What's Your Story?!

Digital storytelling is something that I have previously seen used in the classroom. However, I did not further explore the concept and its various uses within the classroom. I was exposed to digital storytelling when I was subbing in an ESL classroom. The students were using Storybird to create their own stories and poems using pictures. It was very interesting and the students seemed to enjoy the activity because it allowed them to be creative and choose from all different pictures.

In the article, 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling, I learned a lot more about digital storytelling including why its significant, what the downsides are, and also what the implications on teaching include. To begin, I would like to define digital storytelling according to the article as, "the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional content." This allows students to use dynamic sources of media to tell and create ownership of their own personal narratives. "People tell stories to teach beliefs and values to others." Through digital storytelling sites and tools, students can tell these stories of importance to other people. This would be a great way to boost implicit motivation within the classroom because students are creating something of personal value. However, this article does mention a downside of digital storytelling. This downside is due to the fact that creating these digital stories is more difficult than it appears and often leads to students copying or mirroring the stories of others. This is important to keep in mind when using digital stories in the classroom because it may take a lot of planning, time, and guidance by the teacher. An interesting implication of this tool as suggested in the article is the ways it allows technology to be applied to nontechnical disciplines such as history.

I also visited the site, Center for Digital Storytelling. This site was very interesting because it gave examples of digital storytelling which are very meaningful and emotional. Also, it provides assistance with the user's storytelling needs whether it be for education, advocacy, community, or more. They "partner with organizations around the world to develop programs which support individuals in rediscovering how to listen to each other and share first person stories." I think this site is a great way to look at various uses of digital storytelling and to discover ways to use it for teaching purposes.

Overall, I think digital storytelling is really interesting and it brings an emotional and personal element to the classroom. This is extremely important in the ESL classroom as students bring different cultures, experiences, and narratives to the classroom. Digital storytelling provides an engaging interface for students to represent themselves and their story through media and words.