Choose from a Kit | Scroll Kit Blank Use Kit Intro Use Kit Basic Profile Page Use Kit flavor tripping party invite Use Kit confetti birthday card Use Kit counterfeit obama website Use Kit Facebook kit Use Kit Tips (BRAND) STORYTELLING 101, LESSON 1 | Chelsea Tells Stories I’ve been struggling to get my storytelling resource page together for ages, but the finish line kept moving farther away…until I realized that I could do it bit by bit. There is so much to share, so I’ll be rationing it out to you here (and eventually on my professional page) in the weeks/months (years?) to come. The first instalment is from my recent master’s research project: ‘Telling Stories, Building Brands.’ Bored already? Despite what you may have learned in high school English class, there is no universally accepted definition of story or what makes a story. Actors engaged in actions to achieve goals – there should be a “valued end point”Insight into what the actors are thinking and feelingObservable personal evolution or change in the life of a characterCausality – what caused things to happen as they did? Organizations of all kinds–non-profit, for-profit, public sector and private–could learn a great deal from Charity: Water and its use of brand storytelling. P.S. Like this:
Modern Lessons Welcome to the new online learning platform for the Global Education Database! It’s a free, simple, and quick way to learn new skills, find new education resources, and figure out how to do just about anything a modern teacher or student needs. Take as many courses as you like – they’re free and all you need to do is sign up to get started. Register To Start Learning Free View More Courses Make Story a Priority | Seven Story Learning The privileged status of story. Our minds prefer to prioritize stories more highly than they do communication in other forms of information, like lists and figures. University of Virginia Psychologist Daniel T. Willingham has referred to stories as “psychologically privileged.” He writes, “Research from the last 30 years shows that stories are indeed special. Stories are easy to comprehend and easy to remember, and that’s true not just because people pay close attention to stories; there is something inherent in the story format that makes them easy to understand and remember.” Effective Stories Pique Our Curiosity Research shows that there is a “Goldilocks” aspect regarding the level of causality that makes a story grab our attention. Our Brains Index Memories as Stories In a 1994 study by Dr. We don’t fully understand why stories are easier to remember than lists, but Roger Schank explains that our brains index every bit of information and every experience we have in story format. Sources:
Ebooks are actually not books—schools among first to realizing this fact This is Part 1 in a series on e-book distribution to schools. See Part 2 here. Digital books are triggering tectonic shifts in education. One of the most fundamental, yet seemingly invisible, shifts is happening in the back rooms of district offices—not in the classrooms, not among teachers and students, and definitely not in the board rooms of most big-name publishers and textbook companies. If ebooks are not actually books, what are they? School purchasing departments know. This profound, significant change is happening first in school district business offices, IT departments, and cubicles among staff members who work behind the scenes to acquire materials for today’s students. What exactly is this shift? It’s the revelation of the idea that ebooks are not books at all. That’s right, ebooks are not books. If ebooks are not books, what are they? Ebooks are actually software. Here’s the view of the situation from the district back room. Books are objects Books are objects. Ebooks are software
StoryToolz : Resources for Authors Popular Methods for Online Storytelling By Sabina Idler The act of storytelling is present in every culture. Storytelling, when done well, can move people to take action. The way we tell stories has evolved drastically over time. We constantly find new methods for preserving and sharing our stories: From drawings on cave walls, verbal recounting passed down from generation to generation and songs to more modern ways like newspapers, books, audio and video recordings. The newest place to tell stories is the Internet. Let’s take a look at how you can get the most out of online storytelling by going through the most common ways we tell stories on the Web, as well as by discussing a few examples of good online storytelling. Storytelling Through Text While contemporary web technologies allow for all different kinds of content presentation, text is still one of the most common methods for telling stories on the Internet. Textual content can be very effective, and sometimes it’s the only option that makes sense or is practical. Goruck
27 Simple Ways To Get Students Excited About Innovation Recently, our neighbors introduced us to a couple of their friends who are from Spain. They are both professors here and have a kid who will be entering college in the US this fall. We were chatting about where we’ve lived and where we’d like to, and the topic of taxes came up. One of the things that was mentioned is that in Spain (and in Europe more generally) things like healthcare are offered free of cost and higher education is much much cheaper there than in the US due to the differences in our tax systems. But one of the reasons they thought it was better that their daughter was going to go to school in the US is that they felt that the opportunities for innovation are much bigger here. That got me thinking: what makes a particular teacher innovative doesn’t necessarily help their students to be innovative. Learn more about the failures Take risks Find out what inspires you Share your ideas with others and work together Reach beyond your own abilities
The Joy of Data Driven Storytelling Beyond the Book Report: Ten Alternatives In my last post I described 10 ways to cultivate a love of reading in kids. I want to expand on that theme by suggesting 10 alternatives to the book report. I'm not a fan of book reports; I don't think they are an effective way for a student to demonstrate understanding of a book and I don't think they help students enjoy or appreciate reading. Let's consider some activities that allow a student to show understanding of a book and that might be enjoyable. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. This is by no means an exhaustive list of alternatives to book reports, but I hope it's spurred some thinking about how to get students to respond to books they read. What alternatives to book reports have you offered students?
