Richard D. Solomon's Blog on Mentoring Jewish Students and Teachers: Introduction to Story Bird a web-based book and story creation tool

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Introduction to Story Bird a web-based book and story creation tool

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices, and demonstrate how these best practices can be applied in the real (i.e. physical) and virtual (i.e. online) classroom for both teaching and teacher training. The combination of face to face instruction in a physical setting and online learning is called blended learning. In this section of the blog we will describe how the internet can serve as a supplemental resource for instruction and the mentoring of pre-service and in-service Jewish educators. In this post we will begin our discussion on how students in a Judaic Studies blended learning classroom can use Story Bird to create their own books or stories.

Assumption: The teacher or mentor teacher has a interactive white board (i.e. SMART Board, Promethean, etc.), a Tablet PC (also called a Slate or Blade), a computer presenter or computer with internet access attached to an LCD projector in the classroom. It would be ideal if students or mentees had access to their own laptop computers or Ipads. Given parental and school approval, and the development of specific guidelines, smartphones can be used to enhance instruction as well.

Note: Although Story Bird can be applied in the Judaic Studies blended learning classroom, it can be also be used for training pre-service and in-service Jewish educators for professional or staff development. It is our hope that Jewish educators around the globe will form an online community of practice, a CoP, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession, to enhance the delivery of instruction and training of Jewish educators. For example, here is a CoP you might want to join.

Note: Story Bird can be used in both a physical and virtual classroom.

What is Story Bird?

Story Bird is a web-based book or story creation internet application.

Where is Story Bird located on the web?

http://storybird.com/

Where can you find helpful tutorials on how to use Story Bird?

Click on the links below for tutorials on Story Bird:

On the next post we will share resources describing how Story Bird can be utilized to facilitate learning inside and outside of the Judaic Studies classroom.