Preparation for First Major Project

For my first major project in this class, the integrated technology lesson plan, I am planning on using digital story technology for an elementary social studies lesson plan. I am planning on having students make their own personal time line using a program like PhotoPeach to use pictures from their lives growing up and their own life experiences to explain in the text portion of the slide show, how they grew up. My content goals will be to have students learn about a new free digital story technology, what a time line is, and how time lines differ depending on the events that are a part of the spectrum. This technology goes well with the content I would like to teach because it allows students to use copies of their photos instead of the originals. The technology is also free and can be saved on the PhotoPeach website and worked on at school, the public library, or any computer the student has access to. The technology also gives the students the creative freedom to set up the digital sideshow, pictures, text, and audio however they want to get the goal of the assignment accomplished. Some misconceptions that the students may have about the technology is that the technology is hard to use, costly, and it will hard for the entire class/teacher to see the finished project. When in fact if I held a PhotoPeach learning session in the school's computer lab, I would show my students how it is easy to use, that the programs is free, and how sharing/viewing the finished projects is very easy to do.