Explain Everything

Grades: 4-12

Purposes: This content creation app allows teachers and students to create multimodal compositions and presentations.

Cost: A variety of pricing options: free to try, $5.99 for the fully functioning iOS app, and additional educational pricing options for multiple licenses.

Developer’s Website: Explain Everything Website

Platform: iPad, iPhone, and Android tablets; Chromebook and Windows devices; companion web-based Explain Everything Discover with free or paid subscription

Every teacher has his or her favorite content creation app. Typically, it’s a flexible, easy-to-use tool appropriate for a variety of purposes – one that teachers and students can use to capture and share their ideas. Explain Everything is such a tool and may become your new favorite app. Explain Everything is a multimodal content creation and presentation app that you and your students will use again and again. An interactive whiteboard, it combines ease of use with the multimodal capabilities of a sophisticated presentation app and the power of a screen casting tool. Explain Everything allows students to create, collaborate, share, and animate within a single platform – it is an essential tool to add to your digital toolbox!

 

In the Upper Elementary Classroom: Explain Everything can be used to support collaboration and composition in the upper elementary grades.  Students can use the capabilities of the tool to create compositions with their own artwork and animations. When planning for small group work, consider that Explain Everything allows students to work together in a digital environment to create high-quality projects.

In the Secondary Classroom:  For middle and high school teachers looking for new ways to flip the classroom, Explain Everything is a great tool to explore. The screen capturing capabilities and the convenience of online sharing via Explain Everything Discover (available with a subscription) allow teachers to create and share engaging multimodal lessons their students can view at home. In addition, students can create their own projects for any topic and view those created by their peers.

Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4,  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.5

Engage your Students in Transmedia Storytelling with Inanimate Alice

Inanimate Alice is a web-based transmedia story told through interactive, multimodal episodes of increasing complexity.

Grades: Grades 4-10 (depending on purpose)

Purposes: The purposes for using Inanimate Alice are as varied as your instructional goals. These may include: inspiring and promoting creativity, supporting language development, developing students’ multiple literacies and critical literacy skills, supporting STEM-specific instructional goals.

Cost: The first five episodes of the series, each a self-contained story, are free from the browser; each is available in several languages. The Teachers’ Edition Suite for Mac or PC, which allows teachers to download and keep the first five episodes in the series, is available as a single use license ($19.90) or 1:1 Classroom license providing access for up to 35 students plus teacher ($199.00).

Developer’s Website: http://www.inanimatealice.com/

Platforms: Inanimate Alice is web-based and accessible through most browsers. In addition, all episodes are available for download on PC or Mac computers for a small fee.

Are you and your young adolescent students seeking new, exciting literary adventures online? If so, it’s time to explore transmedia storytelling (Scolari, 2009), a multimodal, digital fiction genre. Transmedia storytelling allows writers to go beyond the printed word by utilizing the capabilities and affordances of digital media to convey meaning. For example, an interactive, multimodal tale told in an online e-book format may rely heavily on images, sounds, and activities to introduce the characters, create a particular tone, and move the story forward.

There are many benefits to using transmedia literature in the classroom. First, students find multimodal, interactive texts engaging (Shinas, 2012). They are drawn into the stories by the visual and interactive features that, when used well, deepen the reading experience. In addition, the savvy teacher can plan instruction that supports development of students’ multiliteracies by leveraging the multimodal features of transmedia narratives. For example, middle school teachers might invite students to read and analyze an episode of Inanimate Alice to examine the ways the author uses images, sounds, and color. Finally, transmedia storytelling allows students to engage with text as both readers and composers. Given the known relationship between reading and writing (Harste, 2012), this is an important consideration when planning for literacy and content-specific instruction.

