Storify

This is a great tool I've been using for a few months now. It's called Storify, and it's one of the best sites/tools I've come across in a long time.

Storify basically makes a story out of the web. Once you register, you can create a document that allows you to bring in a variety of social media and internet sources (Facebook posts, Tweets, Pins, photos from Instagram, Youtube videos, and anything from Google).

I have used it in a variety of ways.

The first time I used it was for my UND Teaching and Learning class. I just wanted to give my students a variety of professional resources related to what we were going to be studying.  Here it is if you're interested.

Here is how I used a Storify document I created for my College Comp class. I used this as a supplementary resource for our main reading assignment.  I find Storify documents as useful ways to engage students at the beginning of a unit.

Another way I use it is to allow students to see both sides of an issue.  Here is one side of the five paragraph theme debate; here is the other side.

I also use it as a way to stockpile resources, as I did here, and to document what goes in in our class, as I did here.

One thing I really like about Storify is how easily it allows you to distribute your document: you can embed it on a blog or push it out to Facebook and Twitter.

Here is a more in depth look at the process of creating a Storify document.