Storify

=Storify= by Lance Charles Sun

Japan: A Year Later (I tried embedding it but it didn't work.)

“Storify is a way to tell stories using social media such as [|tweets], photos and videos. Users search multiple social networks from one place, and then drag individual elements into stories. Users can re-order the elements and also add text to help give context to the readers.” Source: Wikipedia.com As the Wikipedia blurb nicely summarized, Storify is a web 2.0 tool used to curate content from different social media platforms into a digital newsletter.

While Storify is hardly the only tool of its kind, it is one that I have found to have a **milder learning curve** in comparison to other similar tools. This is beneficial for both teachers themselves who might be less savvy with web 2.0 tools/social media as well as teaching the tool to students.

Overall, I really liked Storify. The **drag-and-drop user interface** was **really intuitive** and not time consuming at all. Storify allows you to curate content from many of the popular social media platforms that students are already using such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube, Foursquare, Instagram and etc. This is advantageous in that it allows students to curate content that they are already publishing themselves outside of the classroom. I wish there was an option to display the content in more of a newspaper layout than just a top-to-bottom list format. Also, the option to publish your finished product as a PDF would be great as well.

For Teachers whom may be trying to integrate current events into their English Language Arts curriculum, Storify has **limitless potentials**. I could see teachers assigning students into a group and each group have to publish a Storify product once a month around a chosen theme. Then each member of the group would act as a **discussion leader** and lead conversations with the other groups on the reading in a **literature circle**. The **rotation of the groups and roles** will allow students to develop an array of skills from facilitation, leadership and current issues awareness to name a few.

For students who are already on social media, this is a great way for them to **synthesize** their networks and content into one **cohesive, purposeful educational tool**. It may also allow them to see and use social media beyond the immediate context of personal networking and use it as a learning tool.

In terms of the UDL framework, I think Storify exemplifies many characteristics of the educational framework. The advantages of working with social media are that there is an abundant of multimedia resources to work with. That could mean information presented in infographics, videos, podcasts, different languages, and etc. There are also **no restrictions** on how information needs to be structured. You can organize by theme, chronologically, geographical locations and such. In short, it is very much flexible to each **individual user’s needs** and **cognitive organization**.