Digital storytelling brings the campfire to the computer

In considering mediums to utilize in connecting generations in the current Web 2.0 world, nothing comes closer to the old fashioned stories around the campfire than the digital storytelling process.  One part of the Engaging process for the 4E Educational Outreach mission is to find new ways to motivate learners.  Sharing oral histories though multi-media meets this criteria well.

I have followed The Center For Digital Storytelling  advocacy
mission for quite some time and I have to say that I am intrigued by how they tie the storyline creation process to community and civic awareness projects. Although I still have not yet to created my first digital story, I am very excited to include this instructional design into my teaching practice soon.



For me, the idea of promoting community engagement along with technology will be created through a digital literacy and service learning program for young adults and senior citizens.  Through the platform of creating a digital story the intergenerational learners will not only build upon technology skills together, but also develop an understanding of how aging plays a role in the learning process.


One great source I've found that explains further on the use of digital storytelling in education is through the University of Houston Education Department.  Here, educators can not only begin to understand how the medium can be used in a classroom for learners of all ages, but can also access lesson plans.

Another slightly simpler version of digital storytelling can be found at Cowbird.  On this site, users start with a simple photo image and then add in a brief story that defines the human experiences that accompanies the photo moment.

 In the new Web 2.0 world, oral history can be passed between generations in a much stronger collaborative environment to wider learning audiences through the use of content creation and sharing (Richardson, 2010). 

Older adults do not need to feel like they are left out of the story process for they ...ARE the stories.  Younger adults do not have to feel like they have nothing to share because they haven't lived a full life yet...THEY own the skills.  Digital storytelling outreach between the generations brings both pieces of this puzzle together for all to enjoy.  Wasn't that the real reason behind the campfire stories in the first place...sharing information, wisdom and a little bit of lively entertainment.

Reference

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.