STUDENTS AS A DIGITAL AUTHORS
A. LANGUAGE LEARNING VIA WEB PUBLISHING
Language skills can be fully developed by allowing students to communicate through the internet. This
may take place when the students or the class will be required to post a story or other products on a
bulletin board or web page.
Two ways to contribute any authored documents to the World Wide Web (WWW)
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The advent of ready-made websites.
Create their own webpage.
The following are examples of existing websites that inspire students to submit their authored products.
To be able to submit to these websites, it pays to explore their web sites and pay attention to their
submission guidelines.
a. The Diary Project
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This digital authoring websites encourages students to contribute their narrations or daily
diaries with different themes required by the web site. Some of these themes or topics can be
on school activities, relationships, family, managing stress and others.
(https://www.diaryproject.com)
b. Cyber Kids
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The mission of Cyber kids is to provide aa voice for young people on the internet.
It accomplishes by publishing original creative work by kids ages 7-12.
(https://www.cyberkids.com)
c. Global Show-N-Tell
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Wasabi Learning was able to present some list of online publishing tools for avid writer students
who are looking for an online publishing tool to publish their works.
(https://www.telenaut.com/gst)
d. Atavist
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Was founded in 2011 on the heels of what we once called “death of longform”.
Drag-and-drop editor for creating beautiful online publications.(https://atavist.com)
e. Calameo
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An online e-magazine publishing tool that lets you add multimedia and personal branding to
anything you create. (https://en.calameo.com)
f. Tikatok
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A publishing studio for young children.
Can be used to published digital and printed books of all kids.
Specifically designed for the K-6 classroom. (https://tikatok.com)
g. Storybird
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An online publishing tool brings your words and global artists’ work together in amazing story
books.
Is at work in hundreds of thousands of classroom around the world. (https://storybird.com)
h. Lulu
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Established themselves in 2002 and still going strong.
Offer tutorials, resources, guides and more to learn with.
(https://www.lulu.com/us/en/create/ebooks)
i. Flipsnack
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A flipbook creator that is as simple as uploading a PDF file. It also support PNG and JPG file
(https://www.flipsnack.com)
j. Penzu
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Online journaling is the focus.
Can upload photos to journals and has a Go Pro for more features. (https://penzu.com)
B. Enhancing Language Skills through Digital Storytelling
One of the most exciting ICT-based language tasks that can be done to develop all the four macro skills is
to create digital stories.
Today's learners are more demanding and are willing to discover new ways to apply, extend, and expand
on existing knowledge (Kaminskiene & Khetsuriani, 2018.)
Responding to these challenges, language classroom facilitators need to migrate to a more flexible and
modernized delivery of the language curriculum.
Doing so, leads to changes in the technological pedagogical role of the teacher and the learner, so the
language competencies of today's learners will be developed beyond the use and aid of traditional
writing tools. Contemporary language, learning needs to create a new culture of teaching and learning
that focuses on how to develop the ability of the students to listen, speak, read, and write in the digital
age.
In language education, storytelling is a common requirement that aims to share one's stories, culture,
knowledge, values, language, and others. Storytelling is not something new because it has been one of
the oldest activities not only inside the classrooms but even in the communities. Storytelling has been
considered to have great contribution to literacy development by improving learners' language, writing,
reading or listening skills (Kaminskiene & Khetsuriani, 2018.)
In a research conducted by Olivia and Bidarra (2017), they affirmed that digital stories are very helpful
because they help develop understanding individual experiences and perception of real world among
learners. Rong and Noor (2019) cited some researches conducted in various countries saying that in the
basic schools in Oya state, it was discovered that digital storytelling was able to improve kindergarten
pupils' achievement in moral instruction it was proven in Portugal that the use of digital storytelling
among secondary school students encouraged multimodal literacy in education. Additionally, in
southern Taiwan, research showed that project-based digital storytelling technique improved
elementary school students' learning motivation, problem-solving competence as well as their learning
achievement. Lenette et al. (2019) in their paper highlights the broader potential of digital storytelling
particularly in mental health research in collaboration with refugee participants.
