Introduction to Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling,as defined by Educause Learning Initiative, is " the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component." This has many different facets and applications to education. The article also states that, ". The process of creating a digital story forces storytellers to choose a topic that can be appropriately conveyed to a

particular audience, with electronic elements, in the time available. This dynamic creates an opportunity to reflect on life and find deep connections with the subject matter of a course or with an out-ofclass experience"

I believe that significant connections are the lessons that students remember in life. When designing project based learning, I often ask myself if the learning will matter in five years, or if it will be significant.

That being said, in Language Arts I could use digital storytelling as another way to spark my student's creative writing skills. My students have done a variety of writing, and they are wonderful storytellers. They can use digital storytelling to write their own creative stories.

Another way that I could use digital storytelling is to have my students write picture (or children's ) books. Everyone remembers the fun picture books they read when they were a kid, and I think it would be fun to have the students write digital picture books to share with our district's elementary school.