I remember curling up for a bedtime story every night as a
child. My mom would open the newest book of the month and delve into the latest
Fairytale, coming of age story, or even (yes, even) Frog and Toad tales. I love
reading books, and even enjoyed writing in class. Growing up in a time when
computers and the Internet were just beginning to be explored allowed for
little creativity.
Now, though, we live in Web 2.0; the new age of the web
where creativity, social networking, and interactivity is at an all-new high.
Digital Storytelling is a way for students, teachers, or any one else to create
informational videos with creative outlets such as music, images, and voice
recordings. Some digital videos are as simple as a web blog via video. Others
are video podcasts. These new outlets for creativity are allowing many
different people to express themselves in a way that paper and pen never would
allow.
For an educational setting, Digital Storytelling is
incredibly helpful to both students and teachers. The options are endless when
using this method in the classroom:
·
Have the students create a video on a topic to
“teach the class.” In English, this could be “How to Create an Outline for Your
Essay.” Students could benefit from each other by learning the material through
different mediums.
·
As a teacher: create instructional videos to
give to your students when differentiating instruction. For each differentiated
group station, give the students the Digital Story video to follow along to
instruction. This helps visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners because they
can listen, watch, and act along with the video.
·
Have the students re-create their own version of
their favorite story. For the English classroom, the students can take a
character that was not explored in depth, and re-create their own story from
that new character’s perspective. This proves understanding of the story that
was first read, and explores the student’s creativity in the process.
·
For group work, students can use Digital
Storytelling to summarize and present group projects at the end of a unit.
Digital storytelling can be useful in many ways all
throughout the unit. Teachers can use it and students can use it in simple
ways. Some programs allow other viewers to watch, and then comment on the
video. This allows students to feel some form of interaction with the World
Wide Web and the social aspect of Web 2.0.
For students today, it is important for them to show a
better understanding of the Internet and how they are using the different tools
that Web 2.0 is able to offer them. The better they are able to understand Web
2.0, then the more aware they are of the different tools and capabilities they
have at their fingertips. Research projects are more accessible, learning can
be more enticing, and last but not least: reading and writing can be taken to
the next level for students who show an interest in releasing their creative
ideas into the content.
That’s right, English just got that much cooler. J
For more information of Digital Storytelling and all that it
has to offer, check out these links:
For a neat student Digital Storytelling check out this nifty
video explaining Digital Storytelling at its best:
Until next time,
"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts."
-C.S. Lewis
"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts."
-C.S. Lewis
