Introduction to My Story Maker

What is My Story Maker? My Story Maker is an online story creation tool developed by Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center for the Carnege Pittsburg Library in 2007. At first, the program was only available on the Library's computers, but it is now available online so that remote users (mainly children) can enjoy it as well. This story creation tool allows children to select and control characters and objects as they use them to build a story. Sentences can either be written by the child or are produced for them based on the characters and objects they have selected for their story. Once the child's story is completed, the child can print it out or share it with others who have permission to view it (using a special number code) online.

Using My Story Maker

How to access My Story Maker. My Story Maker can be accessed online through the children's section of the Carnegie Library's website. [1]. The program can also be accessed directly by going to [2].



How does My Story Maker work? After clicking on "Click to Begin," a user is asked to enter their name. Once the user's name is entered, they will be prompted to choose a main character from a set of clickable animated characters. Available characters range from a knight to a mermaid, and several ethnicities of both girls and boys in a variety of outfits. There are around 30 different characters to select from.



The user is then asked to pick a "goal" for the main character from just 7 options including defeat, find, love, make friends, rescue, travel, or want. After a goal for the main character has been selected, then the user is prompted to decide what or who the character needs to defeat, find, love, make friends with, rescue, travel to, or what the character wants. The program then provides a name for the story, which does not appear to be changeable by the user. While the title is not changeable, there is an option to go back and change the main character, goal, or item at that point.



After deciding to move forward with the assigned title based on the initial selections, the child needs to click on an arrow button that says “start my story.” Once that button is clicked on, a main story building page comes up. A little turquoise animated guy with a balloon antennae (the "Story Helper") pops up on top of the main story page. The child is instructed to select either “play instructions” or “start story.”



If the child clicks on “play instructions,” the first of 10 instruction bubbles pops up. Each instruction bubble has instructions written in it and is also read audibly by an adult male narrator. There are arrows at the bottom of each of the instruction bubbles that allow the child to click forward to the next instruction or go back to review the previous one. The instructions explain how to select and move objects, add words, move between pages of the story, preview the story, and finally, end and print the story.



The main story building page has what might be called a “staging area” or “frame” in which to arrange characters and objects on top of selectable background scenery. There are three groups that users can pick from to "stage" their stories: characters, objects, and background scenery. These are all organized as clickable pictures on the right hand side of the "staging frame."



When a user clicks on one of the "setting buttons," the background scene in the main "frame" changes to that. When one of the scenery objects is clicked on, it dropped in the staging area and can then be dragged to any location within the scene. Clicking on an "item" will result in that item dropping into the frame and then it can be further manipulated by some special action buttons on the left of the screen.



In the image above, the background is a sunny grassy scene which was selected from the "setting" buttons. The rock was a "scenery object" that was clicked on and then dragged to that location. The red ball was selected as an "item." The user moved it close to the lion and when they got close enough, the lion then picked it up. After the ball was picked up by the lion, the user clicked on the lion and both the lion and ball became highlighted in red. With that highlighted, the user hovered the mouse over the golden sun icon in the upper left corner of the frame and some new options appeared. These options included an "interaction" button (indicated by a picture of two people), "action" (represented by a picture of one person) and "emotion" (shown by a smiley face). These option buttons are only available when a character and/or item are highlighted. The new options all have to do with either the character, the item, or both. In the image above, the user clicked on the "interact" button. In the image below, the user selected a red fox to enter the scene with the lion and then clicked on "throw to" in the interaction options. Since the lion and ball were highlighted when "throw to" was selected, My Story Maker put a green arrow above the fox. The user then clicked on the fox and watched the lion toss the ball to the fox. This is like watching a cartoon. The animation is very clear and flowing. The mid-throw action was captured for the image below.



Whenever an interaction, action, or emotion are chosen, the program also produces sentences that reflect the users' choices. These program-produced sentences can be erased and replaced with the user's own words by highlighted the type and just pressing delete on the keyboard. The user can then simply type in the words they desire. There does not appear to be any way to turn off the sentence production feature of the program.