Of course, it is essential to begin your foray into transmedia by selecting high quality literature. Inanimate Alice is digital storytelling at its best. The main character, Alice, is a bright, adventurous young woman who grows up whilst traveling the world with her parents. The team at The Bradfield Company Limited tells Alice’s story using a combination of remarkable images, sound, and animation. The brevity and simplicity of first episode masks the complex use of multimodality to introduce the reader to Alice and tell her story. Each subsequent episode is more sophisticated than the one preceding it. The embedded games and puzzles require readers to read critically and remain engaged throughout. Importantly, the story resonates with young adolescent readers – Alice’s thoughts and experiences feel familiar and authentic.

The first five episodes of Inanimate Alice are available free for online reading or, for a small fee, for download via the newly released Teachers’ Edition Suite for Mac or PC. The latest episode, “The Last Gas Station”, is available for a small fee of $4.99 for a single use license or $49.90 for the 1:1 classroom license, much lower than digital, interactive texts of comparable quality. Busy teachers will appreciate the value and freedom the Teachers’ Edition Suite offers. By downloading the texts for offline use, you will not have to worry about bandwidth issues or a server problem – the episodes will be on your classroom computer/s.

Integrating Inanimate Alice into your curriculum is an excellent way to introduce your older elementary students and young adolescent readers to online reading of digital, multimodal fiction, thus supporting development of students’ 21^st century digital literacy skills (Lamb, 2011). Although the episodes are very appropriate for readers as young as nine or ten years or age, older students will especially benefit from reading and responding to Alice’s adventures. A group of 8^th grade students who participated in a research study that required them to read several episodes of Inanimate Alice found all episodes to be thoroughly engaging.

In the classroom, the sophistication of the story line and the exquisite use of symbols, sound, and imagery provide countless opportunities for students to discuss, analyze, and respond. Moreover, students can create and share their own episodes, thus providing authentic opportunities to compose for various purposes and audiences. See examples of student created episodes inspired by the series here: http://inanimatealice.info/create/

Teachers around the world are using Inanimate Alice in their own classrooms. For examples and ideas to help you get started, be sure to visit the Inanimate Alice website at: http://www.inanimatealice.com/index.html and explore the social media channels aligned with it.

References

Harste, J. C. (2012). Reading-writing connection. The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.

Lamb, A. (2011). Reading Redefined for a Transmedia Universe. Learning & Leading with Technology, 39(3), 12-17.

Scolari, C. (2009). Transmedia storytelling: Implicit consumers, narrative worlds, and branding in contemporary media productions. International Journal of Communication, 3, 586-606. Available at http://ijoc.org

Shinas, V.H. (2012). Reading path and comprehension: An investigation of eight-grade skilled readers‟ engagement with online, multimodal texts. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University Delaware, Newark.

Inquiry and Project-Based Learning with Technology

The energy of K-12 schools seems to change in late spring. As the annual administration of standardized assessments winds down, teachers plan with an eye toward reinforcing skills and content taught across the year. Often, the conversation in the teacher’s room turns to end of year projects. For many teachers, this is the best time of year in the classroom. Classrooms become busy workshops as students are immersed in inquiry-based learning and the creation of presentations or projects. Importantly, inquiry and project-based learning provides many opportunities for students to use their research and writing skills as they explore questions or topics of interest.

As you plan for students’ learning during the last weeks of school, consider how you might use technology to support inquiry. The thoughtful integration of technology allows students to become immersed in research and then to create multimodal projects and presentations for authentic audiences of their classmate, parents, communities, or peers in other parts of the country or the world. There are many ways to begin. We suggest you start with your own inquiry and read about inquiry-based learning with technology for your grade level or discipline. Teachers always need to have a variety of scholarly articles and texts in their toolboxes! Therefore, we recommend the following articles to help you get started:

• Coiro, J., Castek, J., & Quinn, D. (2016). Personal inquiry and online research: Connecting learners in ways that matter. The Reading Teacher, 69(5), 483-492.
• Kingsley, T., & Tancock, S. (2014). Internet inquiry. The Reading Teacher, 67(5), 389-399.
• We also found helpful and interesting the articles presented in the March 2016 themed edition of Voices from the Middle:  http://www.ncte.org/journals/vm/issues/v23-3

Making the Reading-Writing Connection with Technology

It can be difficult to try something new. For some teachers, this is especially true when it comes to technology integration. You may worry that the technology won’t work or that it won’t be available when you need it. You might also wonder if the time spent on digital tools and texts would be better used to support the development or strengthening of traditional literacy skills. Although obstacles to technology integration exist, there is growing evidence that it is necessary to support the development of  online literacy skills among K-12 students (Leu et al., 2013), particularly those who don’t have access at home (Ritzhaupt, Liu, Dawson, & Barron, 2013).

