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Two-stage planning with Inspiration creates powerful multimedia
PATTI SCANLON'S STUDENTS love HyperstudioŽ. When they hear they get
to work on a new project, they giggle and run for the computer lab.
Unfortunately, says the elementary school teacher, that's the problem.
Students shouldn't start their Hyperstudio projects by working with
Hyperstudio. They should start with Inspiration.
"When students sit down with Hyperstudio, they get so intrigued
with its bells and whistles that they forget about content," Ms.
Scanlon explained. "But if we've first worked with Inspiration to
plan the content of our projects, then my students can create something
really useful."
| For example, when Ms. Scanlon's students first worked with
Hyperstudio, they just added pictures and paragraphs at random.
They'd forget what they were trying to create. That's why Ms.
Scanlon and her students now plan first with Inspiration. |
The
"Sample Diagrams" section of this site shows how other
teachers used Inspiration to plan multimedia
projects. |
They do a preliminary brainstorm, using RapidFire, on the content of
the project as a whole. Then they go into more depth, noting keywords of
what will go on each card. In this way they create a storyboard that
thoroughly outlines the structure of the entire project. Only then do
they begin to build their multimedia work -- and only then can they
create a meaningful project.
Karen McBride, co-author of Help! I Have Hyperstudio ... Now What
Do I Do?, also believes in planning. In her book -- and in her
school, San Gabriel Christian School, in California -- she encourages
the planning process in all Hyperstudio projects.
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Like Ms. Scanlon, Mrs. McBride first has her students plan the
content of their projects. But she also adds a second planning
stage: designing stack structure.
If left to themselves, students will always create a linear
stack structure -- the sort of structure you find in a book --
because this format is one they've seen most and understand.
Card 1 links to card 2, which links to card 3, etc.
This structure is fine for an instructional piece, but it
really doesn't take advantage of multimedia's hyperlinking
capabilities, which are its real power. Card 1 can link to cards
4 and 6, which can each link back; card 2 can link to cards 3
and 4; etc.
Because students don't have much experience with this sort of
structure, they can't imagine how it could work -- or they lose
track of what links where and why. That's where Inspiration
comes in. Mrs. McBride uses Inspiration diagrams to explain
different stack structures. "The visual that Inspiration
provides is critically important" in helping students
understand stack structure, she says.
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Further, Mrs. McBride requires that each student come up with a stack
map, or blueprint, for their specific project. Each stack map is
designed in Inspiration.
"Just as an architect needs a blueprint for building a house,
students need a blueprint for building multimedia," she says.
Without a blueprint for a house, the house falls down; similarly,
without an Inspiration diagram explaining a Hyperstudio project, the
project fails.
That's why, says Mrs. McBride, "Inspiration is so
empowering."
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