Their research concludes that digital storytelling is a valuable and ethical research tool to engage in
collaborative research. This was proven by their research that recounts how digital storytelling was used
in a mixed- methods study on settlement, to document the journeys of women who entered Australia
through the Woman at Risk program. McDrury and Alterio (2000) claim that digital storytelling, as one of
the ICT based pedagogical tool, provides student-centered learning strategies based on learners'
engagement, reflection, project-based learning, and the effective integration of technology into
instruction.
As an innovative and interactive approach to language skills acquisition, storytelling is seen as a very
responsive variation of the traditional methods because it brings more meaningful and essential
learners' engagement into the language skills acquisition process. As pointed out by Gils (2005), the
employment of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool enables teachers to elucidate certain complex
topics in a simpler manner and create real life or problem-solving situations where learners get actively
involved.
The following are some of the existing storytelling tools listed and described by Knapen (2018):
1. Steller
https://steller.co
This is a free storytelling application developed by Momb Labs, which lets you create photo and video
stories with an emphasis on design. the next web. Steller focuses on telling a story through pictures and
text. The simple, yet structured layout options allow even a beginner to produce a professional standard
of work.
2. Adobe Spark Page
https://spark.adobe.com
Adobe Spark Page is a free online web page builder. No coding or design skills needed. Create your own
beautiful web story using videos, pictures and text. The templates and layout options available are very
modern, and are designed to present your work in an elegant and engaging way, focusing on visual
content.
3. WeVideo
https://www.wevideo.com
This has the goal of bringing its educational creative toolbox to a broader global audience of students
and educators. WeVideo wants to make video editing available for everyone. They make it possible for
friends, families, teachers, students and businesses small and large to create incredible videos that
motivate and inspire. "WeVideo has deep roots in education and believes that creativity is driven by
what is inside the hearts andbelieves that creativity is driven by what is inside the hearts and minds of
people, not by complicated technology".
4. Popplet
http://popplet.com
Popplet, an iPad and web app, is a tool to capture and organize your ideas. Students can for example
use Popplet for learning. Used as a mind-map, it helps students think and learn visually. Students can
capture facts, thoughts, and images to structure their stories.
5. Storybird
https://storybird.com
Storybird not only gives you the simple tools to create books inminutes, the application lets you
discover an endless library of free books, picture books and poetry as well. Storybird lets anyone make
visual stories in seconds. The site mentions that they are a storytelling community, rather than an
application. For them, it's more about creating a creative world where anyone can tell their stories, as
crazy as they get.
6. Bookcreator
https://bookcreator.com
Book Creator is an open-ended book creation app that unleashes creativity. Create your teaching
resources, or have your students take the reins. Combine text, images, audio and video to create
interactive stories, digital portfolios, research journals, poetry books, science reports, and nstruction
manuals.
C. Enhancing Language Skills through E-mail Activities
Email activities are very good activities to develop language skills. Through some e-mail activities that
can be facilitated by a teacher, the students are given the opportunity to practice and demonstrate their
reading and writing skills. It may also enhance further their research and ICT skills.
Barron et al. (2002) were able to present the following email activities that can be fully maximized to
develop the various language skills of students:
1. Pen-Pal Activities
This is the most common form of e-mail projects called electronic pen pals or e-pals. Students can
practice their written communication skills and can become aware of other cultures and practice foreign
language skills.
This can be done through the following:
a. Belouga
https://belouga.org
Founded in 2016, Belouga was started with the mission to encourage intercultural communication to
create a better tomorrow. Belouga is a global ecosystem connecting classes throughout the world where
students and teachers can connect, collaborate and learn from one another by identifying similarities
and embracing differences through everyday communication that is fun and educational.
b. Epals
https://www.epals.com/#/connections
It enriches K-12 learning in the classroom to create real world, culturally- enriching learning experiences
för students With ePals classroom matching, teachers can connect their classes with other classes
around the world who are interested in collaborating on a special project together.
c. Empatico
https://empatico.org
It empowers teachers and students to explore the world through experiences that spark curiosity,
kindness, and empathy.
2. Peer-to-Peer Tutoring
Another form of electronic communication is peer-to-peer tutoring or mentoring. By using e-mail
communication, students will be provided with opportunities to practice their mentoring skills apart
from enhancing their language skills.