If you are ready to set aside your concerns and think about technology integration, the first step is to get started. It isn’t necessary to be an expert technology user to integrate effectively (Steckel, Shinas, & Van Vaerenewyck, 2015) but it is important to recognize the benefits digital tools offer your students and to have the desire to use technology in purposeful ways. One way to begin is to make the reading-writing connection.

First, identify a content creation app or Web 2.0 for multimodal composing that is available to you and your students. Integration of simple-to-use tools such as Show Me and Educreation create opportunities for students to respond to texts using the affordances of multimodality – image, sounds, video, and words. Model for your students how to use the tool you’ve selected for an authentic purpose such as creating a book review to share with a classmate or parent. Next, introduce your students to an engaging digital text. You might try an online graphic novel such as The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo, an online picture book available through the International Children’s Digital Library, or a transmedia text such as Inanimate Alice – many free texts are available on the Internet. Finally, invite students to create a multimodal reader response to the online text and then share it with their classmates via a digital book talk. Using two simple tools, your students can begin reading and responding to digital texts in ways that are purposeful and build traditional and digital literacy skills.

References

Leu, D. J., Everett‐Cacopardo, H., Zawilinski, J., Mcverry, G., & O’Byrne, W. I. (2013). New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics.

Ritzhaupt, A. D., Liu, F., Dawson, K., & Barron, A. E. (2013). Differences in student information and communication technology literacy based on socio-economic status, ethnicity, and gender: Evidence of a digital divide in Florida schools. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 45(4), 291-307.

Steckel, B., Shinas, V. H., & Van Vaerenewyck, L. (2015). Artistic Technology Integration. The Reading Teacher, 69(1), 41-49.

Little Bird Tales

Grades: K-6 students; teacher tools available in both free and premium formats

Purposes: This multimodal app and companion Web 2.0 tool allows young writers to create multimodal compositions, stories, and podcasts. Teachers can also use the tool to create multimodal, sharable lessons.

Cost: Free; Teacher, School, District, and Family upgrades with increased storage capacity are available ($9.99 for a family of five; $24.99 for single teacher use, which includes 20 student accounts)

Developer’s Website: Little Bird Tales

Platform: iPad, iPhone, Web 2.0

Are you in need of an engaging, easy to use tool for the Writer’s Workshop? Little Bird Tales is a multimodal app with a companion Web 2.0 tool that invites elementary-aged writers to create multimodal compositions, presentations, and podcasts. Available for iPad, iPhone, or via the Internet, teachers can use available technologies to access Little Bird Tales in the classroom or students can use the family computer or a parent’s iPhone to work on their creations at home.  In addition, teachers can use Little Bird Tales to create and share multimodal lessons that address nearly any content objective. Lessons can be shared with students and teachers can share student compositions with parents through individual log ins, ensuring student anonymity.  The flexible, easy to use, and inviting platform makes it the perfect tool for the elementary classroom.

In the Elementary Classroom:  With Little Bird Tales, young writers can create and share digital creations with friends and family.  Using images, sound, and words, students can  create stories, responses to essential questions, research-based presentations, or mini lessons to share with their classmates. Children can design and upload their own artwork or photos, making illustration of their compositions simple for even the youngest writers. In addition, children can record their voices within the app to narrate their compositions, making this a perfect tool for emergent bilinguals.  For older students, the app and website are engaging and flexible, allowing them to create sophisticated e-books and presentations that include imported images, original digital artwork, and audio files. We encourage you to give Little Bird Tales a try!

Can be used to support the following Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.5