University of Houston: Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is the use of computer-based tools to tell stories or educate.  These stories combine art and storytelling with graphics, audio, video, and web publishing to educate an audience and focus on a specific point of view.  These stories are typically 2 to 10 minutes long.  The use of digital stories extends past the classroom into libraries, neighborhood community centers and even businesses. 

Digital storytelling can be used in many different ways in the classroom to capture the attention of students, increase their interest in exploring new ideas, presenting information, and enhancing current lessons.  Research has shown that using media like these Digital Stories helps students to retain new information as well as comprehend more difficult topics.  The use of Digital Storytelling can also be an effective tool for students when they are asked to make their own stories.  Giving a student the opportunity to create a Digital Story will generate interest, attention, and motivation for technology in the classroom.  This task will assist students in learning how to download images, present their knowledge, and improve their computer skills.  After the stories are made, students could post their work online and have the opportunity to critique other students’ work.  A teacher could use these stories online as a study guide for students or as a way to teach different parts of a lesson.  For example, I would divide my students into eight different groups and assign each of them a planet.  The students would be responsible of making a Digital Story about their planet, and after presenting to the class these stories would be the study guide for our next test.

Overall, I find Digital Storytelling to be a very useful skill in the classroom.  I think that all teachers should experiment with technology like this and determine what works best for his or her students learning.  For more information on Digital Storytelling, examples, and a step-by-step guide, visit The University of Houston website.