Accomplishment vs. Learning
I am constantly challenged about the worth of digital storytelling as a learning process. That's okay-I should be able to supply a set of reasons that are educationally sound. Not a problem. We can begin by linking the process of digital storytelling, which I think is the most exciting educational technology process that I have ever seen (more on that later), to the skill set known as 21st Century Skills- the process satisfies about 80% of the standards. That's pretty good but that's for a later discussion.
What I would like to talk about in this blog entry is not what students learn, but what do they accomplish? I have had a students produce a number of wonderful stories and surprisingly, many are therapeutic in nature. I've had a student who never talked in class and was the type of kid not many other kids would approach, write about the true friends he found online, and how he didn't want to be the way he was, but that's who he was. What did he learn-probably a little about technology, probably some more about writing and you can probably make a strong argument that this student did not learn that much, but what he accomplished was amazing because I saw the reaction of his classmates when we showed the story. This kid would have never given this as an oral presentation, but the medium of digital storytelling enabled the kid to have a voice, to explain who and what he was to his peers, and I could see that they definately had a different perspective of who he was.
How about another student who has a disability that makes him a selective mute-and as a result has difficulty communicating (as would be expected). How much of a breakthrough is it for that kid just to record the voice-over component of the story? How much did the student learn? How much did the student accomplish?
What if a student had a baby brother who died and told a story of what it was like to have a brother for two days. And what if the student's other brothers were not alive when all this happened, and what if that student had an opportunity to make a digital story to introduce the deceased brother to her other two. How much did the student learn? How much did the student accomplish?
Could these students have accomplished the same thing in writing? Perhaps. But digital storytelling enlarges the boundries of who we touch, with whom we share, and with whom we impact. The potential audience is world-wide.
I have many more stories like this. Our kids have stories that need to be told. Digital storytelling allows them to do this. When we stop giving kids the opportunity to accomplish, rather than just learn, we have truly failed as educators.
What I would like to talk about in this blog entry is not what students learn, but what do they accomplish? I have had a students produce a number of wonderful stories and surprisingly, many are therapeutic in nature. I've had a student who never talked in class and was the type of kid not many other kids would approach, write about the true friends he found online, and how he didn't want to be the way he was, but that's who he was. What did he learn-probably a little about technology, probably some more about writing and you can probably make a strong argument that this student did not learn that much, but what he accomplished was amazing because I saw the reaction of his classmates when we showed the story. This kid would have never given this as an oral presentation, but the medium of digital storytelling enabled the kid to have a voice, to explain who and what he was to his peers, and I could see that they definately had a different perspective of who he was.
How about another student who has a disability that makes him a selective mute-and as a result has difficulty communicating (as would be expected). How much of a breakthrough is it for that kid just to record the voice-over component of the story? How much did the student learn? How much did the student accomplish?
What if a student had a baby brother who died and told a story of what it was like to have a brother for two days. And what if the student's other brothers were not alive when all this happened, and what if that student had an opportunity to make a digital story to introduce the deceased brother to her other two. How much did the student learn? How much did the student accomplish?
Could these students have accomplished the same thing in writing? Perhaps. But digital storytelling enlarges the boundries of who we touch, with whom we share, and with whom we impact. The potential audience is world-wide.
I have many more stories like this. Our kids have stories that need to be told. Digital storytelling allows them to do this. When we stop giving kids the opportunity to accomplish, rather than just learn, we have truly failed as educators.
posted by David at Thursday, April 21, 2005
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