Storytelling is not just a bunch of words strung together. It is an art. It is as much a means of fusing meaning and emotion to illicit responses that surface from our subconscious as it is to provide ourselves, our friends, and our family with a fanciful break from reality. When someone shares a story, it is human nature to make sense of the story in a way that relates to your life. Therefore, when we hear stories, we connect it to our own experiences and ideas. Storytelling is so powerful that marketers use it as a strategy to connect to consumers on an emotional level, “storytelling influence[s] the decision to make a purchase and establish brand loyalty” (SEOPressor). It came as a shock to me when I found out that Dove And Axe Are owned by the same company. Boy, do they know how to appeal to their targeted audiences. Storytelling is so embedded in our culture and our ways of life that people use storytelling to manipulate how we think. That’s some pretty powerful stuff.
Now, let’s take a step back for a second. I don’t actually want to shed a negative light on the beauty of telling stories. Stories bring us together and encourage us to understand information that has been passed down from generation to generation. First, there was oral storytelling, then there were written forms of storytelling, now there is Digital Storytelling. Welcome to the 21st century. Although Digital Storytelling is a form of age-old storytelling with a modern twist, it is not actually a new concept. It emerged in the 1970’s (The History of Digital Storytelling). It includes, but is not limited to, photography, video, animation, sound, music, text and narrative voice combined to make a digital production. Anyone and everyone has access to the digital tools needed to create a story and share it worldwide. That’s what makes it so remarkable. Due to its accessibility, Digital Storytelling has become a powerful instructional tool for both students and educators. Digital Storytelling as an art enhances multiple literacy skills in a fun, engaging, and personal way. It can be used as a medium to integrate cross-curricular subject matter, allowing teachers to get creative with the way they introduce topics to their students. It encourages students to work collaboratively in groups or independently on individual projects. Once projects are completed, students have the option to then post their productions to an international audience via the internet. Young learners will gain valuable experiences and engage in critical thinking when critiquing their own and peer works. Digital Storytelling has the fluidity and structure to appeal to all diverse learning styles. Unleash students’ imagination by giving them the freedom to draft, design, research, write, and create their own digital stories: “Digital Storytelling pushes students to become creators of content, rather than just consumers” (edtechteacher). I feel the need to mention that Digital Storytelling is also beneficial because of the amount of teachable moments and lessons, both major and minor, which naturally stem from the process. As shown in the Dove and Axe videos above, media carries unbelievably powerful messages. Giving students the hands-on experiences and resources to create their own stories will inherently assist them in understanding the power of media, how specific audiences are targeted, and how media carefully constructs and portrays its messages. If you are unclear on what Digital Storytelling is (as I was at the beginning of my process) it is worthwhile to look at some exemplars from StoryCenter, a beautiful website that is dedicated, truly and wholly, to digital storytelling.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About Me
A life-long learner. Archives
February 2017
Categories |