Digital storytelling is the ability for ordinary, everyday people to integrate the copious amounts of digital technology and tools available to them , to tell their own "story". Digital stories are found everywhere and are often emotionally evoking, moving, and engaging. Digital stories provide a format for people to be who they are and share who they are in a way that relieves the pressure of presenting and allows them to enjoy telling their story. Story telling is a tradition that has been passed along generations for centuries; digital story telling encompasses this tradition but also allows a global connection and global sharing. The stories can be viewed and heard first hand across many digital platforms, eliminating any risk of important details to be lost.
Digital story telling then, has its place in the classroom because it can be used to entice students to share their story while also applying the knowledge and tools of the digital world, that they will need to be able to be successful. Digital story telling allows the integration of any subject with technology and lends itself to the inquiry process that is so important for students to participate in. Furthermore, throughout the duration of the media literacy course, it has become apparent that allowing students to connect with the minds of other students across the world and network ideas is so necessary and beneficial. If students are given the opportunity to connect without the boundaries and restrictions of the classroom… the possibilities are endless.
Applying digital storytelling to my own practice would, for me, mean allowing students to tell their stories digitally. Maybe not the story of who they are, but the story that they themselves want the world to see. More importantly, it means allowing students to chance to explore many of the applications and tools we've explored in order to find the platform that works best for them to give them a voice that traditional pen and paper stories may not. Imagine the potential for the student who hates to write, but loves to film or loves to use the technology that surrounds him / her.
Many of the concepts we have learned this year about digital media are relevant to the process of learning and using technology because these concepts all come back to three main themes : creativity, connectivism, and accountability. The reason I have selected these three central themes is because to me, the integration of technology and media in the classroom can be successfully implemented if the students are first given the chance to be creative. Technology offers so many opportunities to get creative and creativity is innate, children are born with it and are destined to use it. Sometimes however, in the quest to teach them everything they "have" to know that creativity gets squashed. Technology ensures it doesn't have to be because everything from the delivery of the lesson to the assignments can be done in a creative way that reaches every student's learning style. It's an incredible, powerful, tool for learning.
The theme of connectivism is ever present in technology because when learning with technology the biggest asset it offers is that it erases the classroom boundaries. Instead, it opens doors for every student to connect, worldwide. The sharing and receiving of ideas and information allow for a greater learning, understanding, and generation of ideas never before available.
Finally, the idea of accountability is so important when learning and teaching with technology because students have to be accountable for their online presence, their ideas, their contributions, and the way in which they use the ideas and resources that do not belong to them. Accountability directly ties to self regulation and the importance of teaching my students responsibility and technology can't be used or implemented without incorporating accountability.
Digital storytelling is a tool used in a 2.0 classroom and will be used in my classroom to not only tell a story, but to leave a legacy.
Digital story telling then, has its place in the classroom because it can be used to entice students to share their story while also applying the knowledge and tools of the digital world, that they will need to be able to be successful. Digital story telling allows the integration of any subject with technology and lends itself to the inquiry process that is so important for students to participate in. Furthermore, throughout the duration of the media literacy course, it has become apparent that allowing students to connect with the minds of other students across the world and network ideas is so necessary and beneficial. If students are given the opportunity to connect without the boundaries and restrictions of the classroom… the possibilities are endless.
Applying digital storytelling to my own practice would, for me, mean allowing students to tell their stories digitally. Maybe not the story of who they are, but the story that they themselves want the world to see. More importantly, it means allowing students to chance to explore many of the applications and tools we've explored in order to find the platform that works best for them to give them a voice that traditional pen and paper stories may not. Imagine the potential for the student who hates to write, but loves to film or loves to use the technology that surrounds him / her.
Many of the concepts we have learned this year about digital media are relevant to the process of learning and using technology because these concepts all come back to three main themes : creativity, connectivism, and accountability. The reason I have selected these three central themes is because to me, the integration of technology and media in the classroom can be successfully implemented if the students are first given the chance to be creative. Technology offers so many opportunities to get creative and creativity is innate, children are born with it and are destined to use it. Sometimes however, in the quest to teach them everything they "have" to know that creativity gets squashed. Technology ensures it doesn't have to be because everything from the delivery of the lesson to the assignments can be done in a creative way that reaches every student's learning style. It's an incredible, powerful, tool for learning.
The theme of connectivism is ever present in technology because when learning with technology the biggest asset it offers is that it erases the classroom boundaries. Instead, it opens doors for every student to connect, worldwide. The sharing and receiving of ideas and information allow for a greater learning, understanding, and generation of ideas never before available.
Finally, the idea of accountability is so important when learning and teaching with technology because students have to be accountable for their online presence, their ideas, their contributions, and the way in which they use the ideas and resources that do not belong to them. Accountability directly ties to self regulation and the importance of teaching my students responsibility and technology can't be used or implemented without incorporating accountability.
Digital storytelling is a tool used in a 2.0 classroom and will be used in my classroom to not only tell a story, but to leave a legacy.