The image above shows a prompt given by the little "story helper" when clicked on. The story helper give tips for how to progress with the story and can be clicked on at anytime during the creation process. In order to get rid of objects in the frame, the user can drag them into the sentence creation area and they disappear in a poof. Objects can also be erased by clicking on the "clear" button on the top right hand corner of the staging area. This option erases all objects, characters, and scenery, however.

The action and interaction options are a lot of fun to play with. This is probably the most entertaining aspect of the program. This feature is helpful for young students who are still learning how to form sentences and may have trouble thinking of some of the words or how to spell them. For older students, this feature might be either an annoyance or an unnecessary crutch.



Once the user feels their story is complete, they click on "End" tab in the upper right corner of the staging area. They are then given the option of sharing their story or not sharing their story. If the user chooses to share their story with others, it is "published" and the user is provided with a number code to re-access their own story or to share. The story remains available online for one month. Whether or not the user chooses to share their story, they are still given the option to print out their completed story. The story can also be saved in PDF form.

Educational and Classroom Uses

Educators will be able to use My Story Maker to get early elementary children more excited and confident about creating stories. Very young children who are just learning to read and write can build meaningful stories without having to come up with all of the words on their own. A child can select characters, goals, objects and scenery just by clicking on a picture representing that thing. My Story Maker will suggest sentences for the children to use that represent what they have selected for each "frame" of their story. Younger children would likely appreciate this feature, as it would make their story-telling efforts less strenuous for themselves and more understandable to others. The program may help promote greater literacy in younger children as they are able to see their ideas emerge in sentences that correlate to the images they manipulate. Older children should be encouraged to write their stories in their own words, rather than use the sentences generated by the program.

My Story Maker guides students in thinking about important features of their stories before ever beginning to write. This includes considering such questions as: who is the story going to be about (main characters)?, what is going to happen?, and where does the story take place (setting)? Once the student has answered these questions, they are then prompted to think about what will happen first, and then what will happen next in the story, and finally, how the story will end. The students gain a better understanding and working knowledge about what elements typically go into stories and how to incorporate them into their own stories. The tools and promptings in My Story Maker also encourage children to begin to develop some higher order thinking skills such as problem solving and creative thinking.

After students have completed their stories in My Story Maker, teachers could have the children in their classrooms write down the number code for their story to share with the entire class, or to share with a smaller group of classmates. Viewing other classmates' stories could benefit students in several ways. First, they would get practice reading. Second, they would be exposed to the unique ideas and story-telling techniques of their peers. Third, they could be asked to evaluate stories of classmates based on a specific set of criteria appropriate to their grade level.
Examples of evaluation criteria could be:

• Who is the main character in the story?
• Name one thing that the character in the story does or tries to do?
• Describe a setting used in the story.
• Does the story have a happy ending, a sad ending, a confusing ending, or a different sort of ending? Explain your answer.

My Story Maker would work well for an enjoyable interactive class activity using a smart board (interactive white board) of some kind. IN this activity, students could be asked to take turns adding either a sentence or a page to the class story and also to take turns reading the sentences as they're produced.

What's to Love About My Story Maker

The part of My Story Maker that really makes story creation fun for users of all ages is being able to manipulate characters and objects within a frame. Character, objects, and scenery are easy to add or delete from a frame by clicking and dragging. Particularly entertaining is that the characters "walk" when the user clicks and drags them to different parts of the building frame. The character can also interact with objects. For example, the user can select an apple from the objects area and drag it close to the character. They can then specify that they would like the character to eat the apple. If they select this, the character will appear to eat the apple through animation. All of this entertainment value is lost, however, once the story is complete. At that point the characters are no longer animated, but simply appear as still pictures. The still pictures are vibrant and entertaining, but not nearly as entertaining as the animations during the creation process.

