Digital Storytelling

“Digital Storytelling is a fantastic way to engage students. There are many different definitions of "digital storytelling," but in general, all of them revolve around the idea of combining the longstanding art of telling stories with any of a variety of available multimedia tools, including graphics, audio, video animation, and Web publishing.” (Country Areas Program, n.d.).

In YouTube, I came across a great clip called 'Digital storytelling in plain English', that explained what it really was, and its relevance and usefulness in education.



On the Digital Storytelling web page by the Lubbock Independent School District, I found one of the tables of information quite interesting and very relevant to students learning. Digital storytelling isn't just a fun activity that students completed where they require few skills to produce, but instead, it requires a variety of writing, speaking, visual, technical and personal developmental skills. It made me questions, if this is such a great learning tool to use in the classroom that benefits students, then why hadn't I heard of it before or seen it being used in classrooms?

(Lubbock Independent School District, 2009).

So why is Digital Storytelling beneficial to students and how does it fit with learning theories? A document on the Tech4Learning website, titles 'Digital Storytelling in the classroom, directly states that: "Digital Storytelling can be very powerful for many students addressing various types of learning styles and modalities. Digital Storytelling provides meaning to learning through the use of their auditory, visual and kinesthetic skills. Students are also required to use higher order thinking skills in their creativity of their stories. However, much of the power of Digital Storytelling comes from the collaboration and teamwork process. In a collaborative environment, students are actively engaged in the exchange of ideas and are not only responsible for reaching their own academic goals, but the goals of others in the group. This provides opportunity for students to think critically, which promotes life long learning. Digital storytelling is an effective way to engage students in their learning. First of all, it asks for their perspective and validates it as important. Secondly, they get to work in a medium that is relevant and meaningful to their lives (computers). The ability to tell their story in a variety of ways - through sounds, music, graphics, photographs, and original artwork allows them to express their creativity in ways other than just text. The skills used in creating digital stories requires them to build planning, organizational, and time management skills." (Tech4Learning, 2007).

REFERENCES

Country Areas Program. (n.d.). What is digital storytelling? Retrieved on August 15, 2009, from http://www.cap.nsw.edu.au/digital_storytelling/digital_storytelling.htm

Lubbock Independent School District. (2009). Digital Storytelling. Retrieved on August 15, 2009, from http://www.lubbockisd.org/sfirenza/storytelling/#Good%20Digital%20Stories:

Sublimities. (2009). Digital Storytelling in Plain English. Retrieved on August 15, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP6CeGLPuOY

Tech4Learning. (2007). Digital Storytelling in the classroom. Retrieved on August 15, 2009, from http://www.tech4learning.com/userfiles/file/pdfs/Frames/digital_storytelling/ds_classroom.pdf