Creative, Active, Responsible Students in the Digital World 1 | Page 21

CO-FUNDED BY THE ERASMUS + PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Digital storytelling – educational use for learning Liceul Tehnologic “Octavian Goga” Jibou, Romania By Melinda Nagy In today’s digitized world, visual storytelling is a favorite classroom tool, and the affordability and accessibility of technology provides opportunities not imagined twenty years ago. Digital storytelling empowers students to be confident communicators and creators of media as they gain essential 21 st -century literacy skills and reach deeper understanding in all areas of the curriculum. This technique is a combination of the old storytelling tradition and new technology. With increasing availability of computerized devices in schools, various forms of digital media production have become quite common as approaches to learning. Advantages of digital storytelling in the classroom: 1. It develops creativity and critical thinking Students who are shy or afraid to talk in class get a chance to speak out their minds 2. It empowers students voice to deliver rich, deep message that is capable of conveying a powerful message. 3. It helps students explore the meaning of their own experience, give value to it, and communicate that experience with others. 4. It promotes the notions of life long learning and independent learning 5. It develops students communicative skills 6. It is a reflective process that helps students reflect upon their learning and find deep connections with the subject matter of a course or with an out-of-class experience. 7. It fosters students sense of individuality 8. It also gives students an opportunity to experiment with self-representation and establish their identity. 9. Students creating digital stories develop proficiency with multimedia applications CREATIVE, ACTIVE, RESPONSIBLE STUDENTS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD 20