Last Week of Field Experience

In this reflection, I will talk about Digital Stories. Now that I am done with my field experience, I look back and wish that I had done a digital story for the students. However, the students did not have appropriate computer access to do so. This caused me to reflect on the impact digital stories have on student learning.
How will the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far help me communicate with my students? If you, the teacher, are making the digital story, you are in control of what the content of the digital story is. You are in control of the pace and the message being put forth for the students. A digital story allows the teacher to communicate whatever they want to their students. Also, you are in control the "feel" of the story. For example, if you are doing one on Martin Luther King, Jr., you'd want it to be emotional and powerful through music and images. However, if you are doing one on the making of The Three Stooges, it may use fun music and funny video clips.
How will the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far help me communicate with my students' parents? The parents will be able to view the video from home since it would be online. They would know what their children are learning in school and what method is being used to teach them (i.e. using technology). Parents are very protective of their children and want to know what's going on while they are at school. A lot can be done through the digital story that can be incorporated into the home and family.
How will the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far help me communicate with my colleagues? Other teachers in my school could use the video to teach about that same topic too. For example, if the grade was doing a unit on recycling, we would have a competition between the classes in the school/grade to see which class can gather the most recyclable items, and whoever wins gets to take a field trip to a recycling plant and bring all of the items from the school and watch them be recycled.
Why are these tools so popular with my students? Students these days are so interested in technology, and any chance they are given in school to use technology, they would love. Also, if the students know that their teacher made it just for them, they may be even more interested because it has that personal touch from their teacher. They may gain more respect for their teacher as well once they know that their teacher has the knowledge of how to make such a video that can be used to teach information.
In which ways might I employ the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far to achieve classroom objectives? Since the teacher is in complete control about what will be delivered to the students, regardless of whether or not it is made by the teacher or picked out from TeacherTube.com, any objective can be taught through digital stories. The stories can be as specific or vague as the teacher wants them to be, and they can be picked out depending on the age group of the audience, which is very important to take into consideration.
What are the pros and cons of the communication tools/social networking tools learned so far? The pros of a digital story are that it takes the students through a process that is either emotional, entertaining, or just outright interesting. That way, the students can see why it is important of that certain topic. Another pro of a digital story is that it won't be geared towards an older audience other than your target audience, so you (the teacher) are in control of the content. This way, the students are more engaged in watching the video. A con of a video is that it can be low quality sometimes and some students may lose interest because it was "home made". Another con of it is that it isn't interactive. The video isn't a lesson in itself, but it has to be used in a lesson to learn more information.