Digital Storytelling: Good or Bad Idea?!?

The Purpose of Digital Storytelling:

The purpose is to tell a story of one's choosing using technology, pictures, videos, narration, music, etc. It allows a person to use their technology and creative skills while telling a story about a specified subject. This type of storytelling brings to life what one is trying to convey--a picture speaks a 1,000 words--and makes it easy to help others understand the concept.

Appropriateness in the Classroom: ESL Religion in Taiwan

Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! Digital Storyboarding is VERY appropriate in an ESL Religion class.

1. Pictures can tell everyone so much which makes it easier for an ESL student to communicate and share with the class their ideas or background, etc.
2. My students are very technology inclined and have even asked me to give them technology-driven assignments.
3. They could use digital story booking to tell the class who they are by showing us pictures, what their religious background is, how God has affected them through out their life, how He interacts with them, how they view Him, etc.
4. The students will have to write the narration, give it to me for correction, record it multiple times until they get the pronunciation correct. The amount they will learn in the process will be phenomenal!
5. We can publish this to YouTube for the world to see and the students feelings will be three-fold:
A) They will try to do a REALLY good job so as to avoid loosing face on the public Internet
B) They will be so proud of what they have done
C) They will be more marketable in the future no matter what venue they pursue.

What I Thought of the Two Digital Stories I Watched:

Hit La Pinata:

This digital storyboard was very informative, short and easy to pay attention to, and looks simple to create because it used all still life pictures; and, it weaved in religion without bombarding anyone with God. I enjoyed listening to the girl talk because she had a Hispanic accent that was aesthetically pleasing. I would definitely use this as an example in my ESL Religion class to give them an idea of how to create a a digital story with still-life pictures and how slowly and distinctly and loudly they would need to speak in order for others to understand them.

Zen Buddhism:

This digital storyboard, again, was informative and used video versus still-life pictures; for this reason, it would be a good example to show in a classroom of what the end result of a video digital story should look like. However, I would have a hard time showing this in a Christian classroom because it made Buddhism look attractive and I would not want to be responsible for influencing someone away from Jesus; thus, I would not show this in a classroom of students who are "on the fence" about Christianity, but rather only to students who are grounded in their faith.

It was harder to hold my attention with this video because it focused on slow movements consistent with the idea of meditation.

Interfaith Dialogue:

This was an audio file. I would never play this in my classroom because it put me to sleep. The visual was very much so needed, I realized. If pictures or video are not used, then the person's voice needs to be animated so as to keep the listener's attention.