I jumped into Ohler’s book about a month ago filled with questions and excitement. What was the secret to great story telling? Where do I purchase the magic wand that I can wave over my student’s projects and make them better? And how could I ensure that my students were incorporating “Literacy, Learning, and Creativity into their DST projects. The received answers to my questions, some obvious and some that still allude me.
Though I am not down reading the book, I have assured myself that DST is an essential method of creatively engaging the students in the curriculum. The book has provided me with a starting point to bring DST into the classroom. Like most new ideas that I engage in, I approached DST as a project that I will have the students engage in, give them a grade and move on. I shy away from diving into the details because I consider myself to be a computer hack, a technical bungler who thinks computers are great as long as I type in Word, use PowerPoint and check my email. Ohler makes the point from the very beginning of the book that as a teacher, my focus is always the student, that I do not need to learn all the aspects of a computer operating system, I just need to provide a clearly defined structure that will allow students to creatively take personal control of their projects.
In addition, Ohler makes the point of saying that wee as teachers need to operate in the students’ world. The students live in a digital world, so why use printed textbooks as the driving force behind their educational experience. Similar to teaching, DST instruct is not about how to use a digital camera and imove, the students can help each other out with that process. The experience alone will answer many of their technical questions.
There are two underlining messages from the early chapters in the book that resonated with my own teaching experience as a 7th grade Social Studies instructor. I constantly preach about recognizing a good source from a bad source. Ohler makes this same point stating”…being able to critically assess information, rather than trust it without question, has become a survival skill.”(p.8) I am mindful of always pointing out to my students that not all the information they get is good information. Learning about the sources that they take information is just as important as the information itself. The second message that Ohler builds on is this idea that story's are the "...cornerstone of constructivist learning."(p.9) I could not agree more. The practice of using stories to help present an idea, or taking the information you have learned and creating your version of the story lend themselves to the Social Studies curriculum, but in reality are just good teaching practices. Every person regardless of age or academic level loves a good story.
As I press on in Ohler's book I become more confident in my ability to use DST as a more activtive educational tool, rather than once a year assignment. Some of my questions have alread been answered and some of my fears have been quieted. I can not what to press on for more.
