In my digital learning class, we were asked to come up with an inquiry topic and specify a research question. My interest for this project is geared towards Digital Storytelling. My research question is: how has digital storytelling impacted/affected the education world?
The information that I found was that digital storytelling has rapidly been used in classrooms to engage and facilitate a higher level of learning in the classroom. I wasn’t familiar with what digital storytelling entailed, but I found out that digital storytelling is delivering information using multimedia tools (Yuksel et al, 1). I found out that digital storytelling is not just for elementary, but is used in high school and adult learning. This means that this technical tool is much more versatile than I thought. Digital storytelling is usually used when a student is forming a story while integrating information. A voice-recorder or video camera can be used, as well as the use of photos in a slide show. With this information, I was able to grasp a deeper understanding of what digital storytelling entailed and I could then find the answer to my research question. With further reading, I found that digital storytelling is a new piece of technology that has entered classrooms. I searched for some YouTube videos to help me grasp exactly what digital storytelling was. Here is what I found: What is Digital Storytelling? . Through my research, students have submitted feedback stating that digital storytelling has enhanced their level of understanding of formal writing, mathematics, presentation skills, and greater subject area understanding (Yuksel et al, 3). I could finalize that digital storytelling has impacted the education world in an effective and important way because of the grasp of knowledge students retain through this use of technology. Since this new way of learning is personalized for students, it’s easier for students to learn as it is through their own imaginations and creativity. I can conclude that digital storytelling enhances students through their learning and is a great tool to use to appropriately target various types of leaners (auditory, visual, etc.). To think about what this means for teaching as I am currently an aspiring teacher, I think that I could use this tool for many subjects. It is a very creative and artistic way of teaching, but why not incorporates it with some math projects? Students could make their own math slide show, record a song explaining a formula, create a video using number signs or even just learning numbers. Digital storytelling is all about using creative and innovative ideas to gather and present information. I believe that students learn best when they are creating something that represents them. It adds value and meaning so students tend to put more effort and a higher level of dedication which then output a strong subject understanding.
As an aspiring teacher, digital storytelling allows me to be confident that my students will enhance their learning skills, engage in a deeper and more critical thinking style, improve their language skills, and social skills as this type of technology works well in a collaborative group environment. This type of technology does not seem complicated for me to use and has many benefits for learning. In my research, the article concludes that students have increased performance in writing, technical, presentation and research skills (Yuksel et al, 7). This is appealing to me because I obviously want my students to become successful in everything that they do. Additionally, digital storytelling can be used in various subjects which attracts me greatly to using this type of technology in my classroom because it is so versatile.
An activity that I have previously done with my students during summer school could be revamped to incorporate digital storytelling. Connecting digital storytelling with art to develop a story through this technology would be a great way to have incorporated the students as a group and challenging their dinner digital storytelling. I have previously had my students watch Barbara Reid videos and read a couple of her books. The videos demonstrated how students could make their own plasticine pictures! Instead of just stopping there, I could have the students come up with a simple story that we lay out on the whiteboard and then each student is responsible for making a platicine picture to fulfill a certain part of the story. Then, we can put the pictures in order and take pictures of them and develop it onto a slideshow. We could record student narrating that story as the pictures change every few seconds. This would be a great activity to introduce storytelling to my class. Another project idea that I found on YouTube was the following: Class Project - Digital Storytelling . It seems simple and a great step-by-step process that I can follow and deliver the project to my class. It seems like a great way in incorporate everyone’s idea’s and do some self-exploratory learning.
Thanks for having a read! I hope this broadened your knowledge about using digital storytelling in the classroom.
References:
Yuksel, Pelin, Bernard Robin, and Sara McNeil. "Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling Around the World." (n.d.): 1-8. Web.
By Engaging with [murmur], People Develop a New Intimacy with Places, and. "What Is Digital Storytelling and How to Get Started." Welcome to Athabasca University's E-Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.
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