Yahoo acquires multimedia storytelling app Qwiki Yahoo announced Tuesday that it has acquired Qwiki, a storytelling app that integrates photos and videos. The company wrote in a blog post that Qwiki would be joining Yahoo’s New York offices and that it would continue to support the Qwiki app. AllThingsD reported that the purchase price was about $50 million. Yahoo has been on an acquisition tear recently under CEO Marissa Mayer’s leadership, from the $1 billion Tumblr acquisition to smaller purchases like the social recommendation startup Jybe, to the news summarization app Summly. While it’s not totally clear what Yahoo will do with Qwiki, it’s clearly interested in acquiring companies in the mobile media space. In a blog post, Yahoo explained the acquisition: “We’re excited to announce that Yahoo!
9 apps for creating multimedia content Until a few years ago designing an attractive presentation, or any other form of multimedia content, required expert designers. You first had to explain your idea to the designer who would then spend hours in isolation, using complex tools and software, to turn them into reality. Most of the times, however, you would still go away dissatisfied with the final product. However, this is no more the case thanks to different online tools available freely on the internet. Using these tools,you can create multimedia content in a matter of minutes. You no longer need to explain your brains out to a designer who would still prefer following his own ideas. All you need is an internet connection and a creative mind. Here’s a list of 9 such tools that you can turn your ideas into reality instantly. 1. Without a shadow of doubt, EWC Presenter is one of the best tools out there for creating rich multimedia content. There’s no need for any coding or designing knowledge either. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 9.
3 Student Tech Trends Teachers Should Know About If you’re just settling into what will hopefully be a nice, long, and relaxing summer break, then congratulations. You deserve it. I’ll just sit here waiting for you to … okay, done relaxing? Let’s talk about some of the biggest student tech trends that students will be talking about when you head back to class in the fall. It’s important to know not just what connected teachers are looking at and tinkering with in terms of technology. Note: The following trends are based simply on what I’ve seen and heard online and while talking with students. Trend #1: Facebook Isn’t Cool (But It’s Useful) No matter what you might think, Facebook isn’t cool . While Facebook has fallen somewhat out of favor with teens and your typical K-12 students, it doesn’t mean to ignore it. But it is useful . Trend #2: Less About Phone, More About App The next biggest trend I’m seeing is the amount of importance placed on smartphones and tablets . It would seem that students are quite savvy trend-watchers.
5 Brilliant Tools for Student Storytelling Once upon a time, there was a class full of students. They needed to learn to tell vibrant, engaging, complex stories for a myriad of educational benefits. Storytelling would help them learn to express themselves clearly, to structure their thoughts and hone their descriptive skills. But the students were cursed with boredom – with only a pen and paper to create their masterpieces they were bored and limited and the results were distinctly lackluster. Then, one day, their teacher discovered a myriad of exciting online tools to sprinkle their stories with magic and excitement once again! 1. This great iPhone or iPad app enables kids to create stories quickly and easily by combining writing with audio and visual tools. 2. This clever tool essentially turns the student’s device into a recordable whiteboard complete with digital ink, voice recording, text and pictures. 3. 4. Allows students to make short, art-inspired stories they can share on any device. 5.