The Pedagogy of Digital Storytelling

“According to Leslie Rule’s oft-quoted definition, ‘Digital storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights.” I enjoy this quote. I feel that this quote describes how I understand the definition of Digital Storytelling to be. They are simply stories told in a more modern way. Stories that were once given life by drawing pictures are now given life in a way that used to be saved only for the movies. We add music, pictures and first account information to our stories to help the audiences believe what we are trying to portray. I strongly agree with this quote from Leslie Rule.

“According to the definition of media literacy provided by one of the two national media literacy organizations, The Alliance for a Media Literate America, “media literacy is seen to consist of a series of communication competencies, including the ability to ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, and COMMUNICATE.” This approach attempts to expand the notion of literacy to include popular culture and multiple forms of media (music, video, internet, advertising, etc.) while still working within a print literacy tradition.”

http://ucla.academia.edu/JeffShare/Papers/124672/Critical_Media_Literacy_is_Not_an_Option

 I compare these two quotes by looking at the expansion of media literacy into popular culture. They both agree that digital storytelling is a modern expression of storytelling, so therefore one article verifies the other articles opinion. The reading discusses the importance of digital storytelling pedagogy in the college classroom. These two quotes from both articles tell us the importance and re-affirm the idea that we are simply making regular stories more interesting and appealing to all audiences. These are two fantastic reasons to add them in our curriculum.

My PSA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq7AWG6jYwA 

Topic and Link for my Digital Story

1.  Identify a topic for your story.

                Hardship story: Divorce and Custody issues

2. Then identify a dramatic/critical question that will be answered by the end of the story. Post that question to your blog.

                My Mother is a great woman, at what expense has the successes in my life and her life had on her own personal life throughout the years?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p2pI0Ntq1Y

PSA Bibliography

Visualphotos.com

I chose the 4 students in the library and the two children laying on the floor reading from this sites selection of photos. The library photo shows the students completely involved in their stories, while the other photo shows children laughing and having fun while reading.

http://quest.utk.edu/2010/what-are-your-children-reading/

This photo shows 3 children sitting on a bench enjoying their books. I thought the group of them together brought about the idea of enjoying a good book even while being with friends. The site itself talks about what our children are reading. They talk about the importance of meaningful reading, or reading for a purpose.

hsu.edu

The picture of all the children sitting on the floor reading shows how all students no matter what their reading level can read.

superstock.co.uk

The photo of the family reading is a stock photo from this site however the description says that the family is reading the bible as a family. Family reading is good for everyone involved. Everyone is active in the story so it is easy to concentrate.

education.more4kids.info

Mothers and babies reading is both a bonding time for them but also a learning time for baby. The site this photo is from is about the benefits of reading to your children. It talks about the fact that most people remember the first book they ever read or had read to them. “There is nothing more worthwhile than reading to your children. Even as babies; the sounds and connotations in your voice can calm and soothe them. More importantly, even before your child is born, research has suggested that your children tend to have a higher degree of understanding and learning. What a wonderful gift to give to your children.” This is a fantastic site to talk about the importance of reading to new parents.

http://bobalexrasman.onsugar.com/Children-Reading-Parents-15937002

The mother reading with her child again comes from a site discussing the importance of reading with your children, and children reading to their parents.  This site uses pictures for impact instead of a more formal written article.

www.rdph.org/community-blog?page=1

I simply used this site for the picture of the baby reading The Executive Baby book.

1photos.com

I found a picture of a little girl reading and thought it would be a good addition to my presentation. It shows how a child can sit down at any time and read.

http://boingboing.net/2009/10/13/two-good-reasons-to.html

The photo of a child laying down with a book on its head, comes from a site talking about the importance of reading everything in an article.

http://www.sjpl.org/kidsbooks

Choose books with fun themes for children, they will learn to love to read through stories they love. The mother and her little girl are reading a fun book or so it seems by the smiles on their faces.

painetworks.com

The old black and white photo, is a stock photo. The photo, shows us that even when we weren’t so concerned about test scores teachers still were focused on teaching to the whole class.

k12reader.com

Guided reading is also helpful for students to begin reading. The photo with the teacher sitting in her student circle helping them read comes from this site. They talk about how to efficiently use guided reading.

rayitodesol.org

The picture that has diverse student races comes from a site about teaching Spanish. Even though the teacher’s main focus is Spanish she is still using circle reading time to help them learn. This shows us that no matter what the situation, reading literacy is important.  

columbiamissourian.com

The photo taken outside, is of a world record competition for the most people reading at the same time. Reading can be fun, it can even be a competition.

 http://www.literacydirectory.org/

The Literacy site gives helpful information for literacy problems in multi subject areas. I found it helpful to search for literacy foundations in a certain area. The site also gives information on key literacy issues, and how to improve your literacy as both an adult and a child.

Story Map

                                                                One Fantastic Momma

Main Characters: My Mother, Brenda                                Setting: Relaxed conversation atmosphere

 Problem of the Story:

  
                     The problem of the story is rough times throughout her life, mainly focused
                     

around my parents’ divorce.

 A Story Event:

                        The first major event in my mother’s story is the abrupt announcement from

my father stating that he wanted a divorce.

 A Story Event:

                      
An arrival of several supportive friends, helping my mother believe that yes she could.

                               

 How The Problem is Solved:

                      
The problem was solved when my mother’s friend, smacked her up beside the head,  and gave her the confidence that my father had so quickly diminished.                                    

