“Lights, camera, action…” are words that have enthralled audiences for many years. The silver screen started with no color or sound and has now evolved to being accessible to anyone with a camcorder, smart phone or digital recording ability. Like it or not, our students are extremely comfortable with video. In fact, most of the students today spend countless hours absorbed in television. However, with the advancement of video and technology has expanded from the entertainment realm in the 1920’s to many different uses in today’s society. Although, there is no denying that television shows are still for the most part for entertainment purposes, just about everyone that has a television has been taught how to do something via watching a television show. There are how-to shows that show you step-by-step how to do complete a task. One such example is the Food Network, which can take you from the beginning of a recipe to the end. Then there are documentaries that explain a particular subject and give the viewer a better understanding of that topic. Today’s students like to watch video’s. A teacher can offer a movie as a reward in a classroom and most of the students will complete the task in order to participate to watch the movie. With the ever-changing way that teachers can present information in the classroom, it is essential that video have a place in the classroom.
Digital storytelling can easily be done in the classroom with just a few simple electronic tools. Digital storytelling enables the students to go far beyond the textbook and the four walls of the classroom. Students like to create anything that can demonstrate their capabilities and their knowledge. While taking on a specific topic, the students can take the topic from just an idea to a complete story, all told through a digital storybook. “With digital storytelling, students use their creative skills to create a storyboard on a paper, use a camera to shoot their video, and finally edit their video on a computer using some type of software” (Kemker as cited in Jonassen et al., 2008, p211). For some teachers, this may seem like it would only apply to a drama class. However, let’s take a closer look. Digital storytelling can apply to an English class. A high school English teacher can assign her students to take a Shakespearian play and retell it, using digital storytelling using today’s dialect. Another example is a math teacher that wants to convey the importance of math in the everyday workforce. Students could interview individuals on video talking about their specific job and how math applies to them daily and create a documentary on math in today’s world. As long as the teacher is being creative in the assignments, the possibilities are endless. There is no rule that says that if you are teaching science, you only have to teach science. Digital storytelling is an easy way to teach about a specific subject but to also include parts of a story, editing, collaboration, etc. Education consists of educating the whole student and not just on what our certification is in. Students will learn far more from their teachers than just what is in their textbook, if given the opportunity.
Math is extremely abstract. Some students look at a math problem and the immediately a puzzle comes to their mind. It is an exciting challenge to see where that particular set of numbers can take them. How are they going to solve it? What formula can apply to that problem? However, most students don’t share their same enthusiasm. There is the other side of the equation where a student just cringes at the thought of taking a math course. There is no logic in math and for many students no logic equals no understanding. Mathematicians in the classroom need to take advantage of whatever means necessary to reach their students. We all know that math can be one of the key components to a successful career in many fields and is extremely important to America, if we are to lead our nation into the next century. Can video or digital images assist a math teacher? The answer is quite simple. Absolutely!! For many students a visual image is all that is needed to understand the fundamentals of a math problem. There is a vast amount of students that just don’t understand the value of “x” and exactly what that equation is solving. A visual image can easily put the math problem into perspective for those students. TinkerPlots and Geometric Supposer are two programs that do just that. Students can easily apply statistics and graphing to these programs and can follow the data to see what the answer is. Can a simple video on youtube or teachertube assist a student with math? You bet! As a student who returned to school after more than ten years, the internet became my best friend when I took college algebra. There was always a “how to” video available on the internet that I could watch to physically see how to tackle that particular math problem. Math does not have to be a dreaded course or a necessary evil. It can be fun and exciting if the teacher applies the right tools in the classroom along with some good ole fashion teaching and patience. Any student can succeed in math!
Direct TV boasts about providing over four hundred channels for its customers. Do consumers really need four hundred channels to watch or has variety really become the spice of life? If you sit around any weekday lunch discussion, you will no doubt get the latest version on what happened on a particular television show the previous evening or even who got voted off of the latest reality show. There is no denying that television and video have affected our everyday lives. “According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year)”, (TV Free America as cited in Herr, 2007). With all of that video being consumed, teachers need to capitalize on an easily accessible medium. However, the bigger question still exists… can merely watching television alone create meaningful learning? Can we teach through video and television? We see people imitate television shows every day. Anyone who is a regular Saturday Night Live watcher can easily quote some of their infamous sayings that have been said a few times on television and then repeated by millions for years since. Does that equate to meaningful learning? Perhaps so. Teaching how to contribute and participate with society as a whole is one of the purposes of education. However, let’s use a far better example that is clearly done for the benefit of education. About fifteen years ago, if you took a distance learning course (which has been replaced with online courses), you had to go to the library and check out a set of videos or tune in each day to a particular channel at a specific time to see a video series. The video series consisted of a teacher lecturing over the course content (pretty much the same as in the classroom). Wow, has online courses evolved (and thank goodness they have!). All the learning was done via video. There was no video streaming or internet site that you could check out to learn additional information. Students still felt as if they were learning the same information as in the classroom, just in a different setting. Students received the same content from the video series that they watched. Another great example is the beloved Sesame Street that has been captivating children for decades. “The range of subjects is large and diverse, and includes farm shows, doctor's advice shows, shows on food preparation and preservation, shows on ecology and on international and inter-ethnic conflict resolution, specials on child development and child rearing, and shows about education and schooling, automobile and appliance repair, and do-it-yourself home and community improvements” (Palmer, . Whether or not you spend hours watching television each day is definitely your choice, but whether or not you learn something from television may not be. Learning is constantly going on and just simply watching a local news program can easily translate to meaningful learning.
Herr, Norman PhD. (2007). WWW.Csun.Edu. Retrieved April 16, 2011 from http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html.
Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning With Technology(3rd Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
I agree digital storytelling can be done in the classroom with just a few simple tools. I have to add digital storytelling is much more than using technology and tools. It is about being able to capture and create your story for the world to see and understand your message.
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