Another wonderful feature of My Story Maker is that it encourages young children to begin thinking of the main elements of a story such as main character, setting, goals, and interactions. These concepts are not explicitly taught, but rather just used as hands on guiding principles for the children to follow. Most children probably would not think they were learning while creating a story in My Story Maker, but the story elements would be introduced and reinforced nevertheless.

My Story Maker's share feature is great for classroom use or even sharing with relatives like grandparents. Since it is done with a unique number code rather than a name, institution, or email, it is quite secure as far as identity protection goes. Another great aspect of My Story Maker is that children can print their own stories out and create a little booklet.

What's Not to Love About My Story Maker

Since My Story Maker is getting a bit old in term of technology (2007) and was originally designed for use only on the Pittsburgh Library's computers, there are sometimes issues with attempts to save and print the finished stories from remote locations. The program was designed to work with Acrobat Reader 5.x and and older Flash players, so their are known problems with using the current Adobe Reader and Adobe Flash Player. Also, it is recommended that Internet Explorer (IE) be used as the browser because Firefox does not recognize an end of line return when writing the story and Google Chrome cannot print out the file from My Storymaker.

For educators and parents, one minor concern with My Story Maker's content could be with the Maker's "love" as a goal for the main character. The “love,” option does not allow the character to love the beach, cotton candy, or a drum, but only allows for “falling in love” with one of the other characters. While this "goal" is in line with many popular fairy tales, some modern educators and parents might question the appropriateness of the "love" option only referring to "falling in love." This aspect also limits creativity by only allowing the main character to fall in love another character rather than loving an activity or an object. There are three other selectable goals within My Story Maker that only allow for the assignment of another character as the focus of the goal. These include "defeat," "make friends, and "rescue." It seems that if a child wants their character to have to "make friends" with a boat or "rescue" a cupcake, they should be able to. But the "falling in love" goal may be the most worrisome of these creativity-limiting goals.

Another issue that many users might have with My Story Maker is that the title of the story is assigned by the program rather than thought of by the story's creator. There does not seem to be a good reason why the creator should not be able to name their story themselves, if desired. This was a disappointment to me personally as I began work on a story of my own in My Story Maker. I like to be able to come up with my own names for the things I create and I'm sure most users, including young children, would feel similarly.

Another disappointment when using My Story Maker arises when the user realizes that all of the fun activities they are having their characters do on screen (as depicted through animation) are lost once the story is "published." Only a still shot of the final frame for each page is saved. When I was creating my first story, I was excited to "watch" the final production in animated form. As previously mention, however, this is not an option in My Story Maker.

One other thing about My Story Maker that may cause frustration for some users is the fact that a completed story only remains available on My Story Maker for one month. If students want to keep copies of their work for longer than a month, they must either print out their story or save it as a PDF.

Security

The library's website states that any content created in My Story Maker can be used for promotional purposes. This would apparently be just the content and not the child's name or institution, although that is not explicitly stated. When the user enter their name, they can choose a fake name or only use their first name. This is the only personal information that is collected, so, security looks to be fairly good. This would be especially true if students were encouraged to use a "pen name" on the site.

Each story that is completed in My Story Maker can be accessed online for one month by using a number code assigned to that story. So, the only people who can access a user's completed story are those who have the special number code for their particular story. This makes it a fairly secure online student authoring tool. The story associated with a number code would not include the user's institution or personal information beyond the name they entered.

Other Online Story Creation Options for Children

MakeBeliefsComix [3], My Story-Book Maker For Kids [4], Storybird [5], StoryCreator 2 [6], Story Maker [7], Suess Story Maker [8]

Learning with Technology

 
Learning is a complex operation that is not yet fully understood even by experts. But one thing that is clear is that in order for meaningful learning to occur, the student must engage in mental processes that result in memories that can be accessed later at appropriate times. Through my own experiences I have come to realize the profound impact that technologies can have on learning.

