Theories Used Behind Digital Story-Telling

Digital story-telling is a wonderful tool for technology integration in your classroom. There are a few different variations of digital story-telling in which you can utilize with your students; Slide Share, Slide Cast, and Voice Thread. All three of these digital story-telling tools are fun and interactive ways to get your students excited about learning and motivated to do so. Teachers who are able to turn emerging technology, such as the technology mentioned above, into tools for students' thinking, are referred to as Alchemists. The definition of an alchemist is a person who joins unconnected ideas to create new ideas and unique ways of doing things. With powerful technological tools such as digital story-telling, you too can become an "Alchemist" in your classroom. To learn more about these tools you can talk to other teachers, search the Internet for extensive information, or read other teacher's blogs or wiki pages for new ideas. Learning from one another is a vital key to our overall success.

There are many different ways to utilize different digital story-telling tools in the classroom. Place-based story-telling is one effective way to use digital story-telling interactively in the classroom. Place-based story-telling is a form of digital story-telling that combines digital mapping tools with the power of a narrative. (Place-based story-telling has been used with older students, but can be modified for younger students as well.) This is a great tool that can be incorporated to enhance your students' learning capabilities. There are many theories behind digital story-telling which suggest that this is an effective strategy to use with your students in the classroom. It allows students to be interactive and gives them motivation to learn. If your students are excited about what they are doing, then they will be learning at the same time, without even knowing it! Also, digital story-telling gives your students an international audience, which validates their work and gives them a purpose. Through the use of digital story-telling in your classroom you are bound to involve and excite your students about the learning process. Give it a try!