Digital Literacy

Digital Dispatch: Biodiversity Quest in Chicago, Week 3

The students from Bouchet Academy are scattered around the Tropical River area at Lincoln Park Zoo's McCormick Bird House taking part in an ethology activity (the study of animal behavior) to sharpen their scientific observation skills. A variety of birds surround them, mostly nestled in small trees or walking on the ground. Occasionally, a bird flies over the students’ heads and someone tries to snap a picture with their smartphone. Each student has selected a bird in the area to watch closely for three minutes. Every ten seconds a zoo staff member directs them to “Look!” and the students quickly make a note on their clipboard about the behavior their particular bird exhibits.

Tool Review: Storify

One of the most common concerns I hear from educators when we’re discussing using social media tools with youth is the sheer number of sites out there. Using new media for information gathering requires patience. It can be really hard to make sense of how an event or topic is being played out across the major platforms: tracking topics across Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, YouTube, and blogs requires a real desire to see what’s happening in real time. Even if you’re a seasoned web browser tab jockey or use a social media aggregator like FriendFeed, events in a timeline without context or analysis aren’t being displayed to their best advantage.

Storify is an online platform that allows users to bring together disparate entries from various new media platforms and curate a story.