Reflections on Digital Storytelling

As the archetypal skeptic, after reading the articles for this week I once again found that if I make a conscious effort to curtail my knee jerk reactions to the mere idea of new technology, I not only agree with the information and sentiments presented in the articles, I am inspired and excited by the possibilities.

So true is the idea that "Good readers often visualize the action of a story," and that "Struggling readers often lack this skill," which Kajder and Swenson point out in their article Digital Images in the Language Arts Classroom. In fact, where language arts and literacy are concerned, visualization is such an important aspect of comprehension and retention I'm hard pressed to think of a single instructional approach to reading (and writing for that matter) that does not explicitly teach this particular skill. In this respect, I really believe it's hard to disagree that this new brand of digital storytelling enhances every student's ability to "visually communicate meaning." Moreover, I think this can be especially helpful for those visual learners who may struggle with the verbal-linguistic aspects of literacy. This, for me, is a perfect example of how these new technologies hold such great potential to actually accommodate different learning styles, and intrinsically lend themselves to the idea of universal design.

I came to this same conclusion after reading the article 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling, from the Education Learning Initiative--Advanced Learning through IT Innovation (this says it all, in my opinion). The article states, "Digital storytelling is fundamentally the application of technology to the age-old experience of sharing personal narratives." But what was even more compelling for me was the notion that "the storyteller...assembles rich media to support the ideas and emotions in [the] script." In other words, it seems to me this digital storytelling, which "typically [involves] a strong emotional component," lends itself perfectly to those naturalistic and social-emotional learners who are prone to creativity and self-expression. Another great example of the universal design qualities inherent in a new technology.

I felt the same way about the discussion of reflection as a "critical piece to learning" in the article High Tech Reflection Strategies Make Learning Stick. I agree wholeheartedly that reflection "isn't just busywork or an unnecessary step," but that reflection may just be "'the mind's strongest glue' for making the connections essential to understanding, regardless of the subject matter." I know it's an absolutely critical component of just about every classroom activity here in a progressive school like the Bank Street School for Children. And it seems to me the type of blogging described in this article represents a more contemporary technology, one that 21st century kids are much more likely to embrace than, say, a notebook journal. Furthermore, I've known many kids who abhor notebook journal activities, not because they're philosophically opposed and see them as antiquated and irrelevant, but because they struggle graphomotorically with the mechanical aspects of writing. Here I recognize yet one more opportunity to use a new technology like blogging not only as a tool to help develop skills like reflection and retention, but as a universal design tool to support individual learner needs.

In the article The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling, digital storytelling is categorized into three basic groups: stories that contain accounts of significant incidents in one's life, stories that examine dramatic events that help us understand the past, and stories designed to inform or instruct the viewer on a particular concept or practice. Also pointed out in the articles was the notion that an "oral tradition of knowledge transfer and exchange has served as the basis for education since humans began teaching one another," and that digital storytelling simply builds on this by "incorporating rich, dynamic media." Cited as "one of the earliest large-scale digital storytelling projects" was one sponsored by the BBC, which sought "to capture and share stories from around the United Kingdom that reflect different local histories and cultures."

This was the only place in the readings that made me pause. I wasn't entirely convinced the BBC project was really one of the earliest examples. I wondered if digital storytelling may not merely be the wave of the future, but also a return to the past. It seems to me that using multimedia (sound, visual imagery, emotion, live action, etc) to "visually communicate meaning" is precisely what a writer like Shakespeare mastered. Or, for that matter, the earliest of the Greek playwrights, like Aristophanes and Aeschylus.

I guess it really is true, as quoted earlier, that "Digital storytelling is fundamentally the application of technology to the age-old experience of sharing personal narratives."

Jeff Kulick