3. Ask an Expert
Email is a very powerful tool for students to use to engage the experts in the field especially if the
experts are far from their institution. They can engage the Ask An Expert Website at
http://www. askanexpert.com.
4. Round Robin Stories
In a round-robin approach, a participating class starts a story with one paragraph. The story starter is
sent to a predetermined class (class one sends its story class two, and so on). Students work in small
groups to add a new paragraph to the story.
Publication Requirements in the Light of the Digital Age
While there is a ubiquity of productivity tools for students to maximize, it is your responsibility as the
facilitator of the learning process to ensure that your students will be fully guided to observe several
guidelines in publishing their products. It must be noted that the development of high-quality digitál
learning products and materials involves a complex combination of subject matter expertise,
instructional design knowledge, and technical skills - graphicdesign, photography, audio, video,
computer programming, etc.
With the engagements of all of this, it is very important to be mindful of the following:
A. Copyright Laws
Copyright Law protects works of authorship. Hence, it is very important for teachers and students to
learn more about copyrights laws and copyright acts to ensure that there will be no copyright
infringements that will happen in the process of authoring of publishing materials offline or online.
According to FindLaw (2020), the Copyright Act states that works of authorship include the following
types of works:
Literary works. Novels, nonfiction prose, poetry, newspaper articles and newspapers, magazine articles
and magazines, computer software, software documentation and manuals, training manuals, manuals,
catalogs, brochures, ads (text), and compilations such as business directories
Musical works. Songs, advertising jingles, and instrumentals.
Dramatic works. Plays, operas, and skits.
Pantomimes and choreographic works. Ballets, modern dance, jazz dance, and mime works.
Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.
Photographs, posters, maps, paintings, drawings, graphic art, display ads, cartoon strips and cartoon
characters, stuffed animals, statues, paintings, and works of fine art.
Motion pictures and other audiovisual works. Movies, documentaries, travelogues, training films and
videos, television shows, television ads, and interactive multimedia works.
Sound recordings. Recordings of music, sounds, or words. Architectural works. Building designs,
whether in the form of architectural plans, drawings, or the constructed building itself.
FindLaw (2020) further states that Copyright Law is important for multimedia developers and
publishers for two reasons:
a. Original multimedia works are protected by copyright.
The Copyright Act's exclusive rights provision gives developers and publishers the right to control
unauthorized exploitation of their works,
b. Multimedia works are created by combining "content" music, text, graphics, illustrations,
photographs, software - that is protected under copyright law. Developers and publishers must avoid
infringing copyrights owned by others.
The detailed information about Copyright Laws can be searched from the World Wide Web. Some of
these can be read in Appendix A.
B. Anti-Bullying Act of 2013
Republic Act No. 10627 otherwise known as the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 of the Philippines directs all
elementary and secondary schools to adopt policies to address the existence of bullying in their
respective institutions. Bullying refers to any severe or repeated use by one or more students of a
written, verbal or electronic expression, or a physical act or gesture, or any combination thereof,
directed at another student that has the effect of actually causing or placing the latter in reasonable fear
of physical or emotional harm or damage to his property; creating a hostile environment at school for
the other student; infringing on the rights of the other student at school; or materially and substantially
disrupting the education process or the orderly operation of a school.
One of the most common problems encountered today by internet users is bullying online which we call
cyberbullying. Consequently, it is important for teachers to be very judicious and alert in advising
students as they publish their requirements online or as they communicate or collaborate through the
World Wide Web.
C. Republic Act 101751
This is known as Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 declaring a policy that states that the State
recognizes the vital role of information and communications industries such as content production,
telecommunications, broadcasting electronic commerce, and data processing, in the nation's overall
social and economic development. The State also recognizes the importance of providing an
environment conducive to the development, acceleration, and rational application and exploitation of
information and communications technology (ICT) to attain free, easy, and intelligible access to
exchange and/ or delivery of information; and the need to protect and safeguard the integrity of
computer, computer and communications systems, networks, and databases, and the confidentiality,
integrity, and availability of information and data stored therein, from all forms of misuse, abuse, and
illegal access by making punishable under the law such conduct or conducts.
