Creating and Sharing Digital Media in an Elaborative Learning Environment 

Web 2.0 is a new set of tools that allows users to collaborate ideas through new mediums of expression. These mediums of Web 2.0 expressions allow non-web designers to create, remix, and mash together their own content online. Web 2.0 content creation tools occurs through the design of multi-user interfaces such as wiki’s, podcasting, vodcasting, eBooks and blogs. Digital elaborative learning engage the use of multiple modes of communication to express a complex, interactive meaning. Information flows easily from one medium of digital content to the next. The strengths of each digital media create synergy for the expansion of knowledge. The product is something more vibrant than could be done in a single medium of isolated content .

Today a new age is evolving, a newly formed conceptual age; an age and time when people collaborate to expand disciplines. A discipline is a developmental path for acquiring certain skills or competencies. In the past we have individually mastered our own proficiencies as we explored our world from one perspective, our own. 

Now with collaboration technologies such as Web 2.0 individuals are enlightened by becoming aware of individual perspective by exposing one's own knowledge to the outside world.The emergence of Literacy 2.0 will have an impact on the world by shifting the illusions of individual perceptions on how we as a society will learn and work together.

Literacy 2.0 will give individuals the ability to expand the capacity to create new patterns of thinking that are nurtured in collaborative learning. What fundamentally distinguishes Literacy 2.0 from traditional Web 1.0 read only web is the potential to expand collaboratively on basic disciplines.

Digital Mash ups in a Divergent World

Many have argued that these new participatory cultures represent ideal learning environments. We can call such informal learning cultures “affinity spaces,” asking why people learn more, participate more actively, engage more deeply with popular culture than they do with the contents of their textbooks. "Affinity spaces offer powerful opportunities for learning; Affinity spaces are distinct from formal educational systems in several ways. "While formal education is often conservative, the informal learning within popular culture is often experimental." Gee (2004)

Traditionally learning has been connected by the context when students are learning on their own and by applying new knowledge as  they expand a deeper understanding through repetition. The research supported the idea that connected learning should be approached not as an afterthought to the school day, but as a focused strategy for increasing understanding.

It should be noted that both reinforcement of learning through practice and repetition is viable to procedural memory but may not support semantic, declarative or implicit memory when consolidation of ideas are needed in making conceptual ties. In essence when students are provided an extended time to repeat the learning experience rote knowledge will increase but may not be recognizable when applied to new learning situations.

The rote practice is generally associated with a repeated definitions, or recalling an event in history and rarely enhances semantic, declarative or implicit memory. If consistent practice is one component linked to gains in student achievement, and it has been noted that homework provides such practice, then the practices should not be built in rote replication but on a more solid practice of elaborative learning.

To better facilitate the learning process associations must be made between knowledge and application the facilitator of content must provided a truer form of elaborative rehearsal within the learning environment. Elaborative rehearsal encompasses a variety of strategies that provides the learner an opportunity to intricate their learning. Through digital elaboration the learner can express ideas more openly using multiple skill sets to compare new concepts with known concepts that hooks the unfamiliar with something familiar.

Voki

• Voki is a fun tool that allows you to create your own personal avatar and give it a voice. You can choose from a wide selection of characters, as well as animals, anime looking characters, and more, and you can personalize them with different hair styles, clothing options, accessories, and more. You can also choose the backdrop behind them and the stage for that backdrop. Once you´ve created your character, you can bring them to life by giving them a voice. You can do this by either adding a message via your phone or microphone, or you can just type in a message and voice to speak what you´ve written. It´s fun to watch the avatar´s mouth as it “says” what you´ve recorded, since it looks like the avatar is actually speaking.

GoAnimate

• GoAnimate is a web-based tool that will allow students to experience the creation of an animated flash production using cartoon characters. The free open source software application provides easy to use templates such as cartoon characters, the ability to mix audio tracks, develop background, themes, to produce and post creative animated projects. Teachers who use this service, with their classrooms will need to sign up with GoAnimate. After log in a step by step guide is provided to start a project from scratch using animated templates. The templates allows project developers to create and edit speech bubbles, add characters, prolong the animation, add extra scenes, change the characters’ facial expressions, and add sound tracks. Once the animation project is completed students can save it to their account to review, edit, send a link by e-mail or to post on their project page such as a wiki. later.