 The Ending:

                      The ending is the conclusion that she has managed to make it. She kept me

and didn’t give up on life and her love for her daughter just because times

got rough. Perseverance is the ending and the message behind my story.

                               

Title of Digital Story: One Fantastic Momma

Picture	Description
	Introduction- Snapshot view of my mother.
	This is where my mother was raised. This photo shows us the quiet surrounding she had growing up.
	My mother was 29 when I was born. My mother and I had that “Mother/ Daughter bond,” since shortly after I was born.
	These three pictures are shown to give examples of the importance of family in mine and my mother’s life. They also show how close she and I always have been, and things she wanted to make sure she could afford to do for me.
	This is one of the few pictures, I have showing my dad and step-mom. The divorce was the beginning of my mother’s confidence failing.
Here I have inserted the short video I have of my mother, telling about the rough times she had following the divorce.
	Mom mentions a few people in her life that helped make her more confident in her decisions of life these are a few pictures of them.
	“Even though she had a difficult time, while I grew up… We till kept smiles on our faces.” These pictures were all taken after the divorce, when my mother really showed just how strong she was. By smiling around me and continuing to make our lives happy and full of life.
	“Friends that were there for her in time of need… Are still with her, in their presence and in her heart.” One of her close supportive friends has since perished, this statement recognizes their constant support in her life by saying they are still in her heart. The other friend has continued to be close to mother and has supported me throughout my life.
	“We may have had rough times but we had many good times too!” This photo shows a collage of events from my life. Most all of the pictures my mother took. She was always there to support me. Coincidently she also helped me create this collage for a project earlier in my life.
	The end photo is one of the most recent professional shots my mother and I have had taken. This Is to show we are still close and her hard work to succeed and be a good mom is appreciated.

Week Nine

I am going to interview my mother, Brenda. The two major questions I am planning to ask her are: 1. Describe a vivid or important memory from any time in your adult years. This can be positive or negative, and about anything. 2. In looking back on your life, you may be able to identify particular "turning points"- episodes through which you experienced and important change in your life. Describe these episodes and why are they important.

Week Ten

Conduct a 30-60 minute interview. You can link me to the full audio or video file or write a summary of the Interview highlighting events that will shape your digital story

Interview with my mother

I asked my mother a combination of two different questions suggested. The first question I asked was, “describe a vivid or important memory from any time in your adult years.” I followed up with the question, “In looking back on your life, you may be able to identify particular “turning points” – episodes through which you experienced an important change in your life.” She started the immediate thought wheels rolling. She came up with several different options but in the end she had managed to rope all the ideas into one story. She originally started with the birth of me as a big turning point in her life, however my birth was both easy to discuss and complicated. When I was five my father, finally told my mother that he was in love with someone else and wanted a divorce, therefore creating another huge turning point in her life. She was worried about me, if she had enough in her to make me have a successful life, or if she should consider sending me to live with my father.  My father and step-mother challenged my mother’s confidence for several years and made her wobble her decisions on my life. Many of my mother’s friends began to notice her lack of self confidence and stepped in to help her. They helped her realize that she had family, friends, and faith, all on her side backing her up. She became a strong woman and knew the last thing she ever wanted to do was to get rid of me. She had waited for quite a while to have me and would fight with everything she had to keep me. Her friends and family have continued to support her throughout her life and now also help to support me. My story is about my mother’s strength as a person and how wonderful of a mother she has been even though we have had our challenges.

Week Eight

Minds in the Closet by Justice Allen http://www.reelworks.org/rw/watch/sex/

Justice grew up in the predominantly Caribbean neighborhood of East Flatbush. He noticed an overwhelming sense of homophobia in his community and journeyed out to find the reason why.

What do you like about the digital story?

I enjoyed the personal involvement in the story being told. He introduced the segment by telling us why he wanted to research this subject. He started by telling a short story about talking to a friend and a comment he made. “Why did I associate being stupid with being gay? I realized it was because of my surroundings.” He stated that he lived a Caribbean neighborhood and that he was taught that it was bad to be gay. He wanted to know if the rest of the people in his hometown felt this way and why the stereotype was so excluded in his culture. He went to regular everyday places such as the side of the street and the barber shop to get the information he was looking for. The barber made this comment when answering the question on how he feels about homophobia, ”You are mentally not there, there is something missing up stairs.” Through the different opinions of his interviewers he came up with the idea that the homophobic attitude came from their religion. The Caribbean community is closely associated with the Catholic religion, which is mostly against the idea of homosexuality, therefore creating the base for homophobia in their community. The curiosity and the drive to formulate an answer is one of the reasons why I like this story the best.  

What did you learn from the digital story?

I learned that by putting a personal touch to your topic people will relate more easily and identify more directly to your feelings and opinions. The idea of going to everyday places and asking common people for their opinions really helped everyone relate to the subject of the story.

How can digital storytelling promote critical media literacy? I encourage you to Google digital storytelling and critical media literacy to answer this question.

According to the Alliance for a Media Literate America, “media literacy is seen to consist of a series of communication competencies, including the ability to ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, and COMMUNICATE.” By creating digital stories, you are more aware of the concept of how simple it is to change media to fit your certain situation. When one creates their own digital story they can promote items however they feel. If they are to use the competencies stated above then they should be able to promote critical media literacy for all to understand.

Site visited:

http://ucla.academia.edu/JeffShare/Papers/124672/Critical_Media_Literacy_is_Not_an_Option