Friday 28 October 2011

Photo Story – an ICT-resource for everyone!?

I have used Photo Story a couple of times myself and I am astonished every time I see the result.
In a very easy way you can create stories that really look professional.

Photo Story is a free software but you need to download it. You can find a link to it on the PIM pages right here. I chose to get it from PIM because I hope it is a safe web page.
It is easy to download and to get started with.
You use this software when you want to show your pictures or make a story out of your pictures.

When you start to make your Photo Story you will be guided through the whole work by instructions. The instructions are very easy to follow. The students have no trouble following them, even the students that are not so used to work with a computer manage to do it, especially if they work in groups.

The first thing to do is to import pictures from a file. You can use photos, pictures that you have scanned or pictures you have got from multimediabyrån or fotofinnaren where the pictures are free to use.
When you have the pictures you need you can choose if you want something written on the pictures. You can also edit your pictures, for example cut and rotate them.
There are also some special effects you can use on your pictures, for example, colour pencils that makes the picture look like a painting. The students will love this function, I do. It’s amazing to see a photo turn into a nice drawing in grey-scale. That function can make your photos turn into a picture book.

The next part to do with your project is to record a narrator. In this part of the work you can also decide how the pictures will tune in or tune out.
Here I think it’s important to discuss with the student how they do this. If you have too many different ways of tuning in and out the pictures it will destroy the story.
Every time you do any changes you are able to preview it, that gives you an opportunity to experiment to get the best result.

The next thing to add to your project is music in the background. You can find very useful and suitable music on multimediabyrån (linked above) that is free to use. When the students are choosing music there can be an interesting discussion about the choice of music, what kind of music fits to the story, will the story change if you choose different kind of music?
The last thing to do with your story is to save it to a media file, and the Photo Story is ready to be presented.

How can I as a teacher use this ICT-resource?
I can make stories from photos for the students to watch.
If I want to tell the parents how we work in school it is a nice way to tell it by a Photo Story that the students have created together.
I can also make very short stories for the younger children, stories with text and a story teller so they can read and listen at the same time.
Watching a Photo Story made by students give you an opportunity to assess the students' pronunciation. Some students feel more comfortable if they are alone when they record their voice.
To use Photo Story is also a way to work thematically with many subjects involved, as the new syllabus advice us to do. This way you work with for example English, Art and Swedish (different ways to make an presentation).

The student can use Photo Story in many ways.
They can present a project as a Photo Story, for example present a work about their favourite sports, a country or an animal.
They can write a story together or use a story that they know and illustrate it by taking photos or painting pictures to scan. Older students can make Photo Stories to be used by younger students.


How the students work with Photo Story can be different, they can work alone or they can work in pair, groups or the entire class can do a Photo Story together.

What do you need to make this work? When you have downloaded the software you don’t need to be connected to internet unless you don’t want to get pictures or music. You need a headset with a microphone. If you want to use your own photos you need a camera and if you want to use your paintings you need a scanner.

I really recommend you to use Photo Story and give your students a chance to be proud of their work.

Annelie Jakobsson

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