Storyboardthat: creative narratives
By Nathalie Taiah
By Nathalie Taiah
We may find cases when we need to work with SEN which are linked to “learners with a disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development”. 1 Thus, we may need to consider different strategies and to apply new tools to our daily practice. For example: Storyboardthat.
What is Storyboardthat?
Storyboardthat is a useful tool for changing the end of the stories.
Storyboard That is a set of visual tools, created in Boston in 2012 that, through the creation of storyboards (among other tasks such as visual organizers), aims to promote critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration among its users. Due to its multitude of options and easy handling, it allows (no payment is necessary, since it has a free version -that yes, much more limited than the premium-) to build any environment or scene, incorporating the elements, characters, texts to create a narrative.
By clicking on "Storyboard" a general menu will appear that is divided into "Scenes", "Characters" (all kinds of human and animal figures), "Texts", "Shapes" .... Through its access, the user can quickly and easily access to a list of spaces, characters, types of explanatory tables, dialogues, easily manageable and, moreover, all of them modifiable.
In this way, it is possible to reproduce any aspect of the curriculum that is handled in the classroom, regardless of the syllabus. And if all this is not enough, we can access any other type of images from our computer or Drive by means of the "upload" option. Finally, compositions can be saved clicking on "save", accessing from our google account, without the need for a new registration and for free (6 vignettes).
What advantages do students construct visual and textual narratives for learning? From a technological point of view, we would highlight the following strengths of the mentioned tool:
It is online.
The free version is very rich in options, unlike Cómic Life or Pixton.
It does not require a download or prior registration (access from our personal email or other Social Networks).
It has a very varied bank of drawings and animations, which is complemented by those that we want to upload from our archives.
Its use is simple and very intuitive.
From the curriculum level, Storyboard That:
It allows to express knowledge and ideas through images, scenarios, dialogues ...
It encourages learning by doing. Active methodology.
It equips students with tools to deal with problems and difficulties when it comes to reading and understanding a large amount of information.
It enhances their ability to synthesize and relate concepts through pre-designed visual environments.
Methodology and applied didactics
The use of this tool is based on Learning by doing, that is, learning must be relevant and practical.
Finally, it is recommended to carry out an exhibition in the classroom with all the comics, in that way, all the students will be able to see the work of all their classmates.
Intef. (2021). Storyboard That: El uso de guiones gráficos en el aprendizaje. https://intef.es/observatorio_tecno/storyboard-that-el-uso-de-guiones-graficos-en-el-aprendizaje/