APS Department of Instructional Technology  is proud to be offering a NEW online course entitled "21st Century Teaching & Learning." It is 15hrs/1credit. This is a must-have class for every teacher, but it is essential for those with netbooks, laptops, or in a lab. Enroll today! Follow the link below to get started.

http://doit.aurorak12.org/tech-classes

Check them out at: http://www.21stcenturyschools.com

Digital Storytelling is an exciting way for students to share the creative energy they've put into crafting their stories. Here's an example of a 1st grade student's work gone digital. Originally her class created a book with paper and crayons to share with their classmates and families. This work was scanned and the author's voice recorded. Now she has work that can be shared across the United States to where her grandparents live. It can be shared anywhere! Even more important, is the thrill the student experienced at being able to hear her own voice and see her work in this format. Now she's creating lists of story ideas and writing more stories than is possible to record. This is a great thing. She's forced to choose her very best work to publish. She's thinking and acting like a real author because she is one. This story below is what lit the literary fire for her. For more information on Digital Story telling, be sure to check out these sites.

• Center for Digital Storytelling
• Digital Storytelling Cookbook (.pdf)
• Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA)

Disclosure: The author is my delightful daughter.

By the way, the story above was created on a netbook powered by ubuntu. We scanned the images from a scanner using Xsane. The images were cropped and scaled using GIMP (image editor) . Her voice was recorded and edited using Audacity (audio editor) . Then we pulled everything into Kdenlive (video editor) to create the video file. If you don't have Kdenlive installed on your netbook, but would like it, follow the tutorial below that was captured using Screen Toaster. Be warned: The netbooks don't have the processing power needed to fully edit video. For example when I've imported video to cut, splice and render, the preview works in slow motion. This makes it nearly impossible to make fine cuts. So... I would only use Kdenlive on the netbooks to pull in audio and images that are already ordered numerically. This way you can line up the audio and stretch the images to match. Render to .avi or .mp4 (to upload to youtube) and you're done.

The following slides showcase some great examples of digital art created by Mr. McCauley's digital art class at Frontier K8.  Adobe Photoshop is the predominant tool used for creating these pieces. (All subjects in pictures have signed the district's media release form.)

Recently I was researching Abraham Lincoln and discovered a new tool that helps me collect research material and save it in my own folder inside the World Book Online Encyclopedia. Now when I use the World Book for other research, I can save as many projects as I want.

During my Abraham Lincoln research, I collected and saved articles and pictures as well as the audio of the Gettysburg Address. Later, I added a video and a great map showing the division of the states during the Civil War. Then, because there is a Timeline Creator, I was able to make a timeline of Abraham Lincoln’s life and his accomplishments. And because I visited Illinois, I was able to upload and use my very own pictures in the timeline. I learned a lot about Lincoln by using this feature in World Book.

And did you know, there are two other encyclopedias in World Book? At the bottom of any page of the World Book, you’ll see two pictures; click on one of them and you will go to another encyclopedia. One is called World Book Discover and the other is a Spanish-English encyclopedia.

When I went to the Discover encyclopedia, I found I could have the text read to me and it would translate my article in 31 different languages.

And for teachers, all the encyclopedias are aligned with the Colorado State Standards.

By using the World Book Encyclopedia, I discovered and learned more about Abraham Lincoln and I will remember him because I learned about him in different ways. The multimedia content engages me more than a lecture or reading from a textbook. So, log into One Place and click on the World Book Encyclopedia and start learning:
discovery.aps.k12.co.us/web/guest/home