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March 1, 2003
Integrating Digital File Formats into Classroom Instruction
By Andrea Baker
I am a high school library media specialist, and also have experience as an elementary school library media specialist. This is the third year I've been collaborating with classroom teachers and helping plan multimedia projects in which students search, archive, and retrieve digital file formats from the Web to enhance their units of study. I can honestly say this process has been the most exciting and rewarding during my 15-year career in public education. Students from second grade to twelfth-grade can successfully search file formats on-line.
I begin the process by offering an in-service to teachers explaining and showing examples of what a digital file format is. The focus is very narrow at first because the concept is foreign to so many educators. I share with teachers examples of .wav (uncompressed sound bites), .jpg (for "jpeg" or "joint photographic expert group"; looks like a photograph), and animated .gif (graphical interchange format; looks like a cartoon or sketch-256 colors maximum). I might have a .jpg of George Washington Carver on a slide teamed with a sound bite of him actually speaking about making products from peanuts.
Another example I may share with teachers is a .jpg of Franklin Delano Roosevelt along with a .wav of him delivering his famous "December 7th, a day that will live in infamy" speech. Consider how students studying the Harlem Renaissance can have this unit enriched by searching for Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train", as well as other .wav files (e.g. Langston Hughes' poetry read aloud) on the Web. I also share other examples (e.g. a .wav of Sandra Day O'Connor acknowledging her nomination to the Supreme Court, or a .wav of Mohandas Gandhi speaking about his core life beliefs), always cognizant of having a balance between males and females as well as people representing various ethnicities.
The method used to search for these files is to use the search engine Google (http://www.google.com), and design the search using the fewest words necessary to zero in on the file, as well as adding the desired file type to the search string. For example, if I wanted to search for John F. Kennedy's famous "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech, I would set up my search in Google as follows "ask not kennedy .wav" Another example of a search string would be "horse animated .gif," or "George Washington .jpg". When I do an in-service and demonstrate how to design searches, I often advise teachers that their searches will most likely not be done as quickly as mine, mainly because I have done these searches ahead of time to expedite instruction.
I demonstrate to them how to save the file type. Right clicking on the .jpg or .gif, and right clicking on the .wav hyperlink is the method I employ to save to the local area network. I encourage teachers to save to the network instead of the workstation since that makes their files and projects that much more mobile. I also demonstrate how to insert these files into a PowerPoint project, as well as how to test the animated .gif and .wav files. Animated .gifs will not move in Office 97 PowerPoint, but will move or animate in Office 2000 PowerPoint. I also demonstrate how to check the speakers for mute in case the teacher cannot hear the sound byte. Nuances and potential problems like these need to be explained to teachers ahead of time to avoid frustration. Success breeds enthusiasm!
I also show teachers what the inside of a digital file looks like by opening the file in an ACSII text editor. Teachers have a more concrete idea of the difference between the concepts analog and digital when they see the hexadecimal representation of the bits in the file. It is also effective at this juncture to show different examples of analog and digital items used in everyday life (e.g. a clock with hands, a VHS tape, a music CD) to further demonstrate the differences between analog and digital. Lastly, I review copyright law and give teachers a firm understanding of when and how digital files may be used within the parameters of "Fair Use." For example, I would never use any of these digital files on a school web site without getting the consent of the copyright holder. This makes a great segue to also teach the correct way to cite a digital file using MLA, APA or Chicago styles.
I conclude the in-service by offering my services if classroom teachers are interested in having students search for files within the parameters of a full fledged assignment. It is vital the media specialist offer to assist the teacher at least the first few times students search for files. At least two adults are needed to answer students' questions. I also encourage teachers to begin teaching their students about digital file types by assigning biographical projects. Projects on people just seem to flow (e.g. suggested slides might be a). when born; b). early years; c). education; d). young adult; e). middle years; f). later years; g). accomplishments; h). death; and I). famous quote). Students modify these suggested slides accordingly. I also have a "storyboard" I have designed available on the shared directory of the network. This serves as a great planning tool, so when students sit down to insert text and files into their PowerPoint projects everything is laid out on paper logically, sequentially, and cogently.
A sample time frame for completing such a multimedia project with students is:
- Day 1: in-print and on-line research
- Day 2: search and archive .jpgs
- Day 3: search and archive .wavs
- Day 4: search and archive animated .gifs
- Day 5: start to storyboard
- Day 6: continue to storyboard
- Day 7: enter text into PowerPoint
- Day 8: insert digital file types
- Day 9: practice (the ability to use Standard English in a presentation type situation is a South Carolina curriculum standard)
- Day 10: share projects with parents in the classroom
At the elementary level, a great way to introduce students to digital file formats is to guide the students at a certain grade level (I prefer doing this activity with second graders) in a classroom study of holiday customs around the world. For example, if there are 6 classes comprised of second grade students, one classroom might do a project on Kwanzaa, another research Hanukkah, yet another Christmas in Germany, Christmas in Brazil, and so on. Students may search for a .jpg of marzipan or a dreidel, or may opt to select a .wav of "Oh, Tannenbaum." The end result is that the class, rather than a student or a team of students, has a class project.
This is an ideal way to use the existing hardware and technology infrastructure in our schools to enhance instruction and learning. The process is as important as the product. Students are actively engaged in their own learning in a manner where they can express their individuality. Teachers can adapt the assignment to incorporate as many of the state curriculum standards as their situation warrants. The school administration can use this process as a rationale for further hardware funding, and this is a great public relations tool to enhance home and school liaisons. Go for it! There is a wealth of digital files on the Web just waiting for you.
Email: Andrea Ralston
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