The Uses of Digital Storytelling in a

Second Language Classroom

Jessica WilliamsThe University of Virginia’s College at

Wisehttp://spanishdst.wikispaces.com/

What is Digital Storytelling?

• Center for Digital Storytelling• http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/• http://www.jasonohler.com/index.cfm• http://www.photobus.co.uk/• http://www.digitales.us/• http://techszewski.blogs.com/

The Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

Point of ViewThe Power of the Soundtrack

The Gift of Your VoiceEmotional ContentDramatic Question

PacingEconomy

Lambert, Joe. "Digital Storytelling Cookbook and Travelling Companion." May 2003. Center for Digital Storytelling. 04/15/2009 <http://www.storycenter.org/cookbook.pdf>.

How to create a Digital Story

Step 1: The Story Idea

Joe Lambert Digital

Storytelling Cookbook

The story about someone important

The story about an event in my life

The story about a place in my life

The story about what I do

Recovery stories

Love stories

Discovery stories

Bernajean Porter Digitales: The Art of Telling Digital

Stories

An important moment in your life

Who you are, why you are here

How you met…

A “first” story

A pet

A family member

A Family Recipe

A “how-to” story

Tom Banaszewski “Digital

Storytelling Finds its Place in the

Classroom”

Asked his students “to write about

places where they felt comfortable,

safe, or happy places where they

could just be themselves.”

He continues “Each time I heard a

student ask, ‘What’s your place?’ it reinforced the

positive impact of the project on the

classroom community.”

Introductory Spanish classes

My (first) semester

What I did last weekend

My favorite hobby/activity

A special recipe

Something that my family and I do

together

Other Ideas for L2 learners

Informative story on a

cultural topic

Narrate a poem, short story, or excerpt from

published works

A vocabulary or grammar presentation

Step 2: The Images • Photos—scanned from originals or digital photos from your

digital or cell phone camera. • Documents and Scan-able objects—passports, birth

certificates, recipes, jewelry, cards, postcards, book covers, newspapers, magazines, etc. (Porter, 175)

• Images from the Internet—Use images that do not have copyrights. These are good links for finding public images:

• http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/public_domain.html• http://www.flickr.com/• http://www.jakesonline.org/flickrsites.htm

Step 3: Write, Write, Write!

Borrador para el cuento digital.doc Digital Story--Span101--2009 Digital Story--Spanish 102--2009 mi_ejemplo--la_receta

Step 4: Import the Photos to the Storytelling Program

http://www.jakesonline.org/photostory3.pdf

Step 5: Record Your Voice

Integral Microphone

Headset Microphone

Step 6: Select the Music

Step 7:The Preview; Review your Project

Are the photos okay? (not blurry) Is your voice audible? Do you like how you have narrated the story; is

your pronunciation good; is there fluency/fluidity?

Does the story have good tempo? (not too fast or slow?)

Do you like the movements and transitions between photos?

Does the music work? Does it conflict with your voice?

Step 8: Save as a video file

What do you need?• A digital camera (or a cell phone

camera)• A scanner (optional but fun)• A computer• A microphone• A program(Movie Maker and Photo Story

3 are free downloads)• An idea for the story • Between 3 to 5 hours

The students should follow the same steps:1. The story idea2. The images3. Write4. Import the photos to the storytelling program5. Record your voice6. Select the music7. Review the project8. Save as a video file

How can you apply this to your class?

You can choose a theme that relates to the vocabulary/grammar/cultural content of your course.

Some of mine: An activity I share with my familyA special recipeMy favorite activityMy semesterWhat I did last weekend

It should be an open topic. Tom Banaszewski’s article:http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan02/banaszewski.htm

1. The story idea

2. The ImagesMost students have cell phone cameras—they

should add their email address to their contact list and they can email the photos from the camera without needing any cables.

For a two minute story students should have 12-36 photos.

12 photos = 10 seconds/photo = 120 seconds = 2 minutes

They do not have to speak about each and every photo, so more is better for a faster pace.

3. Write

Course Compass—Blackboard-like site affiliated with my text.

Wiki Spaces—Students can share their videos in an on-line community.

Story Board Template—I ask students to write their drafts using this template based on an example at Bernard Robin’s University of Houston web page.

Grading Codes—Instead of providing corrections I indicate where a mistake is located by inserting the code that applies to the error in footnotes.

Rubric—created at this site: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Grade sheet—I can provide feedback and make comments and corrections using this form.

File Submission + Grading

Language Lab? Schedule Lab visit(s)? In-class demonstration? Provide your own examples. Students should save their projects using

several different methods: burn a cd, use a USB device, save in My Videos, etc.

The final Project will be a .wmv file.

Steps 4-8Import the photos; Record voice; Choose music; Review the project; Save as a video

Most students love to share their stories, even if it’s embarrassing at first. It also makes them work harder on the story because it will be viewed by their peers.

It takes up a day of class, but it’s worth it (I suggest the class before a vacation).

I watch the videos and grade them prior to the in class presentation and write a comprehension quiz:

Prueba 1 Prueba 2 Prueba 3

You could also create a wikispace where students can share and post their stories.

It’s not a community if we don’t share our stories

Research &

Reflections

Exit Survey—Spanish 101• Forty-five students took a survey on the advantages and disadvantages of

doing digital stories in Spanish 101 during Fall 2008. These are some of the optional comments they wrote at the end of the survey.

Advantages Disadvantages

Helps with pronunciation/speaking Spanish. (15)Helped with writing and speaking Spanish. (6)Learn about classmates. (6)Fun. (5)Chance to speak; saying things we want to.Got to use what you know in Spanish with your life.Use of technology & improve Spanish easily.

Technical difficulties: sound, images, computer access, etc. (12)Time Consuming. (7)None. (4)Embarrassing to let other people watch it. (3)Too much work involved that did not involve Spanish.They were fun for spare time. But, a hassle to deal with considering I had much more important homework to do.

Reflections“Story’s structure and rhythm, as well as the emotional involvement it encourages, can help us remember important information that might be forgotten if it’s delivered to us in the form of reports, lectures, or isolated bits of information.”

--Jason Ohler Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

“…learning is most effective when part of an activity the learner experiences as constructing a meaningful product.”

--Seymour PapertAbstract, National Science Foundation Grant Proposal

Some Examples my example

student1.wmv

All of the documents and links in this presentation

and more can be found at the following wiki:

http://spanishdst.wikispaces.com/

BibliographyBanaszewski, Tom. (2002). “Digital Storytelling finds its Place in the Classroom.”

Multimedia Schools. Retrieved on 04/14/2009 from http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan02/banaszewski.htm

Lambert, Joe. (2003). "Digital Storytelling Cookbook and Travelling Companion." Center for Digital Storytelling. Retrieved on 04/15/2009 from http://www.storycenter.org/cookbook.pdf.

Ohler, Jason. (2008). Digital storytelling in the Classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Porter, Bernajean. (2004) DigiTales: The art of telling digital stories. Sedalia, CO: Porter.

Questions?and

Comments!