Logitech Web Cam Avatars

• To express unique characterization to project-based activity teachers can have students use Avatar characters to write and read the content of the lesson or script. The script is a specially prepared narration that allows the viewers to hear and see a presentation in a creative format. Through 3D Avatar characterization students can animate facial expressions and head movements while narrating a script. Due to the Avatar imaging the three PC Logitech web-cams listed below are the only type of cameras that will support Video Effects Avatars and can be downloaded at no charge: (See Logitech Software Applications)

• MovieMaker or iMovie is a video editing software application that can be used to incorporate video into an Avatar production. Using video editing software enables students to create an Avatar presentation by adding edible video using transitions, sound effects, and special features. Get special effects that put more fun into digital lesson design. Be sure to check the Compatible Webcamsto see which effects work best with your equipment.

• Dropbox is a Web-based file hosting service that uses cloud storage. The downloadable open source software application allows users to store and share files and folders with others across the Internet using file synchronization. Dropbox  provides 2 GB of free online storage. Dropbox is a useful storage device in the eBook environment because it allows the creator to temporarily store the eBook creation before the eBook is posted online. In this portion of the tutorial storage and upload options for newly created eBooks will be explored. 

What is Prezi

• Prezi is a web-based program that allows you to create more of a canvas presentation instead of a sequential slide presentation. You can create your presentation online and then download the final product so that you don’t require an internet connection to display the presentation.
• Public: Prezi Public accounts are free for use, and is limited to 100MB of presentation storage space. Public users  have access to the Prezi offline player software, subject to the end user license agreement associated with that software.
• The EDU account features 500MB of presentation storage space and users have access to the Prezi offline player. The EDU account is subject to the end user license agreement associated with that player. This account is free 
• for anyone with valid education credentials. The EDU pro account is $59.00 per year. 

1. How to make a Prezi - rookie  to pro in 20 minutes
2. Prezi in  Classroom
3. New features of Prezi and  Prezi for iPad

Glogster (http://edu.glogster.com)

• Glogster is a great creativity site who’s tag line is “poster yourself”. A ‘glog’ is basically an online poster web page. Students can combine text, pictures, graphics, video, and audio to create an interactive online poster. Glogster has a very simple to use interface. The final glog can be hosted by Glogster or you can embed it into a wiki, blog, or class website.

Weebly for Education

• Weebly is a website creation site that makes it simple for teachers (or students) to create their own simple to work with websites. It is an easy to understand and versatile tool for educators and students alike. By using drag and drop functionality Middle School students can use Weebly for Education to start a Digital Portfolio, a personal blog, aswell as create a website for any school club or extracurricular activities. Weebly offers some great features, such as polls, embeddable maps and videos, and much more to make the sites dynamic, interactive, and very nice ways to display student work.

Capzles

• Capzles is a site that allows users to create engaging multimedia timeline presentations. Students can upload images, video files, and documents (PDF/Word/PPT/etc.) to create an slick-looking animated timeline that can be shared and annotated. Great for making historical timelines and interactive multimedia presentations with or for your students. Students can even embed moving images as a background for the whole page and music to accompany the viewing of the Capzle. In addition to being shared and commented on, students can also embed a Capzle on their classroom website or blog. (http://capzles.com/)

TodaysMeet(http://todaysmeet.com)

• TodaysMeet is a free chat service that can be used for holding a back-channel discussion with students and colleagues. TodaysMeet is completely free to use. Setting up a chat area in TodaysMeet is very simple. To set upyour chat area just select a name for your room (that name becomes the url for your chat area), how long you want your room to exist, and select an optional Twitter hashtag for your chat area. To invite people to your chat area send them the url. What makes TodaysMeet different from similar services is that TodaysMeet doesn't have a public gallery of chat rooms containing questionable content. TodaysMeet also doesn't place inappropriate advertising on your chat area. I use TodaysMeet when we watch films in the classroom. Having an active backchannel allows students to ask questions and post comments while watching the film. I also use TodaysMeet during lectures or presentations as place for students to record their questions for discussion.

Wiggio(http://wiggio.com)

• Wiggio is a free online toolkit that makes it easy to work with and coordinate groups. It is simple to use and has an intuitive interface that makes it easy for students, parents, and teachers alike. Wiggio is a place to share and manage files, manage a group calendar, poll your group, post links, set up conference calls (including voice, webcam, shared whiteboard space, and screen sharing), chat online, send out mass text messages, and send voice or email messages to the entire group.