Digital Storytelling

My response to the 2 digital stories that we watched in class:

1. The first digital story about the rain forest i thought was amazing. Having the students involved in something so powerful not only gets their minds intrigued but having children like that send a message so big through voices so small really hits people. The pictures of what the students see when they think about that animal and having them narrate helps them read, learn, and apply the information. But most of all having the most innocent people on this Earth tell you that you are killing their really interesting and exotic creatures, makes adults sit back and listen more then they would is a peer was telling them the same thing.
2. The second digital story that we watched about family was very personalized and touching. This explained not only book definitions but personal experiences with a song that I am sure meant a great deal to the author that she was able to communicate in a short period of time. The way that is was done, like an old silent film, is classic. This was a very direct and simple way to communicate her thoughts and feelings. It was obvious that these pictures meant a lot to her and her family was her world. I hope that I can learn how to make this kind of video so I can make these not only for my class but also for my personal life.

Some educational applications of this form of communication are and how I could use them:

• From the first example, anything that is not taken too seriously in our society but is a very serious matter, can be re-introduced seriously by having a child talk about it.
• For the student, the fact that they have drawn a picture is a representation of physically what they know and have interpreted from their lesson.
• Having the students read the information not only works on their fluency but also their vocabulary.
• I would use a video like this to teach my class and have them share about topics like global warming and recycling.
• Last but not least from the first example, having the students apply and put the whole thing together, helps connect the dots in their mind. Since the teacher was able to post their class video on the website this enabled her students to share and be proud of their work keeping their positive influence and curiosity alive.
• From the second video I believe that the silent movie style would be more beneficial to an older audience with a higher cognitive development level. Because the younger students might loose interest and focus on a video like that and might not get the deeper meaning.
• I think that the older students could have a video like that to give them a more serious topic that is not as talked about, like STDs and teen pregnancy. Being an elementary education major I believe that I would be able to use that form of education to teach my students, in the 4th and 5th grade levels, about divorce, adoption, and the situations that they cannot control and show them that there are other people out there going through the same thing.