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7/27/2019 Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom
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Running head: DIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR A SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom
Lauren MacDonald
ETEC 532 Section 65A
Dr. Alex de Cosson
University of British Columbia
Sunday April 7th
, 2013
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 1Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom
Introduction
Storytelling has entertained and informed people over the centuries and across cultures
(Tsou, Wang & Tzeng, 2006). As a primary second language teacher, storytelling features
prominently in my practice. I use stories to introduce a topic or subject of study, to engage
students in discussion or just for the pleasure of having my students listen to a story. My
students love to share stories about their lives and to tell their own imaginative and creative
stories. Yet, writing a story in a second language can be an especially daunting task for my
students.
I use technology daily in my classroom. I have a Smartboard, which I use for guided
reading and writing, for brainstorming and modeling activities, and for assessing student
learning with the Smart Response system. During small group centres, my students use the
classroom computers to listen to stories and watch short videos in French, and to work on math
and language based activities or games. However, as technology inundates my students lives
outside of school, I find I am continually searching for ways to incorporate it into my classroom.
I believe that digital storytelling is a way to engage my students with writing in a second
language and to provide them with technological skills at the same time.
In this paper, I will show that digital storytelling can be used in the second language
classroom to enhance student motivation and to develop literacy, 21
st
century learning, and
technology skills. I will begin by providing a brief overview of digital storytelling. Then, through
a discussion of relevant literature, I will outline its benefits in developing meaningful learning
opportunities for students in a second language classroom. To conclude, I will discuss the
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 2challenges of using digital storytelling and how I can address these challenges in my teaching
context.
Digital Storytelling
What is Digital Storytelling?
Digital storytelling combines narratives with images, sound and video to create a
multimedia product that is educational, reflective, persuasive or historical in nature on any
subject area or topic (EDUCAUSE as cited in MacDonald, 2013, p.4). There are a variety of tools
and applications that can be used to create digital stories such as Windows MovieMaker and
Photostory, Apples iMovie, as well as online tools such as Animoto, Little Bird Tales, Zooburst,
Prezi and SlideRocket, to name a few.According to Meadows (2003), anyone can create adigital story because everyone has a story to tell (p.190). While there may be a few
prerequisite technological skills that students need to learn before authoring a digital story,
many of the available programs are easy to use. Some programs could require additional skills
as students may need a microphone for audio recordings, a scanner to scan pictures, or
knowledge of sound recording or editing software.
Robin (2008) states digital storytelling allows students to combine traditional writing
practises with technology. Storytellers choose a topic, research information, and write a script.
Stories are then combined with various forms of multimedia including audio, video, images and
music. When complete, the story can be viewed on a computer, burned to a DVD, or uploaded
onto the Internet. Digital stories can be used in various ways, such as introducing a topic,
grabbing students attention, assisting students comprehension of a topic, generating
discussion, and increasing students interest.
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 3Why use Digital Storytelling in a Second Language Classroom?
A review of literature indicates digital storytelling enhances student learning when
incorporated into second language classrooms. It assists students in developing literacy, 21st
century learning and technology skills while improving student motivation. Digital storytelling
also supports interdisciplinarity and can be used for assessment through eportfolios.
Research shows that digital storytelling supports student development of literacy skills.
Yang and Wu (2012) report that students who engaged in digital storytelling demonstrated
stronger listening, reading, and writing skills in English through the process of creating a story
map, writing a script, and reading and engaging in peer feedback on a class blog. Tsou, et al.
(2006) discovered that there was an increase in language proficiency, specifically
comprehension and sentence complexity of students who viewed digital stories and created
story recalls. Students who were exposed to digital storytelling improved their listening
comprehension skills in English based on research performed by Ramirez-Verdugo and
Belmonte (2007). These researchers explain that the ability of the students to replay the story
as needed provided them with an increased exposure to English that assisted in the
development of their literacy skills.
