Designs in Education

Nancy Forman
Digital Storytelling
Mike Frerichs
February 6, 2008



Digital Storytelling - Final Reflection

Before taking this class on digital storytelling, I thought I was going to create some kind of text using the computer. I also had concerns whether I understood enough about computers to navigate my way through. I quickly learned that digital storytelling was so much more. What I learned was that digital storytelling uses multiple media tools to tell a story. The technology provides images and sound to tell a story in a new and exciting way, using cameras, computers, music, and narration. Its content should engage its audience both intellectually and emotionally.
Digital storytelling requires the right brain abilities considered essential in preparing our kids for the future. It includes abilities such as inventiveness, empathy, and meaning. In the book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman views the world as “flat”, a world where the playing field for opportunity has been leveled. Technology plays an important role in this flattening. Having a computer and access to the Internet gives people world- wide the ability to share, compete and work with each other. He recommends that education should be building right brain skills in order to be prepared to compete in a global market. He sees right brain skills as those that cannot be duplicated by a computer, with an emphasis on self directed learning and problem –solving. Daniel Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind, points to six important skills that necessary as we enter what he terms as the “Conceptual Age”. These skills are: Design, which encompasses creativity and inventiveness; Story, having something important to tell; Symphony, being able to see the big picture; Empathy, being able to standing someone else’s shoes; Play; having a sense of joyfulness; and Meaning, the pursuit of meaning. Digital storytelling reflects these skills. It is a creative process that engages the senses and emotions to tell a story that is meaningful. It provides opportunities to integrate curriculum across disciplines, helping students see the bigger picture,
During the process of making our short film on Columbus, we learned as we went along. There was a lot of exploring and trying different resources. At times it was frustrating trying to make things work. Finally it came together. I am sure when I share what I have learned with my students, they will be able to take it further then I got, and have an easier time with it as well. As a special education teacher, my diverse learners often need more than one way to learn. Digital storytelling can provide a multi-sensory approach to learning and an alternative way to demonstrate what they have learned. These stories can be created across curriculum. Computers are very much a part of the lives of the children we teach. They are using the computer to research, play games, and e-mail their friends. As teacher we need to expand our teaching tools to include a wide range of technologies.