Digital story-telling is defined as the use of story lines and dialogue partnered with images and sound files to create a digital, interactive video in which a story is told. The most simplistic example is a slideshow presentation with all the aforementioned aspects listed above. These presentations can be instructional, historic, persuasive or personal in nature. The process is rather simple so that students with limited technological skills can participate with limited teacher aid. The process can be suited to group work but is more geared towards individual work. As with any story, digital story-telling begins with a script and progresses with the addition of audio-video.
The article states that, "for digital storytelling to be an important component of higher education, it must provide what other tools lack, including an effective integration of technology with learning, an emotional connection to content and increased ease of sharing content."
With the increased usage of technology in the classroom on the parts of both educators and students, it is no wonder that this method is becoming widely used and acknowledged as an effective teaching tool. Digital story-telling is a new way of using the age old art of story-telling to communicate personal and professional narratives. This method also serves to bridge the gap between educators and students with aversions to technological aids in education due to its relative simplicity.
Digital story-telling offers students a creative vehicle to communicate comprehension of subject material to teachers and their peers. By using this method the student becomes well practiced in both digital interface which is increasingly more important in our modern world, while also focusing on the subject material. Educators benefit from the inherent learner motivation instilled through the use of creative and fun technology to reach learning objectives.
