Digital Tapestries: Weaving StoriesDr. Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts

3M National Teaching Fellow

Wilfrid Laurier University

Digital Storytelling (Nyboe & Dortner 2008)

• Creative socio-cultural practice• Participants appropriate cultural and

personal repertoires and push boundaries of expression and experience

• A particular form of creativity: aesthetic production

• Allows connections between the ‘internal world’ and the ‘external world.’

Project: Digital Stories

• Higher Education Quality Control Ontario (HEQCO) research grant

• SP100* class / 150 students• 3’ to 5’ personal story / multimedia

experience• Combines:

music images narration still images

Why a DS?

• Explores and develops a broader semiotic capacity (Nelson & Hull, 2008)

• Contributes to a reflective learning experience

• Fosters creativity• Encourages affective learning• Promotes learning communities

Use of Media (Miller 2008)

Integrated Media

Use of New Media: wireless/internet

Physical World: real-life events

Traditional Media: film/video/radio/

print

Digital Stories as a High-Impact Practice

Active learning

High Impact

Learning community

Affective learning

Formative feedback

Pre-Project Survey

Yes67%

No9%

I'm not sure24%

Would you like to express your creativity?

Pre-Project Survey

7% 14%

78%

1%

Familiar with imovie/movie maker

Yes NoBasic Knowledge Advanced Knowledge

Pre-Project Survey

10%

79%

10%

Have you ever created a DS?

Yes NoStarted, but didn't finish

Project: Digital Stories

Learning Objectives:

a. Developing and integrating oral and writing skills

b. Strengthen course participant learning

c. Increase student engagement and commitment

d. Promote a learning community

e. Produce a powerful intercultural tool (Matthews-DeNatale, 2008)

Learning Outcomes

• Apply acquired linguistics skills in a creative manner• Be able to develop the correct pronunciation• Communicate a personal story in the target language• Learn to reflect on learning style• Acquire and/or develop technical skills applicable to

other projects• Receive formative feedback from peers and instructor• Share product• Work collaboratively

Writing a narrative

Planning the project

Organizing project folders

Making the voiceover

Gathering and

preparing media

resources

Pre-production phase Production phase

Digital Stories

Putting it all together

Applause, applause

Post-production phase Distribution phase

Storyboard and sample

• http://www.digitales.us/story_details.php?story_id=107

http://www.digitales.us/resources/seven_steps.php#

Themes and Threads

• Impactful events that have transformed my life:

- Death- Violent event- Teachers- Family members- Friends- Life experiences- Giving to others

Students have Shown

• Openness • Maturity• Engaging attitude• Creativity• Honesty• Willingness to ask for help• Good organization skills• Some have trouble with time

management

engagement

positive educational outcomes

more contact with others

more integration of knowledge

higher level of academic

challenge

deep learning

DS as a High-Impact Practice

(Kuh, 2008; Nelson Laird et al., 2008)

Questions?

Thank you!

mrowinsky@wlu.ca