Digital Storytelling -- "How to" and other resources!

Hello colleagues, One of my all time favorite projects is engaging learners in Digital Storytelling. Have you every created your own digital story? Have you supported learners in creating their own digital stories?

I'm super excited that Laura Porfirio will be facilitating a live LINCS event focused on digital stories on May 25 at 2:00 ET.  You can register for the Digital Storytelling event here. 

Those who are interested, can access an article by Judy Rance-Roney in the documents section of our community which outlines a process for engaging learners in creating their own digital stories.  If you know of resources to share on Digital Storytelling, please share them here. 

I'm looking forward to some great discussion on this topic!

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition Group

Comments

Hello colleagues, I'm certain that those who attended our event yesterday on Digital Storytelling with Laura Porfirio would agree that it was inspiring! Thank you, Laura! We are so grateful to you for sharing your expertise with the LINCS community.

Laura began the session by sharing a wonderful digital story created by Carlos, a student at Pima College. Carlos tells how he struggled to learn fractions until he realized that in his construction work he used fractions all the time. He was able to pass the high school equivalency test and then became an Americorps  volunteer tutoring other adult learners.

Laura led us in discussing why storytelling is important and pointed out that storytelling helps us to ...

  • Reveal community issues
  • Inspire action
  • Challenge assumptions
  • Start conversations
  • Build connections

The steps in the storytelling process include:

  1. Choose a story
  2. Write a script
  3. Record your voice
  4. Gather images
  5. Edit (together)
  6. Share

Participants agreed that creating a digital story supports learners with 1) academic skills, 2) civic engagement, and 3) workforce skills. 

Laura gave us a few minutes to begin crafting our own story. She explained that it is important to "keep it simple" by following these steps: start with an attention grabbing opening line, include an anecdote, reflect on why your story matters, and end with a strong closing line. 

We also had the chance to view and discuss Etty's digital story, another student at Pima College, who talks about how she learned to improve her writing.

Here is a link to Laura's handout which includes useful guidance for teachers who want to engage learners in creating digital stories as well as links to valuable resources. 

Members, please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences related to digital storytelling and to pose questions for your colleagues.

Here are some digital storytelling resources Laura shared with us:

Cheers, Susan