Journal 4: Finding Students Who Learn with Media (NETS-T I, II, III, V)

Bull, G. (2010, February). Finding students who learn with media. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(5), Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201002#pg38

Summary: By accessing primary source documents such as those found at the Smithsonian and Library Congress websites, a teacher, utilizing free web-based authoring tools, can incorporate that media into his or her curriculum to enhance a student’s learning. A pilot study using PrimaryAccess Storyboard was carried out by teachers. The researchers: Bull, Alexander and Ferster gained a better understanding of how teachers can best integrate software such as PrimaryAccess with their curriculum to enhance a student’s learning. Two free authoring tools: PrimaryAccess Movie Maker (www.primaryaccess.org) and PrimaryAccess Story Board (www.primaryaccess.org/story) allows students to create an historical movie in three class periods and a visual narrative in one class period, respectively. The storyboard version was developed to provide teachers access to similar, yet restricted, media because their students will have less time to devote to the project. The results of student engagement varied from engagement to both the historical content and storyboarding activity to engagement in neither.


Q1: Why were the results for engaged students so varied?
A1: Students in a classroom are made up of different types of learners. What the researchers found was that 40% of the students who were engaged in both the storyboard technology and the historical content of the assignment showed more higher-order thinking and creativity. Students who showed higher affinity for the historical content of the assignment are those students who preferred a more traditional task such as writing an essay. Students who were found to be more engaged in the technology and not the history lesson needed more assistance in content mastery. Finally, 15% of the students who were disengaged will need another technique for learning the history material.


Q2: Why are there two types of Web-based authoring tools?
A2: There are two types of Web-based authoring tools: PrimaryAccess Movie Maker and PrimaryAccess Story Board to allow the teacher two options to best integrate into their curriculum as part of the formal school setting. The first, PrimaryAccess Movie Maker, is used over three periods to create a short historical documentary: one period is dedicated to creating the outline, storyboard and script; the second period to put together the media and edit and the third period to add in the narration, text and music. The second tool, PrimaryAccess Storyboard is used in a single period to create a visual historical narrative. It contains fewer features to create the more specific narrative. An advantage for utilizing either tool is that both eliminate overhead that is usually associated with conventional editor of digital video and reduce class time to learn how to master movie-making software. Some teachers may already devote three classes to a particular curriculum and so adding on an addition three classes to create a documentary may not be a realistic option. However, the shorter version can still give the student the opportunity and experience to author the simpler narrative.