Using the Past to get to the Future

Often overlooked is the use of native stories, by indigenous people, as a worthy topic of study in classrooms. It seems that it is only examined when it is related to social studies subject areas and not to creative writing. Obviously we live in a western world so "western" influenced writing will dominate our classrooms. However many of us are descendants of native cultures and should be encourage to not only be knowledgeable of our culture, but also how to demonstrate our knowledge in a way that reflects any particular culture. Ohler recommends incorporating this idea into digital storytelling. First, a teacher should take advantage of local resources in their community that could come to their class to demonstrate examples of traditional storytelling. Also, invite those storytellers to pass on their culture by teaching students respect and the differences between stereotypes and authenticity when creating stories about a particular culture. Finally, Ohler recommends that teachers explicitly teach students to acknowledge where they get their information from by giving credit to specific people or groups of people. All recommendations given by Ohler not only teaches a different method to storytelling, but also encourages students to go beyond the boundaries of a limited world we all live in. I believe this approach could encourage students to explore more ideas and increase their drive to write dynamic stories.

Additionally, Ohler also made a good point in this chapter about music videos as a place for insipiration. I have heard from parents and other teachers that students have moved away from the encyclopedia and Google; and on to YouTube as a way to attain information. Students may be lazy in not trying to read information, but it is very creative to use visual information as a way to reinforce learning. Since good storytellers discover ways to make deep connections to their audience, students may find understand connections better from music videos. Ohler states, "music video artists masterfully repackage songs that already make deep emotional connections with young people byadding powerful visual imagery that intensifies the connection" (loc. 1733). I believe having students create a video that may use visual imagery that coincides with their written stories, could help students to understand the potential emotional impact of story telling.