digital storytelling!

As I was reading "Constructing Digital Stories" by Sara Kajder, Glen Bull, and Susan Albaugh the sentence "A student who might find a 10-page essay daunting may find a story of this size approachable." really stood out to me. This is because I find myself in the opposite situation; I have no problem turning out ten page papers, but using technology to express myself visually is terrifying. I was definitely schooled in the settings described, where labs have to be reserved weeks in advance and there's one, if any, computers in the classroom. For the most part my school experience was technology free, so I'm having a hard time understanding how and why technology should be used for something (like storytelling) that can be adequately completed using the traditional tools of pencil and paper. Therefore, the step by step guide to creating a digital story was incredibly helpful to me. Although it may be obvious to some of my classmates and future students, I had no idea whether visual or audio files should be uploaded first. Nor did I know to save each narrated sentence in a different file. These practical, easy to understand pieces of advice make sense to me and will definitely be useful for the digital storytelling assignment. Additionally, this article underlines the importance of providing students a framework in which to explore their creativity. Like traditional teaching, teaching with technology should allow students to be independent but also be assured that they have help at the ready, if they should need it. Putting computers in front of students doesn't change their fundamental needs and it shouldn't change the meaning of the support I give them, even if it does take on a different form.

Jennifer New touches on some of the same subject in her article "How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom." Her fifth tip for effectively using digital storytelling is "Give your students freedom, but hold them accountable." She acknowledges that not all teachers are comfortable using this technology, but goes on to explain that this does not prevent them from using it in ways that support and enhance learning. Her approach is that storytelling is part of human nature; we all know how to tell stories, so we should let our natural abilities shine through while using technology to improve the presentation. When the focus is placed on the content and not on using every piece of technology perfectly, it becomes much easier for us to approach the project. I need to remember that my students don't require perfection of me. They're willing to watch me learn with them and, sometimes, be my teacher. Using digital storytelling in the classroom is feasible and can be a great tool to aide in the learning process, regardless of whether I can answer every technology question or not. As my students and explore using this innovation together, remembering to "not let the technology get in the way of the story" will help us to produce meaningful, relevant and fun learning tools.