Digital Storytelling

The act of storytelling is considered one of the most effective ways of teaching. Why? Well, we often use stories to make sense of our world and who we are. At our very core we are a collection of stories, we are built from stories, and we learn from stories.

However, how we tell stories to our students has evolved over time to reflect the changes in our world. With the rapid rise of digital media and technology it is no surprise that our stories are being reinvented using digital media. Digital technology allows for a new kind of collaboration and creativity we haven’t seen before. To put it simply, digital storytelling is a term used to describe this new way of storytelling using digital technology. Digital storytelling is sharing and creating meaningful media, collaborating, and transforming stories with technology.

Why Teachers Need to Know about Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling can be used as a tool to enhance lessons, to spark creativity and motivation in students, and to deliver abstract concepts in a more relatable form for students.

Digital storytelling engages students in a process of researching, sharing, designing, creating, and more. The learning goal is not the outcome or the tools (technology) used but the creative process involved for students.  According to Ontario’s curriculum, to be media literate means to construct meaning through various “languages” – images, sounds, graphics, words (14).

Ontario curriculum expects that students develop media literacy skills by having opportunities in the classroom to analyse and discuss a wide variety of media texts and then be able to relate them to their own experiences (14). Digital storytelling is a prime example of how students can creatively blend personal experiences with technological tools already available to create their own, unique stories.

This video below is a great example of how the Internet can facilitate a rich collaborative environment.

 

Integrating Digital Storytelling into your Classroom

By now you probably have a good idea of what digital storytelling is but if you’re looking for some real-life student examples, check out this link.

Since the topic of digital storytelling seems like such a broad and encompassing topic, as a teacher, you have a lot of options.  Ways to incorporate digital storytelling into the classroom are almost limitless. To get started here are some project ideas:

            Language Arts (English, History, Geography, Drama) and Technology

·         Have your students write and design an alternative ending to a book studied in English class

·         Ask students if they can communicate their life story (or their family’s history) using words, images, sound, etc.

·         Have students collaborate in groups and recreate a story – either historical or fictional (similar to the video above)

Of course, this list is just the start to the many directions teachers can take when designing digital storytelling projects. Remember though, digital storytelling is not just about the tools your students use but about the process of creation and collaboration. Provide your students with the tools they need but keep the focus on the process. The beauty of digital storytelling is that it enables students to challenge storytelling conventions so, as a teacher, it can be helpful to turn to your students for more ideas and inspiration as well.

On that final note, good luck and happy storytelling!

Reference:

Ministry of Education. The Ontarion Curriculum Grades 1-8: Language. Ontario: Queen’s

Printer, 2005. Web.