Digital Storytelling

Hi everyone,

In the classroom, story time can be considered an activity where teachers sit and read a book to the students. Although this form of literacy is still vitally important in a child’s education (Winch, Johnston, Holiday, Ljungdahl, & March, 2006), Digital Storytelling has become a new way of viewing and responding to text (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009).

Digital storytelling within the classroom allows (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009):
- Engaging learning experiences
- Faster pace of learning
- Opportunities for creativity
- Use of multiple intelligences

A Digital Story needs to be (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009):
- Clear and concise
- Personal
- Planned
- Constructed with readily available resources
- Formed in collaboration with others
- Engaging for the audience

Creating a Digital Story involves (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009):
1. Planning
2. Producing
3. Presenting
4. Assessing

It seems to be really simple to create a Digital Story. The software required is, but not limited to, Windows Photo Story or Windows Movie Maker. Students can also import and edit pictures from their Picnik account.

This program could be incorporated into all year levels by creating a display of classroom work throughout the year. Specifically within the Early Years, teachers use digital portfolios to showcase students’ learning throughout the year in alignment with a report card.

This is an example of a task that I have just designed myself, which could be used within the classroom. Year Three students have been learning about sea creatures and have just been to Underwater World for an excursion. Whilst they were there, they took pictures of marine life and took notes about how to effectively care for these animals. Once they returned to school, their teacher asked them to take on the role of a sea creature and give a presentation from that creature’s perspective. Students were allowed to use photos from the trip and also from Internet searches. They were asked to present their findings by using either Windows Photo Story 3 or Windows Movie Maker.

Here is how the task relates to the Learning Engagement Theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999):

- Relate. Students would work collaboratively in teams to create a presentation from the perspective of a sea creature.

- Create. Students would gather resources from their excursion, using photos and written notes. They would also search the Internet for information pertaining to their chosen creature. Students would upload pictures and place text and sound over the images to tell the story of their chosen animal.

- Donate. Students would place their completed presentation on the Learning Manager’s MediaFire account, which is shared with other Learning Managers to use within their classroom. The students would also provide links to their completed presentation in a class handout. Students would also visit a lower grade and show them their completed stories.

Although I have not had the opportunity to use this resource within the classroom, I believe that it would be effective. It also links well with other Key Learning Areas such as, ICT, English, Arts, SOSE and Science. It is definitely a resource that I will be looking to use in the future.

As a final thought about the use of this technology, consider this quote by Marco Antonio Torres, an expert within Digital Storytelling who states, “Digital kids need learning to be relevant, meaningful and applicable now” (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009).

Until next time,

Melissa.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory:. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Lubbock Independent School District. (2009). Digital Storytelling. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://www.lubbockisd.org/sfirenza/storytelling/

Winch, G., Johnston, R. R., Holiday, M., Ljungdahl, L., & March, P. (2006). Literacy: Reading, Writing and Children's Literature: 3ed. South Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Oxford University Press.