In this light, the State shall adopt sufficient powers to effectively prevent and combat such offenses by
facilitating their detection, investigation, and prosecution at both the domestic and international levels,
and by providing arrangements for fast and reliable international cooperation.
Step 1: Considering the tasks (e.g. project-based learning output, research output and the like) you
required your students to do in your learning plan, it will be good to let them experience writing their
thoughts and ideas about the task you gave them through a group blog. Hence, think of a very good title
for a blog that your future students will do to allow them to share their thoughts about their
requirements in your class.
Step 2: After thinking of what the blog title is, develop storyboard for the blog and prepare for the rubric
that will be used to evaluate it. Please remember that you are acting here as your future student (for
your learning plan) and not as the teacher. Hence, the blog that you will develop is a student sample of a
blog that you will present to your students for them to pattern or learn from. You may use the following
guidelines or come up with your own which is the same guidelines you will give your students to follow
after showing them your student sample:
Instructions:
1. Please read these guidelines carefully and write on your group blog all information included in the
guidelines by using communicative language with video, photos and pictures during the development
of your project.
2. Your blog will be reviewed according to the criteria applied and give one week as of the
announcement for those who have to revise it.
3. You can also include in the blog your reflection after doing your project.
Blog Assessment Criteria:
Project: General Information of the developed project (15%) 1 The blog will report about the general
information of the language project required to be accomplished in the learning plan (refer to your
required project in your learning plan). It must have the following information:
a. Title of the Project
b. Targeted Language Competencies of the Project
c. The Aim of the Project
d. Beneficiaries of the Project
2. Pedagogical and Technological Contents (15%)
The blog will also report the pedagogical and technological requirements of the project. It needs to
discuss the mentoring methods used by the members of the group to be able to accomplish the project.
This has to include also the technological tools that they employed in the development of their project.
3. Project Plan (20%)
The group blog will also present how the group was able to plan for their project and how they were
able to implement the plan.
4. Project Development (20%)
The group blog will feature the processes and their experiences while developing the project.
5. Aesthetics (15%)
For this criterion, please remember that content is king, but design is queen. You could write the most
gripping articles on your blog, but if your site is too disorganized or simply too drab, then people might
find you uninteresting. But if your blog design is too loud and too jam-packed, then you would just end
up giving your readers a headache. Consider the following qualities:
a. User-friendliness: readable, navigable and usable
b. Reading Enjoyment: content is a king, writings on a blog should not sound stiff and cold, because it
should primarily be written with a personal touch
c. Useful Information
d. Overall Experience: great content, design, usability and interesting
6. Reflections (15%)
After doing the project, it is very important for you to share your lessons learned and cite some possible
suggestions as to how to improve the project planning and implementation.
Step 3: After having a clear plan on the contents of your student sample blog, develop this using any of
the productivity tools discussed in class or you may choose to use an application familiar to you.
Revisiting Your Learning Plan
After thoroughly discussing the principles behind developing learning plans in language teaching in
Module 1; presenting the various active learning approaches in Module 2; and exploring various openended tools or productivity software applications in this Module, revisit the learning plan that you
started to do in the first lesson of this Module. Guided by all the lessons in the first three modules,
develop and finish your daily learning outcomes and daily learning procedures.
Step 1: Reread the learning plan that you developed in Lesson 1: Activity 1 of this Module. If there is a
need to modify some of the information you stated earlier, feel free to modify it.
Step 2: After finalizing the earlier parts of your learning plan, start developing your Daily Learning
outcomes and Daily Learning Procedures. Consider the following in the development of these sections.
a. Presentation of the learning plan to your students on the first day of its implementation;
b. Language learning activities directly targeting the standards and language competencies;
c. Taxonomies of learning to ensure that you will not just target lower order thinking skills but to
target higher order thinking skills;
d. Holistic development of students (Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor);
e. Integration of the active learning approaches (e.g. project- based learning, inquiry-based
learning, research-based learning whichever is applicable);
f. Integration of appropriate ICT tools to aid the acquisition of the language skills by the students
and to aid you as the teacher to manage the attainment of the learning plan objectives;
g. Alignment of your learning plan assessment activities to the learning objectives;
h. Estimated time for each activity; and
i. Planning and development of the student projects and presentation.