Erin's+review+of+Primary+Access

Review and reflection:

On Tuesday, July 14th, I chose to attend the cool tools presentation on Primary Access ([|primaryaccess.org]—student view, [|primaryaccess.org/teacher]—teacher view) facilitated by Dr. Meghan Manfra. Primary Access is all online and cannot be downloaded. It is a tool for students to create digital documentaries in which the images are chosen by the teacher and students are then given the choice from those which to include in their product. Students then create their own printed narrative, and finalize the creation of their digital documentary by adding a voice narrative. Primary Access is a highly scaffolded method of teaching because it combines many literacy skills with technology skills and content knowledge (it exemplifies TPACK).
 * Primary Access:**

I was impressed by the example shown about child labor, and how in a history class this would be an excellent way to teach about social justice. I began thinking about how I would have used this tool in a high school English classroom to teach social justice. In a tenth grade English class where the focus is on world literature, I would include Primary Access when teaching a lesson on Chinua Achebe’s //Things Fall Apart//, where student learn about Africa and Nigeria and British colonization. The students could create a digital documentary based on //Things Fall Apart// and write a narrative about the different cultures and values, and the pros or cons of social change. Another example of how I would incorporate Primary Access into an eleventh grade class learning about American literature would be in a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's //The Great Gatsby//. Students after reading //The Great Gatsby// and learning about New York in the 1920s could design a digital documentary using pictures from the 1920s and creating a narrative about social norms. I hope to lead a workshop or presentation at a school or teacher conference to share this cool tool with other teachers. I plan to share my knowledge about Primary Access with the faculty in the education department at Meredith College, so they might teach it to current and pre-service teachers.