It seems that technology (meaning anything more advanced technologically than a book and a lecturing teacher) can help people learn in three main ways. First, technology offers engagement and attention-grabbers that are hard for traditional text-books and lecturers to compete with. Since attention is a requirement for learning to take place, the visual appeal and "closer-to-real-life" representations of various technologies (such as videos, simulations, slide-shows, games, ect.) cannot be ignored as resources for gaining learners’ attention. Second, technology makes it possible to easily link informational pieces together like a puzzle. Since meaningful knowledge usually is interconnected with and built upon previous knowledge, the linking tools of various technologies (such as concept maps, video, and hyperlinks, ect.) can be useful for facilitating learners’ construction of a navigable knowledge landscape. Third, learning without motivation is nearly impossible. Technology can fuel students’ motivation by giving them more control over their learning environments. When learners can access information that is interesting to them at the time it is on their mind, their motivation to learn increases. If, on the other hand, learners feel powerless to explore a topic in a personalized and timely way, they are more likely to lose interest and motivation. Technologies (such as Web searches, hyperlinks, online libraries, ect.) give learners the ability to personalize their own learning experiences and to find immediate answers to questions they may have.

My personal experiences with the Internet, in particular, have significantly increased my ability, desire, and motivation to learn. Before I learned how to navigate the Internet and use its resources (about 7 years ago), I felt powerless and overwhelmed at the mere thought of trying to track down information and articles I would need to explore various topics of interest to me. I have found it so empowering to be able to have a wide world of information at my fingertips. The Internet really has changed my life for the better. Knowing that I can find the answers to questions I may have, explore new ideas, and publish my own thoughts and conclusions for others to evaluate has made me feel more secure, boosted my self-confidence and increased my motivation to never stop learning.

Why the Lower College Graduation Rates of Utah Women?

Background of the issue 

Utah has the lowest college attendance and graduation rates for women in the United States. In 1987, the percentages of Utah males and females enrolled in higher education were well above the national average. However, the percentages enrolled for both genders in Utah have decreased over time with the female reductions being most pronounced when compared to the national average. The percentage of female students enrolled in Utah higher education public institutions is 49 percent, while the national average in public institutions is 57.4 percent (UWEP, 2010). Additionally, Utah women drop out of higher education far more frequently than women nationally (Utah Women’s College Task Force, 2012). In 2008, roughly 33.5 percent of U.S. women ages 25-plus held a bachelor’s degree, while only about 27.5 percent of Utah women held a bachelor’s degree (Hoeft, 2011). Interestingly, the female graduation rates in Utah are consistently lower than national averages for all degree focuses such as Child Development, Psychology, Biology, and so on. In other words, even in fields which seem to hold higher appeal for women in Utah (like Nursing and Family Science), the Utah graduation rates for women in those fields still lower than National averages for women in those fields. Additionally, Utah women trail national female graduation rates in all degree attainment levels (UWEP, 2010).

Degree levels attained by women in Utah compared with national averages from from UWEP, 2010.

Some significant demographic and statistical figures highlight the uniqueness of Utah as a state and may hint at reasons for the lower female attendance and graduation rates. Probably the most important factor is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City and the church claims 69% of the state’s population as members (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2010). The median age at first marriage in 2010 in Utah is 23.5 for the bride, which is the lowest in the nation. The median age at first marriage in the United States in 2010 was 26.2 for the bride (Parks, 2010). In 2006 the average age for women in the United States to have their first child for was 25 years old. In Utah the average age for women’s first child the same year was 23.9. Utah is also the state with the highest fertility rate with the average number of children at 2.6 per woman (State Data Center, 2011).

In addition to Utah-specific statistics, there are some interesting facts about Brigham Young University (owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that tend to showcase a greater amplification of the general trends in Utah. These statistics highlight the probable role of the Mormon Church in the state’s trends, the student population at BYU being over 98% LDS. In 2005, 51% of the graduates were married. By way of comparison, in the same year, only 3% of Yale’s graduating class was married. And as a national average, 11% of the college class of 2005 were married. Additionally, the overall average age for American woman to marry in that same year was 27. However, at BYU in 2005, the average age at first marriage for women was about 22 years old (Clark, 2005).

