If you watched the Super Bowl this year, there's a good chance that you saw Google's Parisian Love video. The purpose of that video was to show off the places Google searches can take you. The video also demonstrates that a person's Internet searches can tell a story about him or her.
Through YouTube's Search Stories Video Creator you can build your own short story of featuring your chosen search terms. To create your Search Story just enter seven search terms, choose a search tool for each term (map, web, image, etc.), choose music, and click create. Watch my Search Story below.
Thanks to Fred Delventhal for sharing the link to this neat video creation tool.
Applications for Education
At first I didn't give much thought to the Search Story Creator other than "that's a fun tool." As I thought about it some more, I realized that creating search stories could be used as an ice-breaker activity in a classroom. Have students create a Search Story using search terms that they often use or that describe their hobbies. Then have the student share their videos with the class as a way to get to know a little bit about each other.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Create a Story from Your Search History
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7 comments:
I've actually thought about using this as a portion of a country research project my 6th grade students are doing in Spanish class.
Thanks so much for the ice breaker idea. I also didn't think much about it but now agree that it would make an excellent ice breaker for students.
It is at first sight a quaint little tool. On second reflection, it is a massive advertising tool for Google and Youtube.
This could also possibly be used as a way for a student to demonstrate how they have modified search terms to arrive at particular results as part of the research process.
I had fun looking at this and used it for my own story. I think it is a great way to introduce yourself to your students or parents at the beginning of the year, or better yet, before they step into your classroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=358d1gx_MXI
I wrote about using the site with my sixth graders yesterday. It actually is a good lesson around storytelling -- what you leave out is as important as what you put in.
http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2010/04/17/when-students-make-search-stories/
But I agree with Frank, too: this is yet another way for Google to get eyeballs and use its search engine. So I have some mixed feelings on it.
I will say, though, that my students were very engaged in thinking up stories and allowed me to talk about "search" in a way I had not done before.
Kevin
I've been thinking about doing a personal geography project with my students for the end of the year. I was thinking about a Google Earth tour, in which students would placemark their place of birth, where they want to go to college, a dream vacation spot, etc. This would be a simpler way to do the same thing if I end up crunched for time.
(Not education related, but I made one for my husband for our ten year anniversary, sort of an "our decade in review." Turned out really fun.)
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