Sorry to any of my family abroad who may have been waiting for a blog last week, it was reading week for us here at the university. I spent the week on the couch playing video games while waiting for the freezing to come out of my mouth as I had my wisdom teeth removed. Lots of fun!
Any ways this week’s educational blog is on the topic of digital storytelling. I am not sure what your opinion is as a reader about when I insert little videos and the like, but I think if it were me I would like the different formats to break up the text. Having said that here is a short, simple, 2 minute video, about what digital storytelling is. It isn't a great video, but it sort of gives you an idea.
Any ways this week’s educational blog is on the topic of digital storytelling. I am not sure what your opinion is as a reader about when I insert little videos and the like, but I think if it were me I would like the different formats to break up the text. Having said that here is a short, simple, 2 minute video, about what digital storytelling is. It isn't a great video, but it sort of gives you an idea.
If you're more of a text person than allow me to present the definition from our notes this week. Essentially digital storytelling is the practice of combining a narrative with your handpicked digital content. Choose an idea for a story, then choose your images, music, or video clips that you want to go along with it. If you are interested on more of the specific elements of digital storytelling, check out this link that my colleague Jenny Palleson tweeted out to your right. | |
Holy crap it worked! Cool! Haha if you are wondering why I am so excited it is because I figured out how to make the tweet itself show up, instead of posting a boring link. Mrs. Beaudin I believe I deserve an A for effort on that one. Also: yes Mom, you can click right on the link that she has in her tweet from here and it will take you to the website. Neat, huh? Anyway check out Jenny's link, she always has great ideas. Follow her on twitter for lots of interesting education tweets as well.
Moving on, I think the great thing about the concept of digital storytelling for our classrooms is that it presents opportunities for developing critical thinking skills.
If anyone knows anything about me as a budding educator, you know that I am big on this idea. In the Social Studies curriculum specifically we try to encourage more critical thinking. The English curriculum provides many opportunities for students to develop a story, why not encourage some to do so digitally? The process of students creating their own story to put on the internet with music and pictures gives them a chance to think deeper and more complexly about certain elements of a course.
While the process contains numerous advantages, the teacher would need to remind students that when searching for images, simply typing a few words into Google and ripping the most relevant image is not proper internet etiquette. As always we must ensure that our students are able to find what they need, and give credit to the original source. If I have said it once in this blog I have said it many times: there is nothing wrong with using what others have created, just be sure to give them credit.
Students could make introductory videos for their class, give a presentation on family heritage, or simply provide a narrative for a topic assigned by the teacher as a project. Much of the content in the upper grades for Social Studies becomes challenging for developing minds to consider. Being able to have students explain this content in story form can serve as an excellent way to enhance student communication.
Of course if you have read any of my educational blogs you now that I am also very focused on knocking down the four walls that confine my students to their classroom. I want them to think beyond those walls. Digital storytelling can serve as an important tool to enhance classroom discussion, community awareness, global awareness, and a connection between what students do in the classroom and the wider community.
Moving on, I think the great thing about the concept of digital storytelling for our classrooms is that it presents opportunities for developing critical thinking skills.
If anyone knows anything about me as a budding educator, you know that I am big on this idea. In the Social Studies curriculum specifically we try to encourage more critical thinking. The English curriculum provides many opportunities for students to develop a story, why not encourage some to do so digitally? The process of students creating their own story to put on the internet with music and pictures gives them a chance to think deeper and more complexly about certain elements of a course.
While the process contains numerous advantages, the teacher would need to remind students that when searching for images, simply typing a few words into Google and ripping the most relevant image is not proper internet etiquette. As always we must ensure that our students are able to find what they need, and give credit to the original source. If I have said it once in this blog I have said it many times: there is nothing wrong with using what others have created, just be sure to give them credit.
Students could make introductory videos for their class, give a presentation on family heritage, or simply provide a narrative for a topic assigned by the teacher as a project. Much of the content in the upper grades for Social Studies becomes challenging for developing minds to consider. Being able to have students explain this content in story form can serve as an excellent way to enhance student communication.
Of course if you have read any of my educational blogs you now that I am also very focused on knocking down the four walls that confine my students to their classroom. I want them to think beyond those walls. Digital storytelling can serve as an important tool to enhance classroom discussion, community awareness, global awareness, and a connection between what students do in the classroom and the wider community.
As part of this wider community awareness the world is becoming increasingly reliant on mobile devices. I have heard of some schools even having a mobile device, like iPads, available for entire classrooms. Using social media I managed to find a useful link addressing the concept of digital storytelling using a mobile device such as an iPad. The tweet I found is on your right, go ahead an click on the link right in the tweet if you're curious (Cool! It worked again!). | |
I guess that is all for today. As a young educator I definitely think that digital storytelling has a place in the classroom and I very much hope to use it in my classroom one day. Storytelling is a powerful platform for students and I think it would provide some incredible work. The possibilities of your students using digital storytelling are really only limited by your imagination as a teacher.