Digital Storytelling to Guide the Digital-Age Student

Greenidge, W.L., Sylvester, R. (2009). Digital storytelling: Extending the potential for struggling writers. The Reading Teacher, 63(4), 284-295.

Greenidge and Sylvester explore the implementation of new-age media literacies in writing instruction. The authors introduce four primary sections of digital rhetoric. Technological literacy refers to computer skills. Visual literacy refers to the encoding of images presented in any medium, digital or otherwise. Media literacy includes the abilities to "access, evaluate, and create messages in written and oral language, graphics and moving images, and audio and music" (284). Finally, information literacy involves seeking, understanding, and deconstructing knowledge discovered through various sources, particularly the Internet. Greenidge and Sylvester focus on classroom applications of these digital resources and techniques that can help struggling writers learn alternative modes of expression in writing.

The authors define digital storytelling as "a multimedia text consisting of still images complemented by a narrated soundtrack to tell a story or present a documentary; sometimes video clips are embedded between images" (284). The digital model is intended to help students find voice, confidence, and structure within their compositions that will carry over into traditional forms of literacy. One of the more relevant features of the article is the multitude of examples and resources the authors provide teachers (or future teachers) reading the article. They give a page's worth of websites that give examples of the so-called "digital story". Such examples help teachers learn about these methods that they oftentimes have never been exposed to.

The article discusses how digital storytelling may benefit students with learning disabilities or those who have only been taught how to perform on writing assessments. The writing of individuals with learning disabilities tends to be disorganized. Although they are more likely to make mistakes in their writing, they are less likely to engage in revision. They tend to give up on a given topic too soon and neglect opportunities to improve the quantity and quality of the writing. The article also argues that assessment-based instruction lends to rushed, anxiety-driven, poorly-conceived writing. Teachers have settled comfortably into the methods that aim to prepare students for testing and not to encourage students to find passion or expression in their writing. When students are driven to write for test scores, they lack the motivation necessary for quality composition. THIS is where digital storytelling comes in.

Modern students are the first generation to meet and truly be impacted by technology within the educational sphere. In 2003, 84% of students had access to a coimputer at school and 68% had access at home. By 2004, all public American schools had Internet access. Imagine how these numbers have grown since! However the issue is that most students have more knowledge about technology than parents and teachers. While this increases confidence, it removes potential for further instruction.

Despite this, teachers and professionals have worked toward developing comprehensive steps and components behind digital storytelling. Joe Lambert and Dana Atchey devised seven elements for creating effective digital stories; point of view, dramatic question (conflict), emotional content, economy, pacing, the gift of voice, and soundtrack. In cohesion with these parts, they compiled steps to take in employing them. These include voice over narration, creation of a storyboard, adding graphics, using an editing program to piece everything together, adding music, and finally "publishing", or sharing the work with the class. The article gives a list of resources and tutorials to assist in implementing this process.

In traditional writing, the audience tends to only consist of teacher and student. With digital writing, the audience becomes teacher, student, classroom, or even the world. This broader sense of audience increases student motivation and allows students to better understand who they are writing for, especially if the audience is their classmates. Understanding delivery method, story duplication, and online posting helps students create more strategic compositions.

Overall, digital storytelling can benefit struggling writers who are unable to improve within the traditional educational model. It is important to encompass all the resources available to students and teachers, even though many teachers have never been exposed to technological formats of learning. Despite their reluctance to evolve, students learn from and relate to what they know; and modern students know technology.