Emerging Technology #2: Storybird

I chose to research Storybird as my second emerging technology because it seemed very interesting and easy-to-use. Once again, I had never heard of this technology before taking this class.

First, I will explain what Storybird is. Storybird is a tool that allows users to create their own online storybooks based on art. Storybird allows users to view collections of art and encourages people to become inspired to write stories based on these works of art. Storybird also has a feature where users can share their creations with others on the web through an online library or database of Storybirds. Storybirds can be created for a wide range of ages and reading levels. One advantage to using Storybirds is that the stories are entirely online, so they can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. Furthermore, because the stories are entirely electronic, Storybird provides an environmentally-friendly way to publish stories. The basic version of Storybird is free to use. The creators of Storybird expect to be expanding the features offered in the near future, including some that will cost additional fees to use.

Here are just a few ideas of how Storybird could be used efficiently in the classroom:
1. Use Storybird to help students brainstorm by looking at the artwork before writing a short story.
2. Use Storybird to allow students to practice interpreting art.
3. Give students writing prompts and challenge them to select the art that best accompanies their written response.
4. Have students work together to write a story(one person helps with the visuals, one writes the story, etc.)
5. Have your students "play pretend" by writing stories through Storybird.
6. Create mothers' day and fathers' day stories for special occasions.
7. Have students introduce themselves by creating a Storybird of themselves.
8. Work collaboratively as a class to create a classroom story.
9. Create individual stories for each of your students (according to each student's reading level).
10. Have your students create their own stories and then read them to younger students or even special education students (peer tutor).
11. Have your students create their own "history" through a Storybird.

Although I thought that Storybird was very simple and easy to use, I did encounter a few problems. One issue that I came across was that you cannot print the stories out for use in the classroom. You have to access the Storybird online. However, through research, I discovered that Storybird is still in Beta testing. The creators of Storybird posted a note on the website (http://www.storybird.com/) that they will be adding the printing option soon. Another problem that I encountered was that there were not any specific instructions for creating a Storybird. I had to experiment with the features to create my own Storybird. It would have been much easier for me to use this application if there had been instructions for me to follow. That being said, I was able to figure out how the application worked fairly quickly. Yet another issue that I had with using Storybird was that there was not a lot of groups of graphics that complemented each other. Because of this, the Storybird that I made was only 4 or 5 pages long and I used all of the graphics in the set that I selected. As it stands right now, Storybird is intended only for creating short stories, not longer tales. Here is a link to the creators' blog: http://blog.storybird.com/. I found this blog to be very helpful and informative!

Here is a link to the Storybird that I created about my daughter Emma. My story is called "Emma's New Christmas Dress".

https://webmail.iu.edu/horde/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fstorybird.com%2Fbooks%2Femmas-new-christmas-dress%2F%3Ftoken%3Du5k79f