While at first I thought the burden of the time and effort it would take to make a digital story would not be worth it, after completing a digital story, I definitely see many benefits. I decided to use a poem I wrote for my digital story. This poem is about my life, so I have ample picture support to add to the poem. I now see how my poem has really come to life through digital storytelling. A poem that I have seen in my portfolio for a while on paper now is accompanied by pictures, music, and narration. What a powerful tool that would be in the classroom.
I could use digital storytelling in my classroom during a poetry unit similar to the way I did the project myself. I would have the students pic an event in their life and write a poem about it. Then, I would have the students collect photos from their house about the event. With upper elementary grades, the software was so easy to use that I don't forsee major issues in that area. The students would be able to experience their poem "coming to life" just as I did.
Digital storytelling could also be used for the "Star student of the week." When it was a student's turn to be the Star student, I would have them bring in a file of pictures of their favorite things, their family, and anything important to them. Instead of doing a "me bag," the students could play their digital story for the class. The students would then receive individual instruction on the software and their classmates would view an "all about me" video.
Students could use digital storytelling for many different projects as well. Sometimes students are not comfortable getting up in front of the entire class and presenting a project. Digital storytelling provides a way for them to document their work and even narrate their work without having a large audience. When the story is finished, they can show the class their final video and feel more comfortable about the quality of their presentation.
Digital Storytelling can be adapted in many different ways to fit the needs of students as well as provide a way to assess student learning. This type of alternative assessment could be beneficial to many students in your classroom. The students also learn 21st century skills by experimenting with the digital storytelling software. Although digital storytelling does take time to learn and create a meaningful project, I see far more pros than cons for bringing it into the classroom.
