Introduction to Storify
I created a page with Storify and it seems to be a cross between a regular blog, Pinterest, and Twitter. You can search many different media sources just by putting in a tag. I have created one page within my profile so far, focused on physical education in the elementary classroom. I found videos and websites from all over the world, (only saved ones that were relevant to Canadian education). You can add multiple "stories" to create a larger story that is supposed to be all about you. I think this website could be really great for compiling and sharing information as you have access to many different social media sites and can search and save easily
What actions did you do in order to use this curation tool and how did you check the credibility of the sources?
To search and create stories on Storify, you have to use key words and phrases that articles and videos and media have connected to. When searching with key words there are possibilities of items coming up that are connected to your topic but are not credible sources. Where many of the items will be posted by professional websites, blogs and people, there are a lot of items that were created and put out on the internet by people who do not have any professional creditable standing. To avoid the non-creditable posts, I searched where the item came from by clicking links associated, looking into the organizations that post, and reading a bit about who the authors are of articles.
What were the tasks to create this resource?
Storify step by step:
To start using Storify you have to create an account. I suggest using a free account until you decide you want the features that you have to pay for.
When creating an account you have a few choices. You can create with your email and a password, or you can create in connection to a social media like Facebook or Twitter.
*Don't forget to agree to the terms and conditions!
Once you create your account you have a home page. On this page you can create stories on whatever you are passionate about!
To make a story, click the green button that says Create New Story.
You will be brought to a page that looks like this:
Very empty! So now you have your topic in mind and a blank slate waiting for all the information you can find. There is a spot for your topic (headline) and a spot for a little description on what you are researching (Description).
On the right there are some icons and a box that will hold your name, (until you search something). Clicking on each icon will change where you are searching.
As the image above says you can select a network to search, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. or you can add a network that you might want to search for information.
To save the content click and drag the artifact (piece of media), to the empty section under the description. In the below picture I did a sample on Cats. I searched Twitter using the key word "Cats". The search bar is on the right and the saved tweet is on the left under my title and description.
When your done you story you need to publish it! By publishing, it becomes available for other people to see and for you to share it on other media sites. To publish click the blue publish button. Don't forget you can still edit your page when its published!
All pages that you create are available on your profile page, whether they are published or only drafts you will be able access them here.
What was the situation that generated the content of this page?
I used Storify to research ideas about social media and connections to teaching and education. Storify accesses many different websites to allow for recovery of materials from all over the world and many different sources.
In your response to this task what did you learn?
Before this task I had never used Storify before. I had never even heard of it. Now that I have had the opportunity to search the site and create some of my own stories I really enjoy the layout of the site and the availability of information that it has. By searching and putting together a story about teaching and social media I discovered resources and videos that I probably would not have come across on my own.
As a teacher what is your reflection on how you could use this process in your teaching?
This online program could have huge benefit to research in the classroom. As a teacher I would want to use this program in an older classroom as an option for students on conducting organized and clear research, as well as displaying their project in a way that is different from the traditional essay format. I could see students picking a single topic and creating a story full of videos and sources about each subtopic that the students could go back to.