Digital Storytelling with Earfl

I stumbled across a new site called Earfl. It allows people to tell stories via cell phone (in 3 minute increments) that are posted online. They can be posted publicly or privately. In addition, you can add photos in the Earfl online account. One of my favorite aspects of this site (unlike audio-recording sites such as Voicethread, Gabcast, Gcast...etc) is that you do not need an account to get started! Just dial the Earfl number and tell your story (this is great for outside of class activities when you want students to document but do not have Internet access to set up an account).


I think this is a great resource for students/teachers who would like to do easy digital storybooks but do not have easy access to microphones and/or would like their students to get the audio portion of the assignment completed outside of class. Additionally students on field trips could call in their stories and then add photos later on (they could also use their mobile cameras to send pictures into their Flickr accounts). For example students who go to a historical village, could describe their experiences in the Noah Webster house, then go online and get images (via Flickr--which works with Earfl or other Creative Commons resources) and insert those images into their Earfl story. The stories can embed to websites, YouTube, and blogs too! Another great use for this site would be for students to use it as an oral diary or i-search project that spans over time. For example students could document their learning in a class by calling in once a week a story about their learning, then adding pictures associated with their learning. By the end of the school year, students have documentation of their learning and how far they have come over time.

There is also a nice group feature on Earfl, where you can join a group (and call in your story to add to a collection of stories, such as the Iowa Caucus story example below) or create your own group where people can join in and talk about their stories (again similar to Voicethread, and you do not have to have an account!). The stories play individually (which makes it easy to click and play the ones you are most interested in hearing). Also each individual story (while on the group page), has it's own embed code.





The last feature that I think is useful for classroom learning is the map feature. Here is one example of a map of stories about "tributes". When you set up a group, you automatically get a link to a Google map. Every time someone calls in to Earfl to add to a story to your group, the story (along with any images) will automatically be placed on the Google map. Therefore you can see exactly where in the world the stories are coming from! This might be a great feature for classes studying foreign languages or different concepts around culture and sociology.

Do you use cell phones in learning? Have some ideas, please share...

I created a Voicethread, where I hope we can share our ideas for using cell phones in learning. I know there are some brave educators who are trying cell phones in a variety of ways. I would love to hear about them. Please share...


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Cell Phone Remote Control with Voicethread

I am a big fan of Voicethread for use in education. Not just because Voicethread gives educators free accounts, but because now they have added a "telephone" option for commenting and controlling the Voicethread presentation. It is so easy, see the tutorial here. Besides commenting via phone, you can also use your cell phone as a remote control with Voicethread and navigate through the slides. One classroom application I can see would be to project your Voicethread on the classroom screen/wall. Next, have Voicethread call your cell phone (yes they call you), and then you can walk around the classroom, navigate the slides, and have different students record a comment (using your cell phone) as you circulate throughout the room. It definitely gives more mobility to the teacher managing the classroom.

The positives of telephone commenting:
1) Voicethread calls you! So you can be on a landline or cell phone to call in your comments and it does not cost you anything! This is great for students who do not have a cell phone.

2) Easy, automated directions as soon as you pick up the phone.

3) If you are in a nocisy classroom, students can record on their cell phones outside of the classroom noise (even for homework).

4) No need to worry about having external microphones for PCs (since many do not come with a built-in mic).

The negatives of telephone commenting:
1) You do have a limited calling time for recording (non-education accounts are limited to 3 minutes).

2) Since you have to type in your number and it is an immediate call, students do have to have some sort of Internet access at home/outside of school to do this for homework.

Classroom Applications:
Well there are already lots of wonderful examples of Voicethread being used for educational purposes. So I thought I would go ahead a link to a few of my favorites.
1) Mathcasts and Social Studies reports, Wes Fryer highlights some excellent examples of Mathcasting and Social Studies reports with Voicethread.

2) Digital Storytelling, here is a storybook on "before" and "after" the hurricane in New Orleans.