This week I created my first Storybird picture book and assignment.
On first glance, Storybird seemed a little too simplistic and picture-based for me to see the benefits, but after using the site for a while I became engrossed by the beautiful artwork and the potential creative benefits! The website is aesthetically pleasing and presents some wonderful pictures from the moment you arrive in the homepage, which I think works to capture the audience from the start. In terms of making the storybook, it's all fairly self-explanatory and easy to use, but there are some useful "how to" tutorials available on YouTube. You'll see a link to my first picture book in the Lesson Planning section of the website, where I've used the pictures to reflect emotional vocabulary, and simply suggested that learners do the same.
There's also the function of creating more formal assignments through Storybird. Click here to check out my assignment, where I ask the class to create a story using the past simple tense. It is worth noting that to set up an assignment in Storybird you need to set up a class account and invite your students. Again, there are tutorials on how to set this up here, but I found the process fairly intuitive.
The potential uses of this website are vast; it's great for grammar practice, writing skills, matching words to pictures, creating vocabulary themes, and because of this flexibility it's a great tool for learners of all ages and abilities. Young learners are an obvious target audience with the creative simplicity of the tasks, but more mature classes with visual learning styles could also benefit from using the site to enhance their creativity and productive skills. Pim (2013) suggests that storytelling also promotes active reading through maximising student engagement, which we as teachers can facilitate via the use of websites such as these. Storybird can be used in class, with the teacher advising and monitoring creations, but it is also a useful tool for homework assignments where learners can spend their own time being creative and learning autonomously through this format. Teachers can give feedback in class or via the website, and peer feedback can be invited once learners publish their stories.
On first glance, Storybird seemed a little too simplistic and picture-based for me to see the benefits, but after using the site for a while I became engrossed by the beautiful artwork and the potential creative benefits! The website is aesthetically pleasing and presents some wonderful pictures from the moment you arrive in the homepage, which I think works to capture the audience from the start. In terms of making the storybook, it's all fairly self-explanatory and easy to use, but there are some useful "how to" tutorials available on YouTube. You'll see a link to my first picture book in the Lesson Planning section of the website, where I've used the pictures to reflect emotional vocabulary, and simply suggested that learners do the same.
There's also the function of creating more formal assignments through Storybird. Click here to check out my assignment, where I ask the class to create a story using the past simple tense. It is worth noting that to set up an assignment in Storybird you need to set up a class account and invite your students. Again, there are tutorials on how to set this up here, but I found the process fairly intuitive.
The potential uses of this website are vast; it's great for grammar practice, writing skills, matching words to pictures, creating vocabulary themes, and because of this flexibility it's a great tool for learners of all ages and abilities. Young learners are an obvious target audience with the creative simplicity of the tasks, but more mature classes with visual learning styles could also benefit from using the site to enhance their creativity and productive skills. Pim (2013) suggests that storytelling also promotes active reading through maximising student engagement, which we as teachers can facilitate via the use of websites such as these. Storybird can be used in class, with the teacher advising and monitoring creations, but it is also a useful tool for homework assignments where learners can spend their own time being creative and learning autonomously through this format. Teachers can give feedback in class or via the website, and peer feedback can be invited once learners publish their stories.
The benefits of this collaborative, creative approach are discussed further in Bikowski's paper on The Pedagogy of Collaboration (2014), which also focuses on increased learner motivation through self-expression and creativity; something that I think Storybird greatly facilitates.
I wouldn't find this very useful with more advanced learners as it may seem too simple for them, and those with a more formal learning style who need more structure may struggle with the creativity and imagination required to use this effectively. Another thing to keep in mind with Storybird is that it is quite time intensive to introduce to your class. It will take some time for you and your learners to get to grips with the format, then you need to factor in the time to actually complete the activities, so you will need to consider if the time invested is worthwhile and goes towards effectively meeting your learner aims before proceeding. What are your thoughts on the usefulness of Storybird?
References:
Bikowski, D. (2014) The Pedagogy of Collaboration: teaching effectively within an evolving technology landscape. In: Innovation in English Language Teacher Education (2014, Hyperabad, India). New Dehli: British Council, pp. 223-231.
Pim, C. (2013) Emerging technologies, emerging minds: digital innovations within the primary sector. Innovations in Learning Technologies for English Language Teaching, London: British Council, pp. 17-42.
I wouldn't find this very useful with more advanced learners as it may seem too simple for them, and those with a more formal learning style who need more structure may struggle with the creativity and imagination required to use this effectively. Another thing to keep in mind with Storybird is that it is quite time intensive to introduce to your class. It will take some time for you and your learners to get to grips with the format, then you need to factor in the time to actually complete the activities, so you will need to consider if the time invested is worthwhile and goes towards effectively meeting your learner aims before proceeding. What are your thoughts on the usefulness of Storybird?
References:
Bikowski, D. (2014) The Pedagogy of Collaboration: teaching effectively within an evolving technology landscape. In: Innovation in English Language Teacher Education (2014, Hyperabad, India). New Dehli: British Council, pp. 223-231.
Pim, C. (2013) Emerging technologies, emerging minds: digital innovations within the primary sector. Innovations in Learning Technologies for English Language Teaching, London: British Council, pp. 17-42.