“Stories” are the latest and greatest features of social media today. Snapchat has led to the advent of digital stories on social media. Soon, Instagram jumped onboard with the idea as well. The concept of “stories” is really nothing new. Storytelling has been happening for centuries. However, with the revolution that technology has brought about, stories are now able to be shared digitally.
Educators have recognized the importance of digital storytelling for some time. Specifically, the importance of using digital stories with L2 students. It allows students to practice listening and speaking skills while also creating and developing a narrative. As tech companies are realizing the potential of digital storytelling, more and more technology is becoming available. This week I examined articles about two major corporations inventing new ways to produce digital stories.
Netflix has decided to put children in the director's chair. They recognized that adults and children are getting bored with TV and movies, as they both can have predictable storylines and endings. Since the company doesn’t want to lose the interest of their subscribers, they have created a new digital storytelling feature. Children are given the characters and numerous options to unfold a story they create. The first digital story that was released is called Puss In Book (the cat from the Shrek series). Soon to follow are 2 other tales to be released this year. Netflix is eager to conduct research from feedback from parents and kids. While this is different than traditional digital storytelling available in the past, I see a real potential for students. This type of tool could be used as an introduction into digital storytelling for L2 learners. It would be engaging due to the known characters and the choices/control the students would have.
Next I looked at Microsoft’s WeVideo app, that was among one of the first available apps in their education store. WeVideo is a cloud based digital storytelling software that can be used on computers or mobile devices. It allows students to create their narrative while having access to tools like video editing, graphics, green screen, screencasting, voice-over, and special effects. Since this technology is cloud based, students can work on their stories anywhere, anytime. Also, Microsoft suggests that since it is cloud based, collaboration is made easy and possible. While I am an avid user and lover of iMovie, I must say, WeVideo is a strong competitor with their creative toolkit.
So while tech companies are introducing new ways for students to showcase their storytelling and creativity, I am left to wonder if social media stories could also be incorporated into the digital storytelling realm in education. This spring graduate student, Marina Amancio, released her research on digital storytelling via Instagram and Snapchat. I read pieces of her research and found it to have interesting notions, specifically where she discussed digital storytelling and education.
Even though digital storytelling isn’t a new concept, tech companies are unveiling new and exciting ways for students to be creative storytellers in and out of the classroom, as they are recognizing the benefits it has for learning.
Sources:
Microsoft Article: https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/17/06/p9646647/microsoft-selects-wevideo-as-one-of-first-apps-featured-in-new-microsof
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