Week 3: This is your brain on stories, any questions?

I recently read The Science of Storytelling: Why Telling a Story is the Most Powerful Way to Activate Our Brains, by Leo Widrich.  Widrich wrote the article after examining how a switch from bullet point marketing to story telling caused sign-ups for his product, Buffer, to go through the roof.  I had always felt like I learned and connected better with materials presented in story form rather than a bullet point slide show, but instead of it being personal preference as I had thought, it is actually rooted in science.

Storytelling is something we all can enjoy, whether we are reading a book, watching a movie, or gossiping with a friend.  The question is, why do we feel so much more engaged when we hear a narrative about events?  The answer to this question is actually very simple.  When listening to a powerpoint presentation we activate the language processing part of the brain, but that is it, nothing else.  That all changes when we are being told a story.  Not only does a story activate the language center but also the areas of the brain that we would use if we were experiencing the story ourselves.  A story about about how a certain food tastes will engage our sensory cortex, as a story about a physical activity will engage our motor cortex.  This can be the key to having a profound impact on learning in our classrooms.

Digital storytelling tools such as those listed at http://www.schrockguide.net/digital-storytelling.html can help us deliver these to our students.  They can also be a means to facilitate communication and knowledge transfer between classmates.

Have you ever heard a story that helped you learn a new concept or connect with the material on a more personal level?  Was it delivered through one of the linked tools?

Week 2: The struggle is real

The Chrome web browser offers a wide variety of web extensions that provide tools to help all learners.  This week we will look at some Chrome extensions designed to assist students with special needs or reading challenges.  While this is not an extensive list, I wanted to highlight some of the tools I found in my research that stood out to me.

Read Aloud is a text-to-speech extension that will read either selected text or entire pages.  It allows the user to set the speed, volume, and pitch to suit their taste.  This tool is very easy to use with simple play/pause controls and a drop down menu for voice adjustments.  The voices played well and did not seem as unsettling and robotic as some I have heard, with a wide range of options available.  I can see this tool being very useful to struggling readers as something they can read along with or even as a limited use tool on specific words.  The ease of use also leads me to believe users of all ages can benefit from its use.

Extensions like Mercury Reader can enhance the readability of any website.  When we visit any web site these days we are bombarded by so many ads and comments it is often hard to focus on the core content.  This extension strips away ads, comments, and other distractions leaving only the core text and images.  It allows the user to adjust the font size and color scheme of the new text as well.  I can see an extension like this being very useful to any reader.  Mercury reader also allows you to export articles to your kindle.

Do you have any experience with Chrome web extensions that you have found useful to assist students with special needs or struggling readers?

Week 1: What do we mean when we talk about technology in education?

What do we mean when we talk about technology in education?  My exposure to technology was very minimal throughout my K-12 experience.  If you discount writing papers in Microsoft Word it was practically nonexistent.  College involved some more tools, but nothing that I would consider game changing.  I took some online hybrid classes, that were still largely face to face but with the addition of an online drop box and some digital resources.  My experience was still predominantly limited to the Microsoft Office suite of Word, PowerPoint, and a little bit of Excel.  Even in my personal life I have never had any significant involvement with any apps or social media, though I am aware of what a powerful networking tool it can be.   Over the next 5 weeks I will endeavor to change all that.  I have started a twitter account, @JimKKirk if you’re interested, and I have begun to explore some of the technologies I may one day implement in my own classroom.  This blog will be a part of my journey.  Each week I will take a look at a topic or tool and the implications it has on the classroom.  I hope you enjoy the ride!