Create & Share

   A list created by Kristen Paino on a List.ly page titled Digital Storytelling/Content Creation iPad Apps got me thinking about the importance of the importance of utilizing iOS or other handheld devices for creating as well as consuming. Yes, iDevices are excellent for gaming and there are a ton of great educational games that can and do support standards. But we'd be amiss to start bringing carts of them into our classrooms simply with this purpose.
   Kristen's list contains excellent tools for digital storytelling in several different ways: drawing and writing, narrated slideshows, puppet shows, and more. Creating takes the iDevice a step further (not to mention taking Bloom's Taxonomy a few steps higher!). Like any form of creation it engages the student on a new level with their knowledge and experiences. It lets them interact with what they know in the digital world and provides the opportunity to share those creations on a wider scale.
   Of course creating on any iDevice sometimes gets folks confused with how to get the finished product to somewhere where others can see it. While a few creation-based apps allow you to export to Flickr, Youtube or other video/photo sites, some merely create an image, video, or e-pub (ebook). Dropbox is an excellent tool to link even a whole class set of iDevices together. There's a public folder in Dropbox that will allow you to copy a public link, post it, and share your created content. We use a Posterous blog to share some e-books our 5th and 3rd graders created this year. You'll need an iPhone, iPod, or iPad to view them. So check out the list, try an e-book or digital story creator app and get your kids creating!