In a US News article about cities with high fertility rates, reporter Danielle Kurtzleben makes this observation, “Education and fertility are inversely related; more educated populations tend to delay childbearing in favor of school.” (Kurtzleben, 2011) I would say that the second part of this statement should be reversed, meaning that some people choose NOT to delay childbearing in favor of school and therefore end up being less educated. This type of commitment to early marriage and child-bearing seems to be affecting Utah women’s ability to earn bachelor’s degrees. Childbearing simply seems to be the higher priority for many Utah women than completing their educations. Tellingly, the Utah System of Higher Education issued a study in 2008 which found that many Utahn’s believe men should have more education than women: 49 percent of Utah residents thought men should at least receive a four-year degree, while only 39 percent believed women should receive at least a four-year degree (Hoeft, 2011) In Utah, many women are choosing to start families before they complete their college educations and then often are never able to return to finish their degrees.

Significance and impact

To understand the true significance of this issue, it is important to recognize the benefits education has for individuals, their families, and their communities. Individuals with bachelor degrees are much more likely to earn more financially. Over an adult's working life, high school graduates earn an average of $1.2 million; associate's degree holders earn about $1.6 million; and bachelor's degree holders earn about $2.1 million (Day & Newburger, 2002). It has also been demonstrated that in order to maximize the return on their time and monetary investment, students who do choose to enroll in 4-year colleges should do everything in their power to graduate (Boesel & Fredland, 1999).

A 1998 report published by the Institute for Higher Education Policy reviewed other individual benefits that result from college graduation, including higher levels of saving, increased personal/professional mobility, improved quality of life for their children, better consumer decision making, and more hobbies and leisure activities (Institute for Higher Education Policy, 1998). According to Elchanan Cohn and Terry Geske (1992), there is the tendency for more highly educated women to spend more time with their children; these women tend to use this time to better prepare their children for the future.

An educated citizenry is beneficial to communities and governments. Expressing concern about the fact that Utah has lower attendance and graduation rates of women in higher education than any other state, Utah’s Lt. Gov. Greg Bell said, “This is a huge problem. This is where we ought to concentrate a lot of resources. Utah has a wealth of stranded investment. This is oil in the ground that we can’t reach and we need to reach it.” (Maffly, 2012)

How can we alter the trend?

In order to find appropriate and useful ways of encouraging women in Utah to complete their educations, educators need to understand the reasons behind the problem. The Utah Women and Education Project (UWEP) did some preliminary research, mostly through surveys, to try to get to the bottom of the women and education issue in Utah (UWEP, 2011a). Over the past few years, the Utah Women’s College Task Force (UWCTF) has been focusing on the same issue. Despite the worthy efforts of the UWEP and the Utah Women’s College Task Force, it seems to me that some of the most influential factors were glossed over in these surveys. The factors I’m thinking of include the early age of Utah women at marriage and birth of first child and the culturally and religiously enforced attitudes and beliefs about women in regard to higher education, careers, raising children, and expectations of the roles of husbands and wives.

On February 22, 2012, the UWCTF presented 12 recommendations based on the UWEP’s research results to the Governor’s Education Excellence Commission on ways to increase the number of Utah females attending and graduating college. These recommendations were designed to encourage and support Utah women in beginning and completing their educations. Recommendations included boosting the state’s “college-going culture” by “expanding counseling services, buttressing existing initiatives that support women, creating flexible course offerings, and finding new ways to maintain college credits during long gaps in education.” (The Utah Women’s College Task Force, 2012)

While the UWEP's initiatives will be helpful to women who already find themselves in a difficult situation (those with young children, for example), they seem to fall short of addressing the real roots of the problem. In fact, in their reports, they state that they could not recommend later marrying ages and childbearing because those practices are part of people's religious expression. It's like generously providing Utah women with some bandages for the wounds after they are already inflicted. Why should we, as a State, continue to allow a culture to flourish in which women continue to succumb to injury? Not attaining a higher education in the modern world IS an injury.

