They Were The Children of Our World by Megan Clements (10th Grader, IL) was created in PowerPoint and digitized into a movie for web distribution. What type of communication is this story? What does the message say to you – what do you know about what she knows and understands about the topic? Megan created her original poem and slideshow for a social studies class asking students to discuss the lasting effects of the Holocaust on the world today. Megan's use of original photos along with the flash transition in PowerPoint to unfold her story exemplifies how technology tools can extend thinking and communication not possible using only paper-pencil tools.

Footnote: Many teachers who have been asked to respond to the quality of Megan's work as part of their staff development on scoring student digital products scored her low. They almost always comment on her pictures being too small or too fast. But Megan's response was that brevity was a critical component of her expression - each of these little spirits were here so briefly as to not be really seen, known or remembered. The ongoing presentation of the photos after her poem reading was designed for viewers to feel the on-going silence of these missing children from our lives today. Paper-trained adults can learn a lot by taking time to learn from these young minds how they are making meaning with the shape and form of their digital products.