An important element which guides a teacher in a right (required) direction is the curriculum. Shelly, Gunter, and Gunter (2010) define curriculum as the “Knowledge, skills, and performance standards students are expected to acquire in particular grad levels…on subject matter units of instruction…” p. 324. Moreover, the “combination of all technology parts, such as hardware and software, together with each subject-related” (Shelly et al., 2010, p. 327) is defines as curriculum integration.
Indeed, the main purpose of this integration is to enhance learning by helping teachers to meet the “curriculum standards and learner outcomes for each lesson, unit, or activity” (Shelly et al., 2010, p. 327). In this regard, many argue that using technology to explain a concept or an idea, or telling a traditional story, i.e., digital storytelling (Anonymous, n.d.) will enhance learning. Moreover, such integration in the curricula is strongly encouraged.
Based on my understanding and exposure to curriculum integration and digital storytelling included in our recent readings and activities, I am asked to plan a digital storytelling project for my students. Among the courses I teach, I plan to select Beginning Algebra (BA)—a college-preparatory course which supplements the algebraic background of students prior to taking upper-level mathematics courses. For the past three months, I have been trying to identify and integrate appropriate technology in my BA course.
Given that an important and challenging aspect of algebra is to correlate algebraic equations and their applications, related digital storytelling projects will be excellent (in almost all units in BA) for my students. I think that such projects will enhance their understandings of the corresponding concepts as they collaborate while developing their projects.
I may assign developing digital storytelling projects to explain how first- and second-degree equations are applicable in our daily lives. An example of such projects may be: Describe a real life situation, translate it to an algebraic equation, and solve it. For such a project, I may ask incorporating both audio and video (using digital camera and/or PowerPoint) with a maximum duration of 5 minutes. Among many online resources, I may suggest using Slideshare, Prezi, Animoto, and Voicethread.
References
Anonymous (n.d.). Digital storytelling in plain English. Retrieved October 17, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP6CeGLPuOY
Shelly, G. B., Gunter, G. A., Gunter, R. E. (2010). Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom. (6th ed.). Boston: Course Technology.
