Last spring, Youtube released a tool called: Youtube Search Story Creator. You may have seen this famous video called: Parisian Love that was shown on a television ad during Superbowl.
This tool is simple to use and could be a great digital story telling tool in the classroom or school.
A few ideas:
1) Have students use a main character in a story and decide what types of Google searches she/he would have done throughout the story. This would elicit discussions about events, character choices, point of view, critical thinking skills, sequencing and other strategies
2) Have student use themselves – pick 4 topics that they would have ‘Googled’ this past weekend. Other student must INFER what it was the student was doing or trying to do.
3) Have schools use this tool to demonstrate what topics are being taught (teachers can pool together what type of searches they are doing).
4) Teachers can use this tool to demonstrate what subjects or strands are being taught – as an overview
5) How to plan a trip? Have student go through the different stages of planning a trip. Partner up the students and they can narrate each others stories. Integrate this into a mapping or social studies lesson.
6) Have your students create a Search Story to tell you about their interests.
7) Create a search story as a way to discuss one’s digital footprints.
8) Teach students to go from very general to very specific when discussing a topic.
9) ?
10) ?
The tool is somewhat customizable, allowing you to search pictures, maps, blogs and choose your own music. You need to use your youtube account (google account) to upload the final product.
Example of one that I did – demonstrates “me”.
Here – Doug Peterson uses the tool to tell a story about his digital footprint, his interests and his current projects.
If you have any further suggestions or can share a digital story that you have tried with this tool, please consider adding it to my list.
Additional Resources:
@teachertracks lists some excellent ideas about how to use Google Search Stories in your classroom in her blog: Teacher Tracks