The Finished Product

Our wiki page on storytelling is completed and available for your review and comments.  This has been a fun process and we have enjoyed learning about the art of story telling in teaching and about how to utilize a wiki/blog.  Thank you.

The Link to the Wiki

We have added the link to our wiki page.  It was not too difficult and provides a connection between our blog and wiki.

http://uhvnur6313.pbworks.com/w/page/36969483/storytelling2011k

Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle

As the time for us to present is drawing near, we are now putting all the pieces together in order for our classmates to have a clear understanding of storytelling as an instructional method and its power to bring change to a wide array of learners. Tying together the various sources we found can be daunting but an interesting experience as well.  It educates us personally on this sometimes unnoticed instructional tool that over the years has been proven to be an effective teaching method for generation of learners. We can't wait in coming up with an exciting presentation that everyone will enjoy and hopefully, learn.

A Great Idea From a Fellow Classmate

After reviewing Suzanne Gillson's blog, I see she added a link to her wiki page.  We are going to try this as well.  Thanks for the great idea!!

Continuing to Polish the Product

The wiki page is nearly completed to our satisfaction.  The most recent addition to our page is some information regarding digital storytelling.  This is interesting as it provides a media for telling a story utilizing visual and auditory aides.  We chose these web pages because of the valuable information presented on this strategy.  One in particular provides a place for those learning about digital storytelling to manipulate and make one of their own.  This appeals to the kinesthetic learner by allowing them to "touch" and play with the media to better understand the teaching modality.  

Wonders of Technology

We've just created our Avatar as it introduces storytelling as our topic.  Having this technology allows us to be creative and gives us a different way of communicating with our audience.  Learning in this modern age of technology simply makes it interesting and worthwhile. It made us realize that technology can be our friend if we know how to use its power in reaching different types of learners.

Working on the Wiki

Our goal for today is to complete our wiki and assure all of the resources on storytelling are available for our fellow classmates to view.  This is going to take some time as we have found some really great information on the topic and multiple media sources.

It's All Coming Together

As the time grows closer and closer to the due date of the assignment, the resources we have found are being added to our wiki page.  Our goal is to present our fellow classmates with an understanding of what storytelling is.

The Search Continues

We are continuing to search for various media types and additional resources to provide us with the best understanding of what storytelling is and the steps that make it an effective teaching tool.  As we continue to update this blog, work on the wiki, and put together our presentation, everything is tied together and seems to be falling into place.  Please continue to visit our wiki on storytelling to view our latest updates on this powerful teaching modality.

Additional Sources

Today more sources from "You Tube" on storytelling were added to the wiki page to aide in a better understanding of what encompasses this valuable teaching tool.  Again, we searched for videos because we wanted to find media that aide the auditory and visual learners in understanding the information.  In addition, the videos are a fun way about learning about storytelling.  Thus, we decided to add a video discussing hand gestures when storytelling and a series of tips by a professional storyteller on how to tell a meaningful and effective story.  These videos are very good and will assist our classmates in understanding this powerful teaching method. 

Meeting of Minds

On one fair-weathered spring afternoon over a cup of coffee and a red velvet cupcake, we spent our time off from the hectic school and work life deliberating the different online sources on storytelling as to its usefulness for our readers in order to give a clear picture of the topic at hand. Coming up with a good plan on the proper flow of our wiki page can be daunting and stretches our creative minds on how we will present important ideas that would keep our readers interested about this instructional method. But working with a student partner definitely makes it worthwhile because the differences of opinion can bring out, in our opinions, the best possible output or product in the end.  As we progress with our understanding of this instructional method, the more we see its complexities. We discovered that storytelling is not mere blurting out words but there is an art and a process that today’s educators should follow in order for it to be an effective teaching tool. Continue to follow us on our blog and wiki page and together, let us marvel on this instructional method reserved not for the faint of heart.

Adding more Resources

The "You Tube" video on storytelling presented by Professor Brian Sturm from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that was discovered earlier this week was added to the wiki.  This resource provides an excellent overview of what encompasses storytelling, the steps the listener experiences in interpreting and understanding the story, and incorporates several stories to keep the audiences attention.  This particular video was selected because of the vast amount of information presented and the great detail included regarding the art of storytelling.  In addition, this media was chosen to assure the auditory listeners have a source in which they can hear someone talk about storytelling as opposed to being limited to only reading the wiki.  Although the video is lengthy (45 minutes), the information Professor Sturm presents on storytelling is valuable to educators, managers, and anyone desiring to offer a well told story.  

Putting it together

Looking for sources can be time consuming and an exhaustive process.  The more we see the value of the topic as an effective teaching method for different kinds of learners, the more we become excited about putting together the pieces and hopefully come up with an excellent presentation.  We have narrowed down the journal articles to six that we found to be the most valuable and have added them to the wiki.  The reason we chose these articles is because they provide the best explanation of what storytelling is.  The journey continues to work on the wiki by adding the other media sources we have discovered.  We hope you enjoy our wiki page as we continually update and better improve the site for ease of understanding the wonders of storytelling.

A Great Discovery

Last night a search was conducted for resources discussing storytelling and its usefulness in teaching/learning.  As the UHV Journal Database had already been searched for the topic, a search of "You Tube" was initiated.  By understanding that learner’s process information and data differently, we wanted to assure that multiple types of media were available for the learners.  We searched this domain because I wanted to explore if a video was available that captured what encompasses story telling in teaching.  An excellent "You Tube" video was discovered that really captures the essence of what story telling is and how it is a valuable tool in the world of education.  Thus, this video was chosen for the wiki and will be available for the group to review and learn about the art of storytelling.  It’s amazing how storytelling, a method that has been used for generations, is still effective in education today.  It is a great teaching tool whether in an academic, clinical, and everyday situation. With this excellent video source together with the various journal articles discovered, we will attempt to bring the best possible explanation of the intricacies of storytelling as an effective teaching modality.

Working as a Team

We next conducted a literature search of the UHV Journal Database for "story telling."  The search resulted in providing many great articles on the topic.  We chose to share some journal articles to provide the group with a foundation and a clear understanding of what story telling is and how it is incorporated into teaching.  As multiple articles were retrieved, we will collaborate and decide which ones to post on our wiki page.  Although these journal articles are full of valuable information, we will search for other types of media that appeal to the different learning styles that discuss story telling as well.

Developing the Blog

The next step in our journey was developing a blog to capture the process of developing a wiki/blog on the teaching strategy of storytelling.  Again, this posed a challenge for us as unfamiliarity with the program and navigating/creating with it again played a part.  After playing with it for some time, it was discovered that it is actually a fairly easy program to navigate and I got the hang of creating the blog and had some fun with it (customizing the background, colors, etc).  We will continue to post regarding the process/issues we have in searching for resources for storytelling.

Starting the process

On 3/2/2011, our journey began developing the wiki on storytelling.  This was challenging for (because of the unfamiliarity of navigating the program and because I am not so technologically gifted) and took quite a few tries before we were able to establish the page that is linked to Dr. Neill's home page.  Now that the page is set up, we are in the development stage of obtaining journal articles, links, and other resources for the group to view and utilize.  We will post more regarding our progress.  Good luck everyone in developing your wiki/blog.