Storify: Oh, Ms. Story!!

Before I married, in the early, naive years of teaching, my name was Ms. Story so I find this new tool "Storify" amusing. Seriously, I find it quite interesting and I want to know more about it. First of all, here is a link to my meek creation: My Storify. While reviewing the material on this topic, I wasn't sure if I would be able to create a Storify or if I could see a valuable use for the tool. Immersion was the catalyst. Once I began to play around with it, review the model Storify provided and start dragging and dropping links, videos and tweets into the template, I started to see what the hype was about. One aspect that I feel most strongly about is that Storify allows the author ( imagine a student) to tell their story or present their findings and show exactly where it came from. Because the author can also embed original text, they can then summarize the video, link, or various source for the reader's review. There is no longer question of where did the material originate.
     It seems like everything today, including education, is about integration rather than isolation. Though this seems overwhelming at times, it is the way it is. Storify is an example of the integration of multiple sources. This is actually a common core standard for the high school English I teach. Storify is the perfect tool to use to allow students to do this. It allows the author to write an original narrative aided by social media, links to scholarly texts and articles, and things like tweets that would provide the public's view/perspective. I can't wait to implement this into my class. Students will love trying something new that is digital and integrates tools that they use daily.
   On another note, I wonder how Storify will impact "news". Will all online news look like Storify? Will formal narratives describing news events continue to be available? What instances are most appropriate for Storify? The jury is still out in my opinion. Yet, I plan to continue manipulating this tool and discovering what it works best for. I will keep you all posted.