Our+Story

=Our Story=

Click [|here] for analysis of OurStory #1.

Our Story #2 - Jennifer Hendryx

OurStory is a free tool that combines timelines, blogging, and collaboration. This program utilizes words, pictures, and videos to tell a chronological story. With this web application, an interactive timeline can be created to document people, places, and events of interest. In addition to the interactive timeline there is a blogging feature that automatically translates your stories into a blog format. Much like other blogs, people can post comments regarding each posting via a guestbook.

There are several features build into this application such as collaboration, privacy filter, and, prebuilt questions, blog or webpage embedding, and much more. To collaborate with others, the creator simply needs to send an e-mail to invite fellow contributors to the project. It appears as though the invitee needs to sign up and then they will be automatically connected to the original creator’s OurStory. The program also contains a privacy filter that can be set up for each and every “story” individually. This allows only those stories that you want publically viewable to be publically viewable. Another great feature is prebuilt question sets that can be used. These question sets include my story, family story, baby story, life story, love story, group story, travel story, remover when, and timeless. The last major feature is the ability to embed the timeline into an existing blog, social networking site, web pages. There are several weaknesses or challenges with this web application, especially the free version. The free version does not have spell check and you need to know HTML to do formatting and hyperlinks. In addition, there is a bit of a learning curve on how to do simple tasks such as deleting a story from the timeline.

I could see this application used for educational purposes such as biographies autobiographies, timeline of historical events, Flat Stanley stories, penpal programs, or longitudinal scientific experiments. This would also be a great tool for personal stories such as the birth and life of a child, family genealogy, and wedding stories.

Learning objective connected to the use of the assessment tool. ·  Students will compile a biographical timeline of one United States President using OurStory ·  Students will construct an autobiography timeline using OurStory. ·  Students will compare growth rate of various plants using OurStory.

media type="custom" key="988937"