Teens and Technology - A Good Match?

Overview

Technology has made amazing advances in promoting educational advantages in the classroom, such as Smart Boards and online grade viewers. However, with students spending increasing amounts of time hooked to a media gadget of one sort or another, psychologists and family awareness advocates are beginning to raise some questions. What affect does media immersion have on youth? How much time should be absorbed by media devices? Who should set the standards and establish guidelines? While alerting youth oversights to the risks of unsupervised media exposure, John Matuzsak's article establishes its validity when used wisely.


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“Thinking about Story” and “Applying Story Maps”

Overview:

In chapters 5 and 6 of his book entitled Digital Storytelling in the Classroom, Dr. Ohler discusses the 3-step process of writing a digital story: the story core, the story map, and storyboarding. A story core is comprised of a hero’s problem or challenge, a transformation, and a resolution. Concisely expressed, a story core is necessary for the flow and pacing of a story. Without a track to guide it, a story too easily derails. Even with a track, a story needs a map. Story maps integrate not only the plot information and story elements, but emotion and action as well, providing a more complete analysis of the story’s destination. Storyboarding, on the other hand, is not always necessary for every story. Providing an overall conception of flow and continuity by outlining story motion, storyboarding is a technique commonly used in the movie industry and of utmost help when forming a plan for digital stories.

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