According to the University of Houston, digital storytelling is the practice of using computer based tools to tell stories. The Center for Digital Storytelling developed the Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling, which can be helpful as you begin to create a digital story. The CDS' Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling include a point of view, a dramatic question, emotional content, the gift of the creator's voice, the power of the soundtrack, economy (using just enough content without overwhelming the viewer) and pacing. As students create digital stories in the classroom, it would be beneficial to discuss these seven elements. These elements serve as a good starting point for the students. I believe that the media specialist's role in digital storytelling is very important. The media specialist should collaborate with the classroom teacher and discuss the topic/topics of the digtial stories. The media specialist should then put together a digital storytelling kit comprised of images, videos and audio for the students to use as they are creating their own digital story. The digital storytelling kit would allow the students to focus more of their time on the quality of their project instead of spending a majority of their time searching for images, videos and audio for their digital story. I believe that digital stories would be a great technology tool to use in the classroom in all subject areas. The students enjoy working with technology and would more than likely have a better understanding of the topic/subject after completing a digital story. Recently, I have dicussed digital storytelling with the media specialist at my school and we are planning on completing a digital story with my third grade class during our Response to Intervention Time. I am excited about this opportunity and hope to continue to become more familar with digital storytelling in order to successsfully implement it in my classroom on a regular basis.
The media center at the elementary school in which I am employed does not have any fiction or nonfiction Ebooks at this time. I dicussed the topic of Ebooks with my media specialist and she explained that while she would love to have them in the media center, there is just not any funds avaiable for this type of purchase at this point during the school year. Hopefully in the future our school will be able to purchase Ebooks for our students. I believe the Ebooks would be very beneficial to our students. Even though we do not have any Ebooks in our media center, it should not stop us from seeking out and using free Ebooks online. The International Children's Digital Library website features a variety of Ebooks in many different languages. The literature provided on this site will help students understand the value of respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas.
University of Houston. (2009). The Educational uses of digital storytelling. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/index.html
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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Thank you for the overview of the digital story-telling process. I love the idea of digital story-telling. I myself am not creative at all, especially when it comes to creative writing - very analytical I am, I even have trouble with design concepts in PowerPoint! That's what I love about this medium. Even folks like me can still create a satisfying product and enjoy the creative process. Students of all learning styles can benefit from fun projects like this one, and since it is a wonderful form of self-expression, how can one go wrong?
ReplyDeleteAs for ebooks, we have none in our media center either, other than the electronic encyclopedias and resources through databases like Galileo. However, my media specialist has been entertaining vendors of ebooks and is strongly considering acquiring some for our students, all of whom have their own laptops at the school which would make it easier for them to read books electronically at their leisure. If we do acquire them, it will be fun to gauge the success of the ebook at our school.
Jessica -- I agree with you and your media specialist that digital storytelling is a great tool. It does allow the student time to focus on their project rather than spending time searching for reliable information. Currently, our media specialist has not developed any of these files for our students.
ReplyDeleteMy project will be geared to 10th grade literature classes so we can incorporate this project into our lesson plans. I see this as a excellent tool for Special Ed students who have a difficult time reading. Although I know that all students will benefit from this kit.
As for e-Books, our school does not have any of these either. I know that many teachers do access the Gutenberg project website for books since some of the classics are on this site.