Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
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 Additional Digital Storytelling Resources

There is a world of Digital Storytelling out there. When you want to explore that world in more detail, take a look at how much there is on this ever growing topic.

Description Articles Classroom Use PowerPoint  Blogs & Podcasts Elements Theory Media Sources Other DS Sites

Description of Digital Storytelling

Articles about Digital Storytelling

Banaszewski gives a detailed description of the digital storytelling process used in his 4th and 5th grade classroom. While the technology enabled students to develop and share a clear, effective story, the author insists the technology was always secondary to the storytelling. Banaszewski gives examples of how he structured the process from beginning with an outline answering specific questions, adding visual images, peer coaching through the production phase, and story coaching to provide a positive classroom environment. This story coaching approach was adapted from storyteller Doug Lipman and gives students an opportunity to share their story, receive cool and warm feedback, and then give the author an opportunity to ask questions.

Banaszewski found it important to model this process to his students. Just like sharing stories presents risks for students, the teacher should share a story of his own. He also recommends starting with a class story that can be created collectively. Interestingly enough the author began teaching digital storytelling with 3 Macs and now has 20 macs in his classroom but it still requires the same amount of time…about 6 months. He also discusses the classroom management issues that teachers must deal with while creating these stories. The most important advice he gives is that the teacher must surrender a great deal of control allowing students to become their own director.

In this article, Helen Barrett suggests using multimedia tools as a strategy to involve and engage learners in the portfolio process. Specifically she highlights the use of digital storytelling to foster self motivation when creating portfolios. Some of the compelling reasons she believes digital storytelling should be included in the electronic portfolio include: learner motivation and affect, it’s a constructivist approach, it gives the learner ownership, there is an emotional connection that supports deep learning, and it gives an authentic voice to the learner. Dr. Barrett also pulls from Schon’s work discussing storytelling as a mode of reflection. “Stories are products of reflection but we do not usually hold onto them long enough to make them objects of reflection in their own right.”

Bull and Kajder elaborate on their view that the focus in Digital Storytelling in the language arts classroom should be on the writing and communication process rather than on the technology used to create the stories. They discuss the Center for Digital Storytelling's popular Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling in detail and describe strategies that can be used in the classroom and conclude with a summary of the benefits of this technology teaching method with a variety of different learners.
 

This article gives a brief overview of the reasons why individuals participate in the Center for Digital Storytelling workshops in California. Individuals come to create personal stories about their grandparents, remember their childhood home, or pay tribute to a loved one. They also have had participants create digital stories to assist victims of violence in their recovery process. There are also educators who come and leave energized to share their experiences with their students. Many teachers feel digital storytelling is different from other multimedia authoring in that the stories can teach but also be engaging and help viewers draw conclusions about their own lives or actions.

Several stories from Scott County Schools in Georgetown, Kentucky are included in the article and describe how teachers are using it in different grade levels. For example, on high school teacher has her seniors create projects related to a study of heroes in literature. Part of this process includes for students to learn to write tightly – to create a script no longer than one double-spaced page and to focus in on one event or situation to illustrate their point. They then stet to work recording sound tracks, digitizing images, and editing their tales into short films.

Other examples in stories discussed include streetside stories, stories in Downers Grove, Island Movies, and Itza Wrap. The author further gives a description on what makes good digital stories. They are personal, begin with a script, are concise, use readily-available source materials, include universal, story elements, and involve collaboration.

Other Articles
 

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Digital Storytelling Blogs & Podcasts

     Blogs

     Podcasts

Elements of Digital Storytelling

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Successful Classroom Uses of Digital Storytelling/Examples

PowerPoint Presentations

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Educational Theory in Using Digital Storytelling

Media Sources for Developing Digital Storytelling

Other Digital Storytelling Sites

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Do you know of a good Digital Storytelling resource that's not listed here? Please email us the link so we can add it to the site.
 

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Instructional Technology Program
 College of Education
 University of Houston

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