Here's a little story I've got to tell...

Digital storytelling is just like the way it sounds, it's the telling of a story but digitally. But the one main thing to consider is that the telling of the story in digital format is capturing more of your senses. It allows the listener to engage with the media, the sound, the voice, the narration, the visuals, etc. To contrast this and to explain my point, have you ever seen the 2009 movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, starring Cuba Gooding Jr? If you haven't go see it. 

There's a scene in the movie where young Ben Carson is saying to his mom, "I don't have an imagination". As the scene goes on, Ben finds himself in church listening to his pastor tell a story. Ben is engaged and involved in the story that he sees himself in the story. His imagination comes to life and he runs home to tell his mom what he saw in his imagination. Here's the clip from the movie.

 

In the same way, digital storytelling further aids the listener to engage with the story. That engagement with the use of audio, visuals and/or dramatic representation of the subject matter draws the listener into the story. This allows the listener to further and deeper into the story or perhaps it takes the listener further away but still connected to the story in some way or another. I believe this is something that neurologists would call developing neural pathways.

The appropriateness of this in the classroom depends on the subject matter and/or how the teacher can use it in the classroom. If I'm teaching science and the different types of soil, perhaps I could give an assignment to tell about the different types of soil from a specific plant perspective. The student would then have to tell what type of soil the plant needs and the nutrient content in the soil for it to flourish and thrive. But this would be done in a story format. Overall, I think digital storytelling is important because it uses higher-order thinking skills such as creativity and critical thinking. However the appropriateness is determined by the teacher. How much class time is needed? What resources are needed? Questions such as these have to be addressed to determine how and when a teacher uses digital storytelling in the classroom.

From The Educational Uses of DigitalStorytelling, I viewed Urban Art vs. Vandalism and The Meaning of My Life. They were both very good examples of digital storytelling. The first one really captured my attention by its use of visuals, the subject content, and the pacing of the narration drew me in. For me, they both would be very good to use in the classroom. If I taught art or even if I were teaching the idea of perspectives, Urban Art vs. Vandalism would be an excellent choice as it highlights the idea of art and/or vandalism is subjective. The Meaning of My Life, would be a great choice if I wanted to teach the vastness of the universe compared to relative smallness of human life or even if I wanted to teach the life cycle of humans compared to the immensity of the universe.