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SOS! Save Our Stories

Introduction SOS! Save Our Stories is now an interactive factional narrative created collaboratively by the Year 6 students Jus ta at St Hilda’s ASG as part of an AISWA action research sto st he ry spy a project. llo to gla ws at ss i the ime nt the and use This project was designed to give participating his viv r p t lac i o d teachers and students a richer cross curriculum tra wo by ec rd Yea rea vel perspective of both the English and History learning pic r6 t ed tur gir ASG w ith es c ls f areas of the Australian Curriculum. in The main framework used to drive the project was National Museum Australia’s ‘Australian Journeys Collection’ and their educational activities resource pack.

raf rom Per ted th, S t ltim so Hild e t dia oo a’s the do enh yh the ave anc eme enc som nts ode eo dw ft ith he in vis ima ual ges …… mu

This invaluable educational asset enabled us to use museum primary sources to explore how the journeys of people and objects have connected Australia to the world physically, mentally and spiritually.

LINK http://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/16301/Australian_journeys_all_colour.pdf

The Project

The Project To maximise the student connection with the curriculum content, the final stories, created in class language time as pop up books and word docs, were then published in a digital format and enhanced with student generated interactive activities including word searches, fallen phrases, crosswords, QR tags encoded with multimedia support material and apps created for our android tablet mobile learning platform.

Mix Book was the tool chosen to authentically publish student work. This valuable web 2.0 tool is, as their advertising states: ‘the easy and fun way to make completely customizable photo books, cards, and calendars on the web – for free. With Mixbook, you aren’t limited to static predesigned templates – our powerful design software gives you the freedom to lay out and design your creations to your heart’s content. We’ve dedicated ourselves to bringing you the best experience in creating photo products so that you can make keepsakes that truly reflect your vision. With Mixbook, you can truly Make It Yours™’.

Using Mixbook we were able to incorporate digital images and photos produced by the students to enhance not only the main story line but also the individual poems, diary entries and narratives that make up SOS! Save Our Stories.

LINK http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/education/save-our-stories-current-remix-7159461

Project (continued)

Our Book Includes • student narratives, poetry and diary entries, • a selection of interactive content related activities created by students using Discovery Education’s free puzzle generation tool

LINK

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/freepuzzlemaker/?CFID=632280&CFTOKEN=19459642

• a sitehoover bibliography with links to all resources used throughout the project

LINK

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/freepuzzlemaker/?CFID=632280&CFTOKEN=19459642

Project (continued)

Our Book Includes • a timeline of the Australian Journeys created using Timetoast,

LINK

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/new

• a timeline of the Australian Journeys created using Timetoast,

Classes at St Hilda’s had been involved in using Quick Response tags and mobile devices for cross – curricular learning activities across a number of year levels and learning areas. These activities have personalised the learning opportunities of students from kindergarten through to Year 6. Year 5 and 6 students had been researching curriculum related information and creating their own tags encoded with multimedia material capable of augmenting a variety of their learning experiences. The use of QR codes in conjunction with the AISWA Faction writing project afforded our students the chance to use Quick Response tags to add this interesting creative dimension to students’ factional stories.

Simply put, a QR code is a 3D barcode. It’s a much more sophisticated version of the barcodes that we use on books for scanning in the library or on packaging at the supermarket. It requires a bar code reader which can be any device that has a camera so you can scan or take a picture of the code, a programme to do the decoding and web access to see where the code takes you. We use iPod Touch devices and ASUS android tablets for tag reading. Any computer scanner could be used but we prefer the functionality afforded by mobile and untethered learning.

Our Apps of choice are the Microsoft Tags and reader because of their customisation capabilities. Students can blend tags with content related images, further visually reinforcing their learning opportunity.

Project (continued)

Why A QR Code?

QR

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es c an con 400 tai 0c n of har inf a cte orm you rs ati can o n, put of at inf onn orm e a jus tio n in to ne cod e up

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Because QR Codes can contain up to 4000 characters of information, you can put a tonne of information in just one code. They enable access to urls that are limited in function only by the creativity of the individual.

In SOS! Save Our Stories, the stories are enriched by multimedia videos, slideshows, web pages, timelines, interactive learning objects, podcasts and picture cubes which were created during a BYOD (bring your own device) IT camp and timetable block out day held in the library / lab simultaneously for the 3 Year 6 classes.

This opportunity was a very successful collaborative strategy and instrumental in the production of a very high standard of multimedia for interactive use in the project.

During the BYOD day, students used the internet and the National Museum Australia site as a starting point to gather materials and collect memories. They gathered old photos, vintage film reels, digital video, flyers, and mementos - anything that held a powerful connection to their written narrative.

They were to avoid visually capturing a story with a video camera and instead use authentic resources and materials that would be more powerful. They were to resist the temptation to take the easy way out and create a story with only images and music and were to keep it real.

The students were given free rein to bring their own equipment and use any software of their choice to help tell their stories. Scanners were used to include traditional photos and ipod touches were used as recording devices when required.

Project (continued)

Why A QR Code?

Incorporated in the text as QR tags, these digitised enhancements add an interactive component to the story that allows the reader to further explore and play in the pages and, most importantly, connect more meaningfully with the curriculum content.

Readers are now able to •

journey on the Hong Hai – the first case of refugee ‘boat people’ landing on Australia’s shores,

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interactively explore Libby Hathorn’s picture book The Wishing Cupboard,

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explore the lives of two European women who lived through World War 11 before immigrating to Australia to start a new life,

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connect with Shaun Tan’s resources for his book The Arrival,

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enter several well-known portals via video,

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listen and view student stories and become time travellers.

Using AppsGeyser, a free app creator tool, SOS! Save Our Stories and different multimedia segments within the pages have now been recreated as Android apps. These SOS! apps allow easy access and connection with content such as a student created simulation of the National Museum of Australia’s ‘Australian Journeys Collection’, an investigation of The Wishing Cupboard from Libby Hathorn’s picture book and a re-enactment of the Journey of the Hong Hai and the first Vietnamese boat people.

We have thoroughly enjoyed becoming multimedia time travellers as a part of this AISWA project and value the learning opportunities that this project has provided.

Robin McKean Deputy Head Junior School St Hilda’s ASG Mosman Park Perth