Digital Storytelling Finds Its Place in the Classroom

In this article for school search engine "Net Trekker", the author, Tom Banaszewski, explains the Place Project, a storytelling project. His approach raised student response to the question: "Are you a writer?" from 60 percent of his fifth and sixth graders to 99 percent of them. The motivation strategy was to have students write about an important place. The medium of video production, according to the author, added a dimension to their creativity. He suggests that sharing one's important place requires trust, which benefits the entire class.

The process of writing about a place included making an outline, doing a variety of pre-writing activities, and using iMovie, the novice video-editing programme from Apple. Students began by answering questions to stimulate writing on the body of the story. Banaszewski then moved students to adding a visual representation using drawing or painting, creating a collage, or using KidPix on the computer to uncover more details about each place. Returning to writing, they added detail and a "hook" or interesting opener to their piece before recording their materials with a scanner or digital camcorder and a computer-based voice recording.

Banaszewski modelled his story for the class and gave them guidelines for telling him how to improve his story. He then had each of them present their story to the class and receive comments according to the same guidelines from their peers, so they could edit and improve their presentations.

The article includes a sidebar of "iMovie Tips" to support and facilitate classroom management of the technology.

The author concludes by stating that "[s]canning photographs and hand-drawn images into the computer, using a digital camcorder, importing music, recording voices, and composing and editing their stories using Apple's iMovie programme comprised a technological process that enabled students to develop and share a clear, structured, effective story. Technology's place in the classroom has always challenged teachers to maximise their time and resources while proving its worth. The Place Project demonstrated how technology can be instrumental in the perennial student struggle to find voice, confidence, and structure in their writing."