Purpose and Benefits of Digital Storytelling
Life is story.
Period.
(I’d say, “End of story,” but I’d like to actually receive credit for this assignment!)
I was raised by an Armenian storyteller, from whom I learned the all-important rule: “Never ruin a good story with the facts.” (This horrified the German truth-teller in the family, but that is, as they say, a different story!)
Every important truth and lesson was communicated through and/or illustrated through story. We read the Bible Story Books. The Bedtime Story Books.
When I went on rounds with my father, I’d watch him sit next to a patient and ask simply, “Tell me your story.” When I’ve had it “up to here” with a student, all it takes is a fragment of his story (however awkwardly written or told) and suddenly, I can go the distance.
StoryCorps is founded on the belief that Listening is an Act of Love. And in our hectic, multi-tasking world, we need all the acts of love -- listening to each others’ stories -- we can get.
The purpose of digital storytelling is, at its core, the same as its age-old counterpart, verbal storytelling: to communicate experience and truth via head and heart.
But digital storytelling has some added benefits. The ability to pre-produce the story so that its delivery is exactly according to plan -- no nervousness, no props falling, no microphones cutting in-and-out -- increases its potential effectiveness. The combination of spoken words, printed words, still pictures, moving pictures, sound effects, and music has the potential to awaken and speak to every aspect of the viewer/listener/experiencer.
Benefits in the classroom?
My students will be forced to ask and address the “so what?” question that they all-too-often ignore when writing the obligatory “personal narrative” assignment. In two decades of teaching, I can’t tell you how sadly amazed I’ve been how quickly my students -- who talk so animatedly before and after class about the exciting and amazing things they do -- are reduced to total banality when the teacher says, “Pick an event that happened recently and write about it.”
First they insist that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, to write about. Nothing has happened to them. Ever. And when they do scrawl something down, it’s -- to use my German grandmother’s expression -- datsus. Bland. B-o-r-i-n-g. And they expect me, the teacher, to accept this minimalist effort. (And by the very act of taking it out of their hands and putting it in a folder to “grade,” I do, of course, accept it -- my expectations are, after all, defined by the lowest level of work I accept!)
Their peers won’t let them get away with this...er...garbage. And for the most part, they won’t even consider wasting anyone’s time for such an audience as real, authentic, and important as their peers. All along the way, if the conflict isn’t clear, if the pacing is slow, if the ending doesn’t work, they’ll get the reality check they need...and from people who matter to them.
(The last time I, the teacher, told a student she needed to add more detail, she copped an attitude and told me, “I’m purposely being general so each reader can bring his or her own details to the essay.” When her peers told her to add more details, because they had no clue what she was trying to say, the details showed up the next day.)
I also see digital storytelling as a fabulous way for students to develop “voice” -- the all-important element of writing that is oh-so-hard to teach (and even oh-so-elusive to define!)
And the element of “economy” guarantees that deep revision -- not just a quick check for surface errors -- will occur not just once, but many times.
Is digital storytelling appropriate for my current teaching context?
Absolutely! I’ve got to do a lot more research before I spring it on the students. (I would SO love to attend the 3-day seminar in Berkley, but I’m already scheduled to be at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival that week!)
But I can see myself using digital storytelling with my English II, English IV, and AP English Literature and Composition students throughout the year.
Why?
I believe it will add a new level rigor and a new sense of purpose to the “writing” assignments I’m already giving. A simple demonstration paper/speech on “how to survive your first month at MBA” could become a video that we use to help the faculty/staff better understand what it’s like for a new MBA student and to orient new International students. A “tribute to my mom” video could be used in future years to lead into Amy Tam’s “Two Kinds” or Billy Collins The Lanyard.
I could be wrong, here, but I suspect that my students have a strong sense of when a video is “well done” and how to fix a video that is at the “not quite” stage. I don’t see that same understanding when it comes to writing; they seem mystified about the difference between “well done” and “not quite” essays, caring only about the grade.
Review 2 examples of digital storytelling
My Favorite Books -- I like the concept of this, but the voice-over was very slow and unemotional. If this person likes these books, her passion should be heard in her voice! It sounded as though she was very concerned about reading her script properly and unconcerned about sharing her love of books. I also got bored by seeing the covers of books while music played; I would like to have heard a quick sentence or two about each book. Why did Is Your Mama a Llama help her learn to rhyme? (And why was it important to learn to rhyme?)
I would love to show this to my students and let them critique it -- they’d rip it apart (my English II students are especially critical of unsophisticated attempts at using technology!) Then I’d have them create their own assignment and rubric . . . and then actually do it.
My Mama -- Again, I liked the concept of this one. It was quite slow -- perhaps I need to learn to slow down rather than expect material to come at me so quickly! My own mother is rapidly progressing through the stages of Alzheimer’s Disease; she still knows who I am, but I’m frequently called “Carrie” (her sister) or “Annemarie” (my daughter.) The day is coming when all three of us will be indistinguishable in her mind. This made me start thinnking about which photos I would pull together and what narrative I’d use to join them as the story of my mother.
I’ve been thinking of having my students do some sort of essay in tribute to their mothers (or mother figures) for Mothers’ Day. I think this would be appropriate to show at school, but I’m not sure how effective it would be. Most of my students don’t care about listening to someone else’s memories that don’t include them. I’d have to really set up the purpose of watching/listening, but even then, I know I’d lose many of them.