Digital Storytelling

Photo by film production students

The first time when I encountered the concept of digital storytelling is in one of the courses for my Master degree of American literature. That professor not only let us discuss about the novels but also the different versions of film adaptations of the novels. He believes that these film adaptations are the different literature critiques. By watching these films, audience can see how the film makers understand this novel. The films are the digital versions of literature critiques. The professor told us as we enter into the technology age, using digital to express our opinion is a tendency.

I do agree with him about the digital turning happened both in people's daily life and also in different academic fields like literature, education, science etc. Actually, nowadays there are more and more people starting using digital telling way to express themselves. In China, many well-made digital storytelling works are very popular on internet. People are expressing themselves through those humorous and insightful digital stories. For educators, digital storytelling will be a different and useful way for education. "Digital stories let students express themselves not only with their own words but also in their own voices, fostering a sense of individuality and of “owning” their creations" (7 things you should know about digital storytelling, p.2). Beside learning knowledge, the more important purpose of education is help student know what they can do, let them express themselves, make them fully develop their critically thinking and creative ability. And also its purpose is to make student uniquely different instead of universally the same. Digital storytelling is an perfect tool for students to gain a deeper understanding of the topic. It provides a way for students to express themselves and helps them find their own identity through the process of making the digital story.

As a language teacher, I would love to use this digital storytelling tool in my future teaching. Language learning includes learning different aspects of language skills, speaking, listening, reading and writing. Making a digital story is a project that can help my students practice their integrative ability of a language. More importantly, it helps students gain the language sense which is very important for language learners while doing it. For example, I will ask my students to make digital stories on different topics we learn. This assignment will serve as a reinforcement for students and help them become more familiar with the language they learn.