Digital Storytelling - Bringing History to Life

Maybe one of the most difficult things in education is presenting information in an interesting way the very first time. Although we teach children from an early age not to form conclusions based on a first impression, that’s exactly what they do. So making a topic seem exciting from the very beginning is very important. This is more difficult for history teachers because we teach the subject most associated with the word "boring." However, with the aid of Digital Storytelling, teachers can introduce lessons in a fun, interactive manner. This technology allows the user to set a series of pictures and text to music to give students a brief understanding of an educational concept. The fact that the teacher gets to make the presentation themselves allows them to decide what to include and what to especially emphasize for their students. Another nice part of using Digital Storytelling is that if a teacher finds this media to be successful in the classroom, they can use it over and over each semester or pass it along to another educator.

Students can also use Digital Storytelling to show they have a thorough understanding of content covered in class. For instance, if a class just finished a chapter over the Industrial Revolution, a teacher may assign each student to make a Digital Storytelling presentation on a specific part of the Industrial Revolution, such as tenement living, the assembly line, or cottage industries. In this way, students can share with the entire class more in-depth information about the parts of the chapter they found most interesting. Students can then use the questions they asked at the end of their presentations as study questions for the chapter test.

So, there you have it. Digital Storytelling. The future of education? I’ll leave that question up to you. But whatever the case, you can’t deny its usefulness within the classroom. Whether it’s shown in class, shared with parents through a teacher’s website, or assigned as a class project, Digital Storytelling is just another multimedia tool that can be used to enforce an educational concept using various educational learning styles. Below I have posted an example of a Digital Storytelling presentation. This one is over the Industrial Revolution. Enjoy!

Industrialization on PhotoPeach