking and the possibilities to empower are embedded in personal site symbolism that can become a part of “the public culture” (Stern. p.97).

Are the risks worth the rewards? Are blogs, as Stern suggests, “therapeutic” (p. 102)? A former student of mine has given me permission to use her blog as an example of the powerful, insightful, and symbolic possibilities.

Part Two
noel93.wordpress.com

You now know the story. My current students, many who are Anna's friends, know her story,and can follow her story. They are reading. They are writing. They are discussing, debating, grappling. I have to wonder how powerful this would be if allowed into the curriculum.

“Self-reflection is, perhaps, the most commonly cited reward of maintaining a personal site among youth authors” (S. Stern. P. 102). Stern speaks of a self-induced obligation blog authors have that drives reflective updates, discussion to feedback, and creative additions. The Internet author works with multiple literacies that redefine Aristotle’s peripatetic. She is a storyteller, travelling through cyber-space from computer to computer. Though the creation is for the self, it is meant to be read by a vast audience that further empowers self-expression through the reflection of self. The authors are their own directors as well as their own primary audience (p. 105).

Erving Goffman (1959) saw “all self-presentation as performative” (p. 106). The blog author becomes a performer, controlling how the self is represented and directing how words impress. The author creates a role, performs through writing, and presents a self-directed, personally designed, product (pp. 106-107). The “everyday self,” is revealed as the “authentic self,” and the performer searches for “validation” that “relieves [his] fear about being different or abnormal” (p.108).

The blog becomes transformative, as the author is in control of her identity, no longer dependent on false masks of protection. Online authors reveal a self-perception of truth and identity that can be revised as deemed necessary. Unlike a diary, a blog is alive. Blogs are learning experiences for the author as introspection is genuine, expressed through a “youth cultural production” that reveal perceptions of an authentic self.



A teacher's perception of a student's potential can also transform as a new sophistication of reality embraces words, and literacy becomes owned by the individual, not defined by an institution. Critique, too, is allowed a new found freedom, and can be answered, as desired, by the youth author.

A blog is, a new cultural experience and produces a discourse of literacy that, because it is important to youth, needs to be acknowledged by educators.

Art, Literacy and Technology: Integration for the 21st Century

“The arts, if they are about anything, are about the creation of a personal vision."
(Eisner, 2002, p. 44)

In today’s ever evolving technological world, the personal vision of the student is expanded by the infinite possibilities of Internet exploration. With this expansion comes a new definition of literacy as portals to communication become global, offering today’s student educational experiences that promote heightened critical thought through creative expression. A new place for the arts in education has emerged and unless its importance is realized, the opportunity to explore and accomplish will be denied.

Digital Storytelling opens a new window to communication as digital tools intertwine and an individual's story is unveiled. What is created are real stories told through images, video, audio and the written word. Art is truly integrated, and "... multimedia technology has opened up the world of the artist. Today, anyone who can move a mouse can jump in and give it a go" (Ohler, 2000, n.p.).



Through Digital Storytelling, all students can share lifestyles, beliefs, life lessons, and significant life moments. The world of literacy becomes open to everyone as stories are illustrated, visualized and told.




Before there was the written word, there was storytelling. There were pictures in caves, on walls and on pottery. People danced, sang and chanted life. Digital Storytelling goes beyond the written word. It is a way for all students to understand the power of literacy.

Digital storytelling provides a process for the individual to shape a story through multi-media art projects. Digital storytelling becomes digital literacy as tools of technology are used to create, organize and evaluate.

The Process:

(jasonohler.com)

A digital lesson unit integrates the literacies of writing, speech, artistic design and technology. Students engage in activities that encourage collaboration by the entire educational community as they read and write media. The digital lesson unit is scaffolded as students are guided through a process that is: brainstormed, mapped, scripted, spoken, technologically designed and presented.

• Students collaborate and share through brainstormed ideas
• Teachers enter the process as they provide input to the story map.
• Students engage in shared ideas as the mapped story evolves into a script
• Technology is integrated as the words, pictures, and video are embedded to enhance the script.
• Community becomes an audience as the finished product is published.
  

Communication Is For All Through Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling knows no language or learning ability barriers. Because it integrates four forms of known communication, all students are given the ability to tell their stories. Students narrate what is written. They hear the voice as it interprets the words chosen to define a digital image. Likewise, the digital image defines the chosen words through visualization. Students both hear and see their stories beyond the reading of the written words on a page. Creation and interpretation is owned by the students as they evolve from story maker to storyteller.

Digital Storytelling is Authentic Learning

A digital story tells a story through the perspective of what the student deems relevant and worth learning.

• The final product is student centered as they uniquely create their own project.
• Students take ownership as the story is personalized.
• Critical learning is engaged as basic facts become concept based and result in projects that engage higher-order thought.

Digital stories promote collaboration.

• Students are encouraged to share knowledge and initial ideas
• Students work together to create a meaningful end.
• Students provide feedback that is constructive and leads to a means for improvement.

The digital story lesson plan involves the entire educational community.

• Teachers interact with students as learning facilitators, guiding students at all levels of production through scaffolding
• Parents, teachers and community become involved as available resources and audience.
• Community professionals provide information to both students and educators.

The digital storytelling outcome is a project founded in an environment of active learners that goes beyond the traditional classroom.The result is a learning experience that combines personal relevance in the "real world" with individual educational needs.

• Students are actively engaged at all stages of the digital story.
• The story goes from the page to an audience who can become involved beyond the classroom.
• What is learned is knowledge relevant in today's ever evolving technological society.
• Students produce an end result that is based on knowledge that is read, written, technologically understood, critically analyzed and meaningfully presented.

Assessment

The objective of a digital story needs to be clearly realized by the teacher. The goal of digital storytelling is objectified by the individuality and uniqueness of educators. Suggestions for assessment include, but in no way are limited to the following. The student(s) will:

• Present a story that is effectively researched and documented.
• Present a story that integrates communication that is written, oral, digital and artistic.
• Present a story that is logically sequenced through written story mapping and digital storyboarding.
• Present a story that meets the academic requirements of the assigned project.
• Present a story that the intended audience can relate to and interact with in a way that contributes to the academic importance of the project.

Digital Open Source Tool For Digital Storytelling

There are a number of tools that are open source, trial based and available as software. Whatever the tool, ability to sequentially organize images through a storyboard and synchronize scripted narration is important. After experimenting with several, I chose Photo Story 3 to demonstrate in a video tutorial. It is easy, doesn't confuse and produces a quality product.

Photo Story Tutorial Video: An Alternative to Youtube

To view my tutorial go to an alternative to Youtube, http://www.screentoaster.com/ and via the "videos tab" click "e-learning." I am Melojill and the video is "Photo Story 3 for Windows." This doesn't require downloading and is an extremely user friendly alternative to other open source screen capture tools.