Digital Stories for Social Justice

The articles on digital storytelling made me pause to consider the ways in which these projects have the potential to give students from all backgrounds a voice in the classroom. In Educational Uses for Digital Storytelling, Robin writes that "a student who creates such a story can benefit from sharing that story with others and thereby use information as a way of eliminating some of the distance that foreign born students feel between themselves and their peers." So often, those students who come from some form of privilege (white students, typically developing students, boys, etc), dominate classroom discussions and do not always make room for others. When students from other experiences - especially those who may be English Language Learners and/or students of color, disabled students, girls, etc - have the opportunity to share their stories in an audiovisual format, space is made for these students.


It's quite a powerful thing for the personal narrative to move beyond simple text (which could be the foundation for a digital story) and into a format in which students can make use of pictures, videos, and audio. When students witness each others' experiences and lives in this way, they can be held accountable to that information in a way that perhaps they couldn't in simple text form. What an incredible thing for students from historically oppressed backgrounds, who are often so misrepresented (or not represented at all) in the media, to reclaim that space and create their own media.

In the activist communities of which I have been a part, people often lament the fact that we are all talented in "soft" skills - those that are dependent mostly on social interaction, thought, and process. We tend to lack "hard" skills - a mastered craft, or technical knowledge. Digital stories have the potential to train children in both at the same time, I think. Robin writes that "In the area of
technological literacy, Digital Storytelling can provide a meaningful reason for students to learn to digitize media content by using scanners, digital still cameras, and video cameras. In addition, as students create the narration and soundtrack for a story, they gain skills in using microphones, digitizing audio and working with music and sound effects." This provides a remarkable technical ("hard") skill set for students to use to critically examine their world and to learn more about each other.

I wasn't sure I could get excited about technology in the classroom, but I think I've found my "hook."

-harper keenan