Digital storytelling

 

Undoubtedly, the way or the method that teachers use is very important because sometimes the course is difficult to be understood, but the teachers can make it easy through the method or the way they use. Saying this partially reflects what Tomlinson (2003) has said about the importance of the way we teach. Thus, teaching through computers is one of the effective methods. I believe that technology in general and computers in particular play a vital role on students' learning. I agree with Burns (2005) that computers are "instructional tools" because nowadays teachers are using them in teaching, especially in colleges and universities.

According to Smaldino et al (2012), "The computer has the ability to control and integrate a variety of media, motion pictures, graphic and sound…". If we take an example for this, we can say storytelling which children like most. Actually, children feel happy when you read to them or when they read a story in a book, imagine how they will feel if this story is shown through a computer in more attractive way!! i.e. through technology we add a "value" to the story.







 

Storytelling through a book

Storytelling through technology





 Moreover, I have learned some advantages of storytelling. First, it develops the visual side of students since the story consists of many colorful pictures. Based on what Smaldino et al (2012) have said, visuals can simplify information and motivate learners, so this motivates me to use visuals in general and storytelling as well. Second, if I ask my students to design their own storytelling, they will develop their interpretation skills because they have to look for suitable pictures that relate to their topic. It is them who interpret the pictures as they see them. In addition, it's more authentic and related to students' lives because the teacher might ask them to write an event that happened to them, for example. Another important point is that students mostly learn by doing. According to Confucius:

 

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand". I agree with his quote because I have experienced this with my students in teaching practice. When I asked them to do thing or make something, they understood and feel more interested than when I just explained orally. I also agree with Glosser who found that we learn 95% of what we teach because I've tried this in teaching practice as well. Also, when I taught my friend how to make Prezi, I have learned more about this program. I've also learned the steps of creating a DigiDoc in which we first select a topic, collect media resources such as video and pictures, tell the story either visually or orally. This is exactly what we've done to create the video. Click here to watch our video. 

Overall, I like the idea of storytelling and I will use it in my future, instead of the traditional way in which students see some pictures and write a story! I will assess them in many things such as the design, their creativity, the writing style, language level and organization.

 

References

Burns. 2005. Tools for the Mind. Educational Leadership .Volume 63 (4)
Smaldino. S, Lowther. D and Russell. J (2012). Instructional Technology and Media for Learning. (10th ed.). USA: Pearson.