Scoop.it! Online Magazine Project

This project was developed as a way to not just build literacy and technology skills, but also to address many of the key course outcomes in Communications. The students have used Scoop.it! to create an online magazine on a subject of their choosing. Available for free on the Internet, this program is very easy to use and allows them to "curate" their magazines through its own article "scooping" mechanism as well as through conventional Internet search engines. By using the attractive frame the program provided and subject matter chosen by the learner, my hope was to increase student engagement level. I then created my own Scoop.it! magazine page and "scooped" their magazines as my LCSS Communications magazine content, along with this blog entry which contains my assignment explanation.

The next step was more important. The students were required to create a written response with some leading questions focusing them on why they chose their topic, the quality of the articles they chose, and what they learned. When they completed their revised work, I then imbedded their work in a blog entry and "scooped" it into their magazines.  Their written response assignment, along with the conversations and feedback during the writing process, addresses many of the Communications outcomes.

Below are the 40 outcomes written in student friendly "I can" statements that were co-developed by myself, Karen Kloske, and Sian Peterson during a district implementation day three years ago. Because of the overlap between 11 and 12 we consolidated to one list of outcomes for both courses. The assignment does a good job with outcomes 2-10, 15-24, 26-28, and 37-38. With modifications it could address even more. (If you want an Excel version of this email at pjory@sd79.bc.ca)

To prepare for this project I made some of my own online magazines for practice. This helped me understand how to use the Scoop.it! program comfortably enough to demonstrate it and support the students. I then created a Gmail account for each student with passwords I control, a list of expectations for them to sign (see below), and strips of paper with the sign in information. We had also prepared alias names for their magazines through a "fun" exercise. This was to avoid any FOIPPA concerns that could from hosting student information outside of the country. I also created a class blog for all of our entries with a class email under my name. Assignment expectations were reviewed in class then forwarded to the students via email so they could review them as they worked on their assignments.

We have worked on this project off and on for about two weeks and most of the students are starting to finish their final drafts. Some will require more time as they have missed classes or because they process information and produce content at different rates. Today the students were quite engaged in their content creation, and there was even several minutes of quiet typing! I am pleased with the exercise, I have shared it with several teachers, and I look forward to using it again in the future.