When creating a digital story, students engage in a variety of skills that are part of the
writing process. These include researching information and finding multimedia elements,
writing a script, organizing and planning their story through a storyboard or map, and
presenting their story to an audience. This process supports Goldfarbs (2002) notion of
students as producers. Sylvester and Greenridge (2009) state that digital storytelling also
helps struggling writers with the writing process in several ways. Storyboarding assists students
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 4with organization and coherence as this format allows them to more easily notice and correct
mistakes when editing. Media elements such as images and video encourage students to
provide more details in their writing, and audio affords students the ability to more easily
convey mood and atmosphere. For students struggling with mechanics and illegible
handwriting, digital storytelling removes these obstacles in the writing process, as students can
type or record without worry.
Digital storytelling also supports student development of critical thinking, collaboration
and technology skills, which are essential skills for students future success in the 21st
century
(Partnership for 21st
Century Skills, 2011). Sadik (2008) noted that students engaged in
reflective and critical thinking through the process of creating and presenting their digital
stories. This also afforded students the opportunity to develop technology and digital literacy
skills through the use of different tools to create and present stories, a conclusion echoed by
Yang & Wu (2012). Sylvester & Greenridge (2009) observed that digital storytelling encouraged
collaboration as neighbouring students often glanced at each others computer screens,
prompting them to ask each other, How did you do that?. This resulted in peer modelling and
explanation of the skills and strategies students used.
Digital storytelling also has the potential to engage and motivate students. Sylvester &
Greenridge (2009) state that digital storytelling can involve students in the writing process
because they are not faced with a blank page to write on, but instead can interact with
multimedia. As well, they are more aware of their audience when their stories are to be viewed
by others. This is supported by Yang and Wu (2012) and Standley (2003) who asserts when
they know the whole world is listening, students are motivated to create their best work
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 5(p.17). Sadik (2008) reported an increase in motivation and engagement in students whose
digital stories were subject-specific. He also observed that students narration demonstrated a
personal connection with the story. Tsou et. al (2006) noted that participants reported an
increase in confidence in their English learning and enjoyed using their storytelling website.
As digital storytelling can be used in any subject area (EDUCAUSE, 2007), it supports
interdisciplinarity. Collaborative, critical thinking and technology skills required for students to
engage in digital storytelling are easily transferred to other disciplines (Yang & Wu, 2012).
Students can create stories to show their understanding of history, science and math. This
enhances students acquisition of subject matter content (Yang & Wu, 2012). In a curriculum
that is content heavy, digital storytelling allows for teachers to meet multiple outcomes at the
same time.
Finally, digital storytelling can be used as eportfolios to allow students to showcase their
learning. Students select what artifacts they want to include that demonstrate their academic
growth. Sadik (2008) suggests that in contrast with traditional forms of assessment, using
digital storytelling in this way enables students to collect, organize, reflect and communicate
their learning. As a result teachers are allowed to see a deeper level of student understanding.
This can raise standards of achievement more effectively than any other strategy (Sadik,
2008, p.503).
Challenges of Digital Storytelling in a Second Language Classroom
While there are many reasons why teachers should incorporate digital storytelling into
their classrooms, there are also a number of challenges that they face. Yet with proper support,
teachers can overcome these challenges to successfully integrate digital storytelling into their
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 6classrooms. One major challenge expressed in the literature had to do with time: the time and
effort required to plan and prepare for using technology and digital storytelling (Ramirez-
Verdugo & Belmonte, 2007; Sadik, 2008), the time required to integrate digital storytelling into
an already heavy curriculum (Sylvester & Greenridge, 2009), and the time required by students
to learn how to use technology (Sadik, 2008).
Another challenge that was present in the literature concerned technology. This
included the lack of teacher experience and confidence with technology and digital storytelling
(Sylvester & Greenridge, 2009), the overwhelming number of sites (Ramirez-Verdugo &
Belmonte, 2007), the lack of equipment and access to the Internet (Sadik, 2008), and the
technology being above the technological and linguistic abilities of students (Ramirez-Verdugo
& Belmonte, 2007).
