DIGITAL STORYTELLING

It is an indisputable fact that storytelling plays an important role in learners' language development. But learning from storytelling is more effective when the storytelling is done with the help of digital technologies.

Digital media tools give us the opportunity to present more than simple text. As Tony Witherspoon mentions in her speech about digital storytelling, "music, pictures that complement our story help our words become better and more impressive". Nowadays, many schools incorporate digital storytelling projects into learning. In this way, they reach today's students, help them do what is pleasant and engaging for them. At the same time, students develop the skills they need. Research also reveals that projects that use digital storytelling as their core component have proved to be successful and motivating from the perspective of the learners. 

But I would like to concentrate more on the use of digital storytelling to assist language learning. It is worth mentioning here that learners should not be supposed to be only absorbers of the information included in the digital stories. Digital stories can develop receptive (listening and reading) and productive (writing and speaking) skills. Learners can also act as creators of digital stories. Today I created my first digital story, and words do not suffice to describe the degree of involvement and motivation that I had completing the task. By making learners create digital stories we can get so many ideas out of learners' heads. 

There are so many ways in which digital storytelling can be used. For instance, Tonya Witherspoon mentions about interactive stories when students can decide how to continue by following different hyperlinks. Students can also collaborate in making a digital story. It is important that we let students create digital stories on topics in which they are interested. To illustrate this point, it is worth mentioning the semester-long Bay Area digital writing project in the US (http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2790). It was called the American Immigration Digital Story Project. The aim of the project was making a modern-day connection to history, as well as development of literacy, writing and 21st century skills. Students were supposed to select close family members or relatives, interview them on their immigration experiences, take a transcript and share with audience in the form of a digital story. 

The only drawback of creating digital stories by learners is that it takes quite a lot of time. So, the teacher should try to analyze and decide in which situations it would be a good idea to engage students in creating digital stories. The age of the learners should also be taken into account. If we decide to try digital storytelling with young learners, we should be prepared to provide them intensive guidance during the whole process. What refers to using ready-made digital stories, they are really beneficial. 

Well, I am happy to conclude that so far I have learnt about amazing technological tools that greatly assist language learning and increase learner motivation. One important factor to consider is choosing appropriate tools for a particular purpose and at a particular point in time.