Should a teacher
consider use digital storytelling? Well,
let me ask you this… could a house use a microwave?
Why would I
make such a statement? Well, consider
that digital storytelling is simply using computer-based tools to tell stories,
it makes perfect sense. Using stories
within the classroom has always been a simple way to engage or “hook” in your
audience. Stories immediately speak to
the listener’s emotion, it’s hard for the audience to resist actually placing
themselves within the setting of the story.
In every subject matter I’ve taught (from Computer Science, to
Mathematics, to Religion), storytelling has been a part of a lesson or
objective at one point or another, and that should be no surprise. A story will win the battle over students’
attention as opposed to lectures any day.
So,
supposing that storytelling is truly an easy sell, what about digital storytelling? It’s just changing of the medium, by using
computer-based resources to tell the story.
As many
have pointed out, digital storytelling is not new. It’s just the next step in our teaching
progression as classroom teachers and students become better acquainted with
current technology and better utilize its true capability. I can think a specific devotional story I
would tell to students that I made into Powerpoint presentation by including old
photos I found from the internet, simply to show students that the story was
based on an actual historical figure.
Perhaps, unknowingly, that was the “first steps” to my digital
storytelling journey. I can think of
several students, when handing in presentations, who have chosen to use various
presentation software that could definitely qualify as digital storytelling as
well. Once again, this is just a
structured definition to a form of technology that has grown almost organically. I once developed a lesson plan in a Secondary
Methods course to entice several English teachers (who had horrible experiences
with Math) by focussing on the history of the mathematician who developed the
particular theorem I was teaching. By
using digital storytelling, that same lesson could be converted into an RLO,
and made into a video similar to “Pythagorean
Theorem”. Also, I would love to integrate a video in Religion as a discussion starter similar to “The Reality of Television”.
One of the
greatest advantages of digital storytelling, as I just alluded to, is that its
utility in is not just limited to teacher creation. Students can easily be tasked with using this
to enhance their own student products to share both inside and outside of the
classroom. As pointed out in The Educational Uses of Digital
Storytelling, by publishing digital stories online, “students have the
opportunity to share their work with their peers and gain valuable experience in
critiquing their own and other students’ work, which can promote gains in
emotional intelligence and social learning.”[i] This tool is a tangible way to help develop many
21st century skills, especially considering that there is an art to
doing this well[ii].
Honestly,
reading many of the articles and information based on this, I actually considered
doing this entry as a digital story
for practical application, but then I asked myself, Do I have the time? I’m
being honest here, and that is going to be one of the biggest issue for many
educators. To do something well will
take a serious investment of time, energy, resources, and the like. As pointed out by Sara Cardine:
A teacher's willingness is not the only factor for getting a classroom
to operate on the cutting edge of technology: Access to current hardware and
software as well as administrative visions will set the technology scene at a
school or district. Some teachers may not have a computer in the classroom or
means of accessing technology-enhanced curriculums, Pasnik added, and an
instant infusion of computer-based learning may not necessarily be the best
move for a class to make.[iii]
It may
sound like a selfish question, but
many teachers (or individuals in their respective fields of study) will make
regular decisions about experimenting in new technological areas where students
may be “lightyears” ahead of them already (and risk looking silly), or remain “masters
of their own domain” (at least in their own estimation)? These are the type of decisions that will
differentiate a technological tool from being something that a teacher cannot
live without, and a shiny new toy that was never truly adopted into the
rotation, and is now collecting dust.
The real
question is to ask, can I afford NOT to
adopt this type of tool? It’s
honestly not a big jump to what is already being used, and (as established in
earlier blog entries), many of our own classrooms are significantly behind the
current technology curve. There is still
plenty of opportunity to learn and teach these skills to even the students who think they know how to do it well
enough, but could be much better.
My wife
changed careers much later in life, and went from Graphic Design to Social
Work. At one point she felt like the
time she spent in the Graphic Design field was such a waste, but I marvelled at
how many people looked at her resume and asked her to transfer those skills of
marketing, advertising and logo design into her social work field. I believe that will truly develop into one of
those skills that will not only be a vehicle for collaboration and critical
thinking, but a valuable method of communication and teaching tool in
itself. Students will truly benefit from
its inclusion.
It’s an
opportunity we can’t afford to miss.
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