Lesson 6 Reflection- Digital storytelling.

    Apa khabar!! 👀👀We are presently in the sixth lesson of Dr Lina's class. Due to the public holiday, we have our 3-hour substitute session, which includes a lecture and tutorial, this week at BA05. During this week's lecture, Dr. Lina discussed an interesting topic: Digital Competencies. Before delving deeper into this issue, Dr Lina provided a more detailed explanation of our assignments' due dates, requirements, and rubrics. She also outlined the length of the teaching demonstration and how we planned to complete the evaluation during the class. Then she explained the definitions, importance, and challenges of storytelling. It was a novel subject for me! She also defined the four storytelling elements: the challenge storyline, the creative plot, the connection plot, and the conversion plot. To be honest, I'm not familiar with these terms. Following that, Dr Lina offered some advice and crucial aspects to consider while writing or narrating a narrative. When telling a story, for example, we should provide a clear purpose. She also gave us some material to utilise in creating a digital story, such as videos, PCs with multimedia, multimedia software, and audio recorders. It was quite eye-opening! Aside from that, Dr Lina gave each of us an incomplete account. She encouraged our imaginations by asking us to continue the story properly. We worked hard to make the story intriguing and related.

To be honest, I had no idea at the start of the class. This is a new topic for me that I have not previously investigated. I was perplexed and continued to seek advice from my colleagues. I attempted to retain all of the crucial information from Dr Lina's presentation, and happily, I grasped this concept. I conducted some studies on how digital storytelling can be used in the classroom or in our daily lives. It taught me a valuable lesson: narrative abilities are sometimes disregarded, and they must be taught to pupils. This relates to my primary and senior school years when I was always eager to compete in storytelling, debate, and public speaking competitions. I finally understood the core benefits of digital storytelling. It not only increased our creativity and imagination, but it also improved our intellect, language, and communication skills!

    After doing some research, I found out that the advantages of digital storytelling can link to some of the teachings and learning theories. First and foremost, digital storytelling enhances students' creativity, engagement and critical thinking skills (Lambert, 2009). By creating their own stories, students have the opportunity to express their ideas and perspectives uniquely and creatively. This process stimulates their imagination and encourages them to think critically about the content they include in their stories (Glover & Law, 2012). It links to the Bloom Taxonomy of critical thinking, in which students are required to apply and analyse content critically. Digital storytelling acts as a tool to allow students to explore and express themselves freely. Other than that, digital storytelling also helps different types of learners boost their inner imagination. For instance, it allows students to use audio, hands-on, words and drawings in their storytelling.

    Secondly, digital storytelling promotes collaboration and communication skills among students. As they work together to create and share their stories, they learn to effectively communicate their ideas, listen to others, and collaborate to achieve a common goal (Robin, 2006). This collaborative aspect of digital storytelling helps students develop essential interpersonal skills that are valuable in both academic and professional settings. This speeds up oral language development among students (Brooks,2014) because presentations bridge the gap between language study and language use which is necessary for students to use four language skills in natural ways, based on Vygotsky's theory. In addition, group work can be directed too. People learn and know language through others’ presence (Harste,1990). Working in groups promotes students to use language to share and learn language by listening and equipping themselves with skills such as vocabulary and pronunciation.

    Furthermore, digital storytelling improves students' technological proficiency. Through the use of multimedia tools and software, students learn to navigate digital platforms, manipulate images, incorporate audio and video elements, and present their stories in an engaging and visually appealing manner (Ohler, 2013). This technological competency equips students with valuable skills that are increasingly required in today's digital world. The incorporation of technologies can also promote students’ responses. According to Vygotsky’s theory, cultural context is important to consolidate students with the environment so they can express themselves more in their communication styles. 

     One takeaway from the lessons, I would like to apply digital storytelling to my class as a future teacher. I would like to provide guidance on how to use the chosen digital storytelling tool effectively. Teach students how to import their media, arrange it logically, add text or narration, and apply transitions or effects. Encourage them to experiment and be creative in their storytelling process. After that, once the digital stories are completed, I will provide opportunities for students to share their work with their peers, other classes, or even parents. This can be done through presentations, screenings, or by publishing the stories on a class website or a shared digital platform.

References:

Brooks, G., & Wilson, J. (2014). Using oral presentations to improve student’s English language skills. Kwansei Gakuin University Humanities Review, 19(1), 199-212.

Glover, D., & Law, A. (2012). Digital storytelling: Capturing lives, creating community. Routledge.

Kajder, S. B. (2010). Adolescents and digital literacies: Learning alongside our students. National Council of Teachers of English.

Lambert, J. (2009). Digital storytelling: Capturing lives, creating community. Routledge.

Ohler, J. B. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning, and creativity. Corwin Press.

Robin, B. R. (2006). The educational uses of digital storytelling. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Learning Sciences, 814-820. International Society of the Learning Sciences.