Digital Storytelling

The articles on digital storytelling have impressed upon me the importance of using technology in the classroom. While some teachers may see it as a negative in the classroom, both articles “Young Children and Computers: Storytelling and Learning in the Digital Age” and “Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling” clearly demonstrated approaches and tools that encourage student involvement and expression. The example of the personal narrative by a young Korean girl, called Almost Paradise, resonated with me in that it is similar to stories of the people who are in my lives on a personal and on a professional level. The children in my classrooms are immigrants or children of immigrants and these children can relate to the story of this young woman who is struggling to fit in at first with her schoolmates and then later on within her own family. I feel that the students in my classroom would welcome an opportunity to document their lives because they are always sharing tidbits with me and my fellow teachers.

I appreciate the article regarding young children and computers because it explicitly tells you how to run your computer center. All of the tips given can be used in my CTT classroom of 5th graders. Although they are older, they still need an immense amount of guidance and structure in all areas especially when it comes to working with technology. They shared a story of how these two young boys created their own characters and had the teacher print them out so that they could play with them as cut outs and it reminded me of a student in my class who creates tons of cut outs. I can just imagine how excited he would be to be able to create his own characters on the computer and then be able to cut out and play with them. I definitely plan to work with him to make this a reality.