Five Steps to Combat Bullying

The second article I chose to review is on using technology to combat bullying. The title of the article is Five Steps to Combat Bullying and is written by Jenna Andrews. She used a program for MAC called Comic Life to introduce her students to strategies for dealing with bullying. You can access the article through
http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604789

Bullying is a problem at every level of education. This article addressed how one teacher used a software program called Comic Life to help students connect to real life issues, such as bullying.

Students began by exploring the program by using it to create simple comic strips. The program has ready made templates, word bubbles, and pictures and is user friendly. After they familiarized themselves with the program, the students were paired off to brainstorm ideas about bullying they had been the victim or witness of. They created a storyboard for a rough draft exploring ways to diffuse the situations. They were responsible for creating a story and a plot for their comic strip. The story had to suggest a solution that could be used by a real student in a similar situation.

They used the Comic Life program to bring their comic strip to life. Then they shared their comic strips with each other. It was a great example of students using technology to address real world issues while being creative. Their work was even used to help teach others about bullying and solutions for bullying.

The Comic Life program could be used for many other purposes. It seems like a great tool to use in many different subjects for students to create meaningful and imaginative projects. This article opened my eyes to the many different uses for technology and specific software programs. These are very beneficial tools for educators to use to help children think out of the box. It sure beats the traditional lecture and presentation formats used by most teachers.