Category Archives: Reading Gems

Reading Fiction in a Web 2.0 world. An experiment.

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Web 2.0 has changed the way we do so many things.

So I wonder if it is possible to sustain a piece of fiction using only Web 2.0 tools…a story told through blogs, wikis and other tools.  Not your usual piece of digital storytelling – I’m thinking major pieces of fiction, possibly serialised, that follow the thoughts and events of characters across a range of formats.  The ‘un-novel’ might use a combination of materials such as youtube clips, blog entries, Nings, podcasts, twitter and the like, to track characters and expose their inner thoughts.

I believe this type of fiction has a lot of potential.  I see teachers of the future introducing Web 2 ‘Story Quests’ or ‘un-novels’ to launch students on a narrative journey with a real difference.  I see students learning to piece together the elements of a narrative from visual, audio and written cues.

I like it.

It could be like a treasure hunt (The ‘treasure’ being the story itself!)

It might even be fun.

There is already a lot of fiction online.  However, it tends to be the same traditional format as offline fiction… youtube instead of movies, and ebooks and ezines instead of books and magazines.  The ‘un-novel’ is different, it crosses several mediums, and with so much happening online these days stories should be different.
Some of the online work that ‘almost’ qualifies as the ‘un-novel’ is listed below but I would love to hear of any others:

•    Inanimate Alice
•    We Tell Stories

However, I decided to experiment with this idea on my own.  My ‘un-novel’ begins with a blog post and a central character with no idea what she has just revealed about herself and her family…let me know what you think.  Can you guess what happens?  Can you guess this girl’s name?  Are you intrigued…or just bored by the whole idea?

Check out the Shakespeare’s Girl shakespearegirlblogblog:

Teachers sharing = lots of Learning Gems!

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Teachers have always shared material and ideas (some better than others, it’s true) and now the Internet has made sharing much easier for all of us.

I must admit to being a slow sharer; I always thought my work and ideas unworthy until I was encouraged by several colleagues. However, once I started sharing I was unstoppable!

A light bulb moment

Anyway, it suddenly occurred to me that as a blogger, I now have a way to share materials with a wider audience and, hopefully, save someone a little bit of time or, even better, inspire them!

So here goes…

Sharing some recent ideas:

Literature Discovery Festival

I’m quite pleased with this idea…feel free to use it if it suits your school situation. I decided one week to celebrate literature and reading was simply not enough! Rather than one ‘Book Week’ I decided my school needed a three week festival to celebrate books, reading, writing, literacy…etc. It includes author visits. During the festival I am running a daily quiz and several competitions including:

Fifty-word story competition: I’ve run this completion before and was quite surprised how well it worked.

Bookmark book review competition: Designed this sheet yesterday to simplify the book review process .

I hope the above handouts and ideas are useful to you and save you little bit of time!

During the festival I am also running an adapted version of the reading game. (The link is a Powerpoint presentation explaining the game.) I have adapted the game to suit my school library.

Enjoy!

PS: Please let me know if you find these ideas useful.

Visiting Authors are Gems!

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What a journey!  Twitter, Voicethreads, Diigo, del.icio.us, YouTube, Second Life…the list goes on (and on!)  I’ve been so busy exploring the learning potential of these tools that I almost forgot the relatively simple pleasure and excitement generated by a visiting author.

I recently invited popular author, Archie Fusillo, (The Dons, On the Mat, Bruises…) to work with students in Years 9 and 10.  His writing workshops were a huge success and the air was abuzz with that ‘learning vibe’ or hum that teachers everywhere recognise.   The students loved him.  They laughed a lot but were also challenged to examine the writing process and reflect on the ‘sound’ of good writing. 

Archie is funny, down-to-earth and a natural storyteller.   His visit provided a positive learning experience and a timely reminder for me…’Learning Gems’ take many forms and it’s important to find a balance between face-to-face interaction and the wonders of Web 2.0!

‘Inanimate Alice’ and the future of e-reading.

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I wonder how many teachers have seen their schools purchase new ‘Wow-factor’ technology only to find it used to continue and reinforce outdated teaching methods. In the wrong hands a PowerPoint presentation can be just as monotonous as an hour of ‘chalk and talk’. Similarly, an e-learning course can be little more than an online presentation of black-line masters if not constructed to be engaging and stimulating.

In my opinion one of the best things about the 2.0 shift is the way many educators are now using technologies for different types of teaching and learning. Thinking has changed. Educational opportunities emerge almost daily and I recently discovered something with enormous potential: Inanimate Alice, interactive “multi-sensory” storytelling.

As a teacher-librarian I have been quite sceptical about the benefits of e-books, especially in terms of their ability to encourage students to read. Online books do not conjure up cosy images of reading; they still need to be read in the ‘traditional’ way. However, Inanimate Alice is different and I believe it represents the future of e-reading and online storytelling.

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