For some of the subjects I teach, students are required to create a digital text (as part of the General Education for Adults (CGEA) vocational qualifications). A simple test to work out if a text is ‘digital’ is-can it be consumed in its entirety by printing it out? If the answer is ‘Yes’, then it does not meet the criteria for a digital text. Another way of looking at it is a text that is multi-media, multi-modal or interactive (alright, enough of the academics already!)
So I have been looking at ways for students to create these digital texts using Chromebooks. I was considering Prezi but did not like the idea of students having to create an account, having everything public, etc. Plus, am I the only one that gets a little motion sick with all that zooming and whirling?
So I looked to Google Drive…
I have only just very recently become acquainted with the delight that is Google Drawing. It is so easy and flexible to use. So I played around with creating a simple digital text template. Here is a preview of what I came up with:
Yes, it’s simple but I thought it was a good starting point. From here, it can be adapted to many different abilities and outcomes and hopefully inspire students to totally reinvent the poster with their own touches and design.
I am planning to develop a more sophisticated interactive poster template to share. In the meantime, here is a link to the template for your own use.