I contend that the real root of the problem lies in the culture and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). In the current manual that the Church uses to teach its 12 year old girls, for example, the message is clear. Teachers are told to "explain that if we believe that life as a wife and mother is routine and boring, it will be. But if we can understand our divine purposes and realize the great potential we have, our role will take on greater meaning than any other task in this world. By cheerfully and enthusiastically supporting our husbands and by bearing, nurturing, and teaching righteous spirits, we can experience the greatest fulfillment" (Young Women Manual 1, 2002). The Young Women Program in the Church is centrally focused around preparing the young ladies for marriage and motherhood. Is education mentioned in a few of the lessons? Yes. But education is always framed as a way for women to be better mothers...to be better teachers of their children. This is not motivation enough to put off having said children to get another few years of education! And there is such an emphasis on the "role" of women as mothers, that the mentioning of education here and there pales drastically in comparison to that main emphasis.

The cultural and religious factors at work in Utah need greater attention and investigation. If there is going to be an increase in the rates of college graduation for Utah women in the future, those influences need to be tackled head on.

References

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Brigham Young University (2007). "Admission: Entrance Averages". Archived from the original on November 1, 2007. Retrieved 03/03/2012 from http://web.archive.org/web/20071101024609/http:/saas.byu.edu/admissionsServices/schoolRelations/pf/admissions/entrance_averages.htm.

Brigham Young University (2011). Graduates by Gender. Retrieved 03/03/2012 from http://yfacts.byu.edu/viewarticle.aspx?id=218

Clark, N. (2005). BYU marriage rates higher than national average, BYU Newsnet 10/03/2005. Retrieved 03/03/2012 from http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/56823.

Carpenter, P.G., Hayden, M., & Long, M. (1998). Social and economic influences on graduation rates from higher education in Australia. Higher Education 35: 399-422. 1998. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Netherlands.

Cohn, E., & Geske, T.G. (1992). Private Nonmonetary Returns to Investment in Higher Education. In Becker, W. & Lewis, D. The Economics of American Higher Education. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.  Retrieved 02/28/2012 from http://www.albany.edu/faculty/schen/old/cohngeske12D.pdf

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Kurtzleben (2011) Cities Where Women are Having the Most Babies: The economy has dragged down birth rates nationwide, but people in these cities are still having plenty of children. October 21, 2011. US News and World Report. Retrieved 03/13/2012 from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/10/21/cities-where-women-are-having-the-most-babies

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UWEP (2011a). Research Snapshots. Utah Valley University. Retrieved 03/02/2012 from http://www.uvu.edu/wep/info/researchsnapshots/index.html  

UWEP (2011b). The influence of aspirations on a young woman’s college decision. Utah Women and Education Project: Research Snapshot No. 9. Prepared by Madsen, S.R., Hanewicz, C., and Johnson, N. Retrieved 03/03/2012 from http://www.uvu.edu/wep/pdf/uweprsno9school.pdf

UWEP (2011c). The Influence of Religion and Values on a Young Woman’s College Decision. Utah Women and Education Project. Research Snapshot No. 10. Prepared by Hanewicz, C. and Madsen, S.R.  Utah Valley University. Retrieved 02/28/2012 from http://www.uvu.edu/wep/pdf/UWEP%20RS%20No.10-Religion%20and%20Values.pdf 

UWEP (2011d). The College Attendance Decisions of Young Women in Utah. Utah Women and Education Project. Research Snapshot No. 12. Prepared by Hanewicz, C. and Madsen, S.R.  Utah Valley University. Retrieved 02/28/2012 from http://www.uvu.edu/wep/pdf/UWEP%20RS%20No.%2012-College%20Decisions.pdf

The Utah Women’s College Task Force (2012). Recommendations to Governor Gary R. Herbert. February, 2012. Retrieved 02/26/2012 from http://www.uvu.edu/wep/pdf/Task%20Force%20Report%202.15.12%20FINAL.pdf  
Young Women Manual 1 (2002). Lesson 8: Attitudes about our divine roles. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.