FinalProject-MypageatIndianaUniversity.docVIP

Final Project R-546 Bonk Digital Storytelling in the Language Arts Classroom What is Digital Storytelling? Digital Storytelling is a movement that uses digital tools to allow ordinary people to tell stories. These stories can be creative works of fiction, documentaries of historic/social issues, or personal family/life stories. These stories tend to be shorter in length than commercial works, generally lasting less than ten minutes. They can involve the use of digital photos, music, dialog, movies, and interactive content. Why Digital Storytelling? As a species, weve been telling each other stories since the beginning. Before fire, before even language, we communicated with each other through stories. From stick figures in the mud, to cave paintings, to language, dialogs, plays, movies, radio, television, the Internet, and 3D IMAX movies, weve never stopped telling stories. No matter who you are or where you come from stories are central to your life. They may be stories found in books, television, movies, song, or the Internet. They may be more personal stories rooted in your own experiences or the experiences of your family. Either way, we cherish stories and hold them deeply personal. Why Digital Storytelling in Language Arts? By the time a student reaches high school, he or she has endured nine years of classroom language training (including kindergarten). For this student, the rules of writing are often a jumbled mix of contradictory ideas, mnemonic devices, misconceptions, and self-imposed limitations. Regardless of the technique, the average high school student has spent more time learning how to write than actually writing. Digital storytelling offers the opportunity to take an intensely personal and universally shared form of creative communication and use it as a vehicle to improve writing skills. No matter how simple or personal the story may be, it requires a significant process of writing to create. Digital technology n