The Costs of Digital StoryTelling

The saying goes, "Time is Money," which refers to those in the working world. However, for those of us in the education field time and money are major factors that predict how a classroom can conduct itself. Time, being the most valued and difficult issue for a teacher and money, being the factor we have no control over. Consequently, teachers use time as if it is money. We conserve it, plan what we can do with it, sometimes use it foolishly, and most importantly we invest it into some project that is personally valuable and beneficial for our students (at least once in a school year hopefully). Unfortunately, time is a form of educational currency that is mismanaged or underused because of administration demands, curriculum constraints, etc... Because of these reasons it makes it very difficult for teachers to provide the time needed for students to have an opportunity to participate in a digital story telling event.

"The subtext here is that teachers are already slammed for time, and anything that is going to make that situation worse is unwelcome. Ultimately, the conversation turns to considerations of time spent versus benefits derived, which is something teachers deal with all the time as they address ever-expanding content areas and demands for student testing."

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: Ne Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning and Creativity. Kindle Edition

In my opinion, time is the greatest challenge for teachers who want to implement new technologies and digital storytelling into their classrooms. Ohler addresses ways to overcome this obstacle by providing solutions. For example, Ohler wants teachers to realize that length of time for a student who is required to produce a digital story will take twice as long to create. Teachers should keep video times down to a maximum of two minutes, so that more time can be afforded for production purposes. Personally, in my classroom I sometimes forget that set up or time needed for explanation was overreaching into the time I expected students to begin and complete a project. Although this solution seems obvious, teachers sometimes overlook it. Ohler refers to this type of time management as economy, which can also apply to students as well. In fact, teachers need to make requirements specific and clear so that students do not waste their time either. Often students get too wrapped up in amount of pictures included, or music used, and will forget to make sure that their core content is well-written and delivered. If students are directed to use their time wisely to meet specific requirements, than everyone involved with the digital storytelling event will have better quality of work.

Audience Awareness and Blogs: Helping you understand the American alligator.

As connected as we are to the entire world through the Internet and other technologies, I think there has been a lack of awareness of who is reading or listening when we speak or write. Speech has loss formality over the generations, which has spilled over into the way we write. The lack of proper dictation has created a generation of children that do not care about the quality of their writing, but rather that it is completed, turned in, and can go on to whatever perks their interest at the moment. Jason Ohler noted this phenomenon in his book, Digital Storytelling in the Classroom, by stating "as the technology became stronger, many of my students' stories became weaker (location 208 of 2900, Kindle Edition)." In order for students to become better writers, teachers need to help children become aware of the audience they are telling their stories to.

Recently, my personal experience in elementary schools has shown me the value of using digital classrooms as a way to expose students to the idea that there is a large audience out there that is interested in and wants to understand what they know, learn, and experience. Often times I role play with my students when we are in our writing workshops by pretending that I am a newscaster and whatever they write will be my news report. I read it out loud to the student and see if they understand exactly what they meant to write. More often than not they giggle, or make that oops face, as I read "American alligators is fussy eater won't eat unless it is region temperature." After my role play-feedback is delivered students can identify how they did not make much sense, but they "know what they meant to say." Hopefully, the rest of their story goes smoothly for the most part using this type of feedback. Although the role play technique works, I think that a good digital classroom set up can also do the same.

To give my students the proper opportunities to realize they are writing to a large audience, I would set up a digital classroom in a few dynamic ways. For instance, my first step would be to set up a classroom blog. Writing in a blog format shows students that they "have an international stage for the stories [they] tell (Ohler, Location 200 of 2900, Kindle Edition)." As a result of posting first and second drafts on the blog, immediate feedback from parents, peers, and myself could guide students in revisions of their writing. Then, as a final draft, students would read their writing piece in the form of a video blog, to not only enhance their speech skills, but make them aware that an audience will be listening for what the student wants an audience to gain from their learning and experiences. I believe that an opportunity in a digital classroom, to become aware of a larger audience will give students the know-how and confidence to become great writers and storytellers. Similar to what Ohler stated, "Students need to become heroes of their own learning stories as well as of the stories they tell with their own lives (Location 273 of 2900, Kindle Edition)." This sense of hero is what students will get through a digital classroom.