Hi classmates,
I have worked with a simple and useful ICT resource that is called Photo Story. I have been using it both as a teacher and as a student. I made a Photo Story for just one week ago. The theme was Pippi Longstocking. I will use pictures from that story in this blog to show you how Photo Story works.
What is Photo Story?
Photo Story is an excellent material in today’s schools. It is an easy program that helps pupils and teachers to create stories with help of sounds and photos. The program is both funny and very simple to work with. The only thing you need to do is to download Photo Story from the Internet. You can find the program just by search "Photo Story download" on google. It is free.
How does it work?
When you have downloaded the program you have to come up with a theme for the story and find pictures. You can use your own pictures or find pictures on websites. When you have found some pictures it is time to use Photo Story. Now I will show you how it works:
When you have decided which pictures you are going to use, you need to import those pictures to Photo Story. To do that, you just need to click on the “Import pictures” button and find your pictures on the computer. When you have imported the pictures, you can edit the pictures and add effects when each image is displayed.
When you have added your pictures to Photo Story you can add some text to each picture. You can use different colours, sizes, effects and styles.
Next step is to add some voice narration. You can record your own voice. You can retake the narration how many times you want. You do not have to add a voice here if you do not want to.
The next step is to add your music or create some music in Photo Story to use as background music. Be careful which pictures you use from the Internet, since many owners want to approve before somebody else uses them. If you do not have any photos, sounds or music of your own there is some websites like Multimediabyrån where you can find those things for free.
Can it both be used by teachers and pupils?
Of course it can be used by both teachers and pupils. This is an excellent program for both teachers and pupils. Teachers can use it as a funny and educational material that will suit pupils in all ages. Photo Story can be used in all subjects; it is just the imagination that can stop you. Teachers can use it to introduce information in a funny way or introduce a task in a simple and educational way. One example can be if the teacher creates a Photo Story that only contains the beginning of a story. The pupils’ task can then be to come up the rest of the story and write it down, or work in pairs and create the rest of the story in Photo Story. The teacher can also show the pupils a story without texts and sounds and the pupils’ task can be to just come up with a story just from the photos.
Photo Story can also be used in many different ways for pupils. They can do a research on a specific topic and use Photo Story to show their classmates the results in a really amusing way. In today’s school pupils need to express their thoughts and communicate and co-operate with their classmates. But in many cases this can be really difficult for some pupils. Some pupils often take a passive role and do not feel comfortable to speak. Photo Story is therefore an excellent tool for these pupils. By this program, the shy and nervous pupils can express their thoughts. They can record their own voice and talk in the different photos or add a text with the information they want their classmates to know. Photo Story can also be used by pupils that do not have acquired their read and write abilities. The teacher can easily scan some pupils’ drawings and after that, the teacher can record the pupils when they describe their own drawing.
Conclusion
I can really recommend this program both for teachers and pupils. It is really easy to use and it will only take some minutes to create an entire story.
Have a nice day / Amine Mårtensson
Hi Amine!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog post about Photo Story. I have used it myself and I think it´s a great resource to work with. I like that you show pictures when you explain how to create your PhotoStory. It really shows how easy and fun it is to work with.
I also like your examples of how teachers and pupils can work with PhotoStory. I think it´s great if the teacher can use a Photostory to introduce a task for the pupils, as you write. Pupils learn and understand in different ways and some both need to hear what they are expected to do and also see it as pictures. Your thought about that pupils that are uncomfortable in talking in front of the class can use PhotoStory is great. Since you don´t have to record your voice if you don´t want to this tool is great for the shy pupils. And, just as you write, the pupils can express their thought and work without talking. One thing I thought about after reading your blog post is that when pupils create PhotoStories it can lead to that even the most shy pupil talk about the stories and that is great. I think that when pupils create something they are proud of they are more willing to talk about it and a PhotoStory is a great thing to talk about.
I think it´s great that you mention pictures of the Internet. It´s easy to forget that you can´t use every picture that you want.
/Angelica Janderå
Amine, nice work with your blog post!
ReplyDeleteI have tried out Photo Story myself, both as a teacher and as a student. I find it really useful, especially when you as a teacher want to introduce a topic or when you as a student want to present a work. The way you present Photo Story is really nice; it is good that you show pictures of the different stages of Photo Story. It is also good that you explain how Photo Story can be used by both teachers and students. I like that you also write about both positive and negative effects with Photo Story. I believe that it suits every child, both the shy and the outgoing ones. But it is important that you as a teacher make sure that no one makes all the decisions and so on if students are working together. I really agree with you that Photo Story can be a great way for shy or students with difficulties to express themselves. They do not have to record their voices if they do not want to, but if they want to, they can do recordings until they are satisfied. That is a more comfortable way than to stand in front of the class talking.
Overall you introduce Photo Story in a way that makes you interested of using it! Well Done!
//Emmy Lundberg
Hi, Amine.
ReplyDeleteI think you have written a very good post and managed to explain very well. I've actually been using Photo Story myself, both as a student and as a teacher and I think it is a very good tool. I certainly agree that Photo Story is a simple and fun tool and I think everyone should use it. You have good examples of how both teachers and students can work with Photo Story and I like that you write that you can use Photo Story in all subjects. I especially like the example that you have given when the teacher begins a story and then lets the students continue on their own or in groups. According to my experience, many students find it difficult to start something, that’s why I think it's good that they get the beginning from the teacher and then have to continue themselves. I like your thought that Photo Story provides the passive and shy students a chance to dare and show what they can. To record their voices for each image in order not to speak in front of the whole class, would mean a lot for the timid students.
Unfortunately, I have in my experience come across difficulties with Photo Story. A major problem in the “school world” is that there are not enough of computers to all the students and that it becomes difficult to work the whole class at once. Another problem I encountered is that some students can become easily distracted by other internet site when they work with computers. These are some points that I think you could mention in your post.
Overall, I think you've done a great job and managed to express your purpose with Photo Story on a very interesting way. The only thing I think you should keep in mind is that there are negative things as well. Otherwise, everything was great!
/Burbuqe Krasniqi.
Fisrt of all, you have made a great blog post with a great explaination of how Photo Story works. I have only used it once in school but never at my practical training but now I feel really motivated to do so. Even though I enjoyed working with Photo Story myself I haven't thought of how to use it as a teacher in the future but now I got some inspiration!
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to read about how you can use it in the classroom, how the pupils can work and learn from it. There are so many criteria in the syllabus that are fulfilled here. The pupils hear a story they are supposed to retell or maybe change to their own version in the computer, which is a requriment to have knowledge about in the new curriculum. They also practise on their writing or speaking without having to stand infront of the class which is perfect for those pupils who do not like talking in big groups. And for last, what I got from this blog post is that you can also vary this method and let the pupils maybe work in groups or likely and therefore learn how to cooperate.
So I will definatly try Photo Story at my next practical training to see how this works in real life :)