Instructional Tools and Strategies

The proliferation of easy-to-use digital technologies continues to offer students new ways of engaging with the world. Brought to the Emerson campus by Todd Gernes in Summer 2005, the narrative is at the heart of the digital story, a media production practice characterized by the synthesis of the narrative and a carefully selected series of images. Digital storytelling is often used as a learning tool because of its emphasis on crafting a story--from writing and revising through final presentation. It also has a role as a teaching tool, allowing faculty to create a dynamic explanation of a complex process or concept.

Emerson faculty who have worked with digital storytelling include Cindy Miller, David Emblidge and Todd Gernes.

Producing Your Digital Story

The digital storytelling production process involves the use of image editing and video editing software. The following guides introduce the main steps in this process.

Managing Your Media

• Naming and Organizing Your Files & Folders
  Tips to help you keep track of the media files used in your project
  

• Resizing  Images
  How to optimize image size and resolution for use in video
• Working with Special Effects
  Tips on using basic effects to alter the appearance of images
  

• Importing Images, Sound and Video
  How to add images and sound to your iMovie project
  
• Basic Video and Audio Editing
  Describes basic editing techniques and concepts
  
• Exporting Your Movie
  How to get your iMovie into a format that can be shared with others
  

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Emerson Faculty Discussion Strategies

CS Professor Robert MacDougall often prints out student posts from his online discussion board dubbed TOWs (Thoughts of the Week) and brings them to class to weave into, or sometimes prompt, classroom sessions.

Cindy Miller finds that online discussions can bridge learning experiences that occur in the physical classroom with those that happen in the field. As a way to ignite participation early on, she offers extra-credit to those who post follow-up questions to classroom discussions.

Writing Instructor Cara Crandall implements what she calls Quotation Central. She posts a quotation from a text the class is reading, and students are required to post 10 responses at times of their choosing throughout the semester. Cara monitors student comments or debates about the readings online so she can reference them in class.

New Media Instructor David Kociemba asks students to submit their assigned papers on the discussion board for peer evaluation. He finds that this rewards exemplary writers by allowing them to showcase their work to the class while providing useful models for those students who do not excel at writing. The online environment is a venue which allows students to connect one-on-one and learn from each another. “Teaching something is an excellent way to learn,” says Kociemba.

Managing Online Discussions

• Tips for Introducing Online Discussions (PDF)
  
• Instructional Strategies for Online Discussions (PDF)
  
• Structure Assessment with a Rubric (PDF)

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Many faculty use PowerPoint to deliver course information. Some use it to post course notes online through WebCT. This allows students to print the notes and use them during class for reference and as a base to take more extensive notes. Others use it for presentations of visuals, examples, theories etc. To optimize use of PowerPoint and avoid distractions, attention to the amount of text; use of color; font and images is valuable... more

Emerson Faculty PowerPoint Uses

• Students Fill in the blanks: Connecting Concepts with PowerPoint
• Remembering Professor Alan Hankin
  

Presentation Guides

These guides offer tips on designing PowerPoint presentations for classroom delivery.

• Nine Tips for Clearer Presentations
• Slide Design & Layout Hints
• PowerPoint Strategies: Letting Students Fill in the Blanks

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Many of us define ourselves as visual learners and prefer to see something mapped or represented through an image. Even for those who learn better through other senses, visuals are powerful communicators that make learning more effective. There are many tools readily available on campus that can make visuals and images available to students on the Web or in the classroom...more

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Video can be a powerful teaching tool. It can help reveal contextual questions and dynamics of a situation from multiple perspectives. Video is also useful for demonstrating processes, artwork, witnessing cause and effect, exploring, and for observing speeches...more

Emerson Faculty Strategies

Communication Studies Professor Phil Glenn digitized recordings of dialogues and then posts them as MP3 files alongside the transcripts, formatted as PDFs. This enables students to listen to dialogues while studying them in written form... more

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A blog (or weblog) is an online journal in which entries are authored by one person and shared with a community of readers. Blogs provide a means for exploring topics through writing.

Blogs are distinctive from print and television because they can be published by the author immediately and because links to other information sources online can be embedded directly within the text. These factors make blogs a dynamic method for publishing information and commentary in real time.

Blogs are increasingly popular as teaching tools among Journalism faculty at Emerson...more

Integrating Blogs with Course Topics

The following guides provide strategies for using blogs within course environments.

• Extending the Classroom
  Tips on structuring and managing blogging assignments
  
• Reflection, Motivation and Learning
  Creating blog assignments that match your curricular goals
  
• Assessing Student Weblogs
  Sample assessment rubric for blog assignments
  
• Evaluating Weblogs
  Sample assessment rubric for information literacy assignment in which students evaluate weblogs
  

Barbara Ganley - Blogging
Barbara Ganley, a Lecturer in writing at Middlebury College, blogs about her experiences as a writing instructor using technology.

Kairosnews
Authored by an open community of members interested in the intersections of rhetoric, technology, and pedagogy, Kairosnews provides articles, news, and a daily newsletter.

Weblog-ed
Will Richardson is considered one of the leading bloggers on educational technology and blogging practices. His blog features best practices and resources on topics related to blogging.

Logs for Learning
An Innovation Odyssey, Intel's online resource for educational technology, examines how blogs promote learning.

Educational Bloggers Network
eBN is a collaborative of teachers and organizations using weblogs in education. It provides a forum for information sharing, professional development, collaboration, and blog news.

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Use of classroom opinion polls are growing in higher education. While inspiring class discussion, a poll can give students a place to express their view on an issue and help them consider the views of others. An online poll gives students privacy to honestly express an opinion without anxiety and time to formulate a strong argument for their viewpoint, which ultimately sets the stage for meaningful in-classroom discussion...more

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Technology use for teaching can be novel and experimental. The following resources can help identify what aspects of your technology use helps student learning. These rubrics and resources provide ideas for assessment for both the technology-enhanced and traditional portions of your curriculum...more

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"Wiki" stands for "quick", in Hawaiian, and is the term most commonly used to describe a type of web site that can be directly edited by any user...more

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