The challenges of time and technology can deter many teachers from using digital
storytelling in their classrooms. However, I believe there are a number of ways that teachers
can overcome these obstacles to achieve successful implementation of digital storytelling. One
way is to provide teachers with professional development surrounding digital storytelling. This
should include time for teachers to explore the tools themselves, as suggested by Zhao & Frank
(2003). Ideally, this would be in an environment where they were supported by colleagues who
had successfully used digital storytelling and who could answer questions, including those of a
more technical nature. In a recent professional development session I attended, we explored
iOS programs including iMovie. Being able to explore this program, while being supported by
the presenter who has used the program in her classroom for digital storytelling was a
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 7meaningful learning opportunity. I am excited about the possibilities of using this program with
my students for the same purpose.
There are many sites and programs available for digital storytelling and it is easy to see
why teachers can become overwhelmed. Seeking out colleagues who have used digital
storytelling in their classroom and who can provide suggestions of sites or programs that would
be appropriate for my students would assist those of us with little experience. One of my
administrators in a recent professional development session on technology, advised us to take
one thing and try to implement it into our teaching. So I am not overwhelmed, I see myself
starting digital storytelling with my students by focusing on one tool or one topic from my
curriculum.
Planning with grade or subject level colleagues may also help to decrease planning time
and allow for teachers with more technology knowledge to assist their colleagues in a
mentorship role. Planning with colleagues can also support interdisciplinarity as we can plan to
incorporate digital storytelling to meet multiple curriculum outcomes in different subject areas
through one project. For example, having students create a digital story to demonstrate their
understanding of an animal group and its life cycle, or taking a familiar fairy tale and retelling it
by changing the characters, setting, and even the ending are a few possibilities.
Issues of access to equipment and the Internet are common problems in many schools.
With the high cost of keeping technology current combined with tight school budgets, the
economic situation that many schools face makes spending money on the latest technology
difficult to justify. While some schools can work around this with Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD) policies, others cannot. Many schools have the current technology available; however,
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 8it is often in high demand and not always accessible to teachers. This is a problem that I
frequently face at my school. In an effort to access the technology, I try to plan ahead and
reserve the computer lab or iPads when I think I will need them.
As the technology may be above the technological and linguistic abilities of students,
especially at the primary level, I would use digital storytelling as part of my classroom centres
where students work in small groups. This way I can provide technical and linguistic support to
small numbers of students at one time. Another way I could overcome this barrier is to have
students create digital stories in small groups or with a partner. This would allow students to
support each other.
While not discussed in literature, I also see student privacy and safety being a concern
for many teachers, especially when having primary students search for images and video, or
post their stories online. They may be exposed to inappropriate content or improper comments
in un-moderated web environments. One way to overcome this issue is to have students either
create pictures in Paint or a similar program, or to scan pictures. These pictures can then be
saved and incorporated into students stories. Alternatively, there are educator sites available
with libraries of images that students can search and use for free. Such sites can alleviate
concerns for student safety. In addition, parental consent should be acquired before posting
student work, and students should be encouraged to not include personal information in their
stories. Student stories can be posted on class or school blogs that require parents or other
visitors to register in order to comment on student work, with all comments needing teacher
approval before being posted. In this way, comments can be monitored and any inappropriate
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom 9comments removed. While limiting the access to the blog could detract from its real world
aspect, the safety of my young students would have to be my first priority.
Discussion and Conclusion
As my students are second language learners, writing stories in their second language is
a frequent area of frustration. Many students struggle with spelling, grammar, sentence
structures, and coherence. These difficulties are not regularly present when students
participate in oral storytelling and presentations. By engaging them in the process of creating a
digital story on a computer or iPad, I will be removing the barrier of writing and allowing them
to share their ideas visually and orally.
By incorporating digital storytelling into my teaching, I will be assisting my students in
developing their literacy skills, helping them become more engaged in the writing process in
their second language, and increasing their knowledge of various subject matters. Digital
storytelling will allow me to teach from an interdisciplinary perspective and afford my students
the opportunity to gain valuable 21st century learning and technology skills. While there are
many challenges that teachers face in order to incorporate digital storytelling, I do not feel that
these are insurmountable. With proper support from colleagues, these barriers can be
overcome. I see not only many possible avenues for implementing digital storytelling into my
classroom, but also the immense value of its inclusion towards my students academic success.
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Digital Storytelling for a Second Language Classroom
10References
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