Digital Stories

Lately in some of my classes I have been introduced to the concept of Digital Stories.  At first I was confused by exactly what the purpose of a Digital Story might be, it just looked like another version of a PowerPoint to me.  One of my teachers that showed an example of a Digital Story didn’t really explain too well on what exactly it can entail.  The first example that was shown to the class was for the most part slides of information that had some music to go along with it.  That Digital Story was not impressive and did not make be interested at all in using this style ever in my classroom. 

Later on we were able to see one Digital Story that consisted of students signing a rap about the water cycle and recycling that really caught my attention.  The Digital Story doesn’t have to just be made by the teacher, which was not explained very well.  These students were able to make their own unique video showing that they understood the material discussed in class.  After watching that example I became much more advocate in the using of Digital Stories in a classroom.  Yes, one of the ways to use this style of teaching can be just displaying the facts with some interesting music, however I believe it is capable to let students show their individuality and creative ability.  These students were able to have control over their own assignment by being allowed to create a movie as long as it was about what they have learned in the unit.  This also allows students to really evaluate and see if they did understand the material instead of just sitting quietly in the classroom filling out essay questions about the material.  In addition this is a great tool for teachers to present the information to their students in a way that could capture their attention better instead of lecturing in front of the classroom.