Digital Storytelling and Podcasting in the Classroom

In researching the effects of digital storytelling and podcasting in the classroom, I came across many useful articles and helpful links. These links and articles helped to be gain a better understanding of what, in fact, digital storytelling and podcasting are, and really allowed me to start thinking of how I can use these within my own classroom.
An activity I currently use in my grade four classroom is called Circle News. This is an Oral Language activity that encourages the children to listen actively to what others say, and then be able to retell their account back to the class. Students are placed into groups and one is assigned the ‘manager’ for that day. Each student is to take a turn and tell a news story about something that has happened in the recent past. The teacher will usually set the guidelines for this and ask for specific stories such as what the child did over the weekend. Each child must include the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘how’ details in a natural way when they tell their story, and the other children are listening attentively so they are able to pick those out. At the end once everyone has shared, the ‘manager’ is to choose one news story he/she liked the most, and that student is to explain the story orally back to the class in a retell fashion.
The way that podcasting can fit into this is instead of having the student retell the story in front of the class, why not have them do it as a podcast? Each manager would record it online, and then you would have a podcast of a series of five Circle News stories that could stream over the internet or over the board’s intranet system. It could be a “Grade Four Weekly News Podcast” that would focus on details of the children’s lives. Each week would feature five new students telling their news, and you would continue on in this manner so that everyone has had a chance to create part of the podcast. This would still be considered an Oral Language activity, but now you’ve also incorporated the Computer Technology aspect as well. The students would find this very interesting, and they would feel a sense of importance or accomplishment, knowing that people can go online and listen to their podcasts.
Digital Storytelling in the junior grades does not have to be intimidating. It can be a tool to help students learn more about their past and heritage. I teach in a very northern board, and the majority of people who populate my town are Natives. Even if the students are not of Native descent, the following digital storytelling task can help them understand how traditions and storytelling drive Native culture. I would explain to my class that many cultures, including Native cultures, value oral storytelling as a means of passing on traditions and stories from generation to generation. Then I would say that we would be doing the same, only we are going to use technology to help us along.
Currently in my class we are learning about the six traits of writing, and we are on the ‘Ideas’ trait. This trait discusses how authors have one main idea in their story that always teaches a lesson in the end. For example, the big idea in the Three Little Pigs is that in the end, hard work always pays off. I would incorporate this into my Language Arts lesson on digital storytelling using Native myths and legends. In order to activate prior knowledge, I would discuss Native culture and traditional storytelling, and have the students tell me what they already know. Then I would read them a few stories from anthologies or picture books that might help them understand. Appropriate story books to use include All the Stars in the Sky: Native Stories from the Heavens by C.J. Taylor, or Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie Depaola. One useful anthology is The Storytelling Stone: Traditional Native American Myths and Tales by Susan Feldmann. As you read these stories to your class, discuss what makes them unique, and have the students pick out the main idea and the lesson learned in the end.
It is very important as a teacher, to be able to show a completed product to your students in order for them to learn the expectations for their own work. Thus, the first thing I would do is show a model of what I would want to see all my students produce. This would be a completed digital story created on Movie Maker or iMovie (if your board has Mac) that tells a Native myth or legend that I created.
Once the students become comfortable with this, it is time for them to create their own Native story. Using various outlines and pre-writing organizers, I would have them draft a copy of their very own Native legend or myth; something that incorporates the Ideas Trait of Writing. The natural story writing process would proceed, including teacher conferences and peer editing. At this point, it is the teacher’s responsibility to understand that everyone works at a different pace, and if someone is finished their rough draft quicker than everyone else, they should be encouraged to get started using Movie Maker. Once a student is finished his story, he would be able to work with the designated program and begin to create his story digitally. As a teacher, one should encourage the students to explore and manipulate the different features of the program being used, and it should be a requirement for your students to incorporate imported music, pictures (drawn and scanned or found on the internet), etc. The students also need to consider their tone of voice, volume, and other factors that will effect how they record their story. Depending on the amount of space on your hard drive at school, I would put a time limit on the digital story for each student, such as a maximum of three minutes.
If you do not feel like your students are able to navigate through Movie Maker or iMovie with little assistance to create their digital story, a suggestion would be to first create a collective digital story with the class, and go through each step and each fundamental feature of the program together. This way, you can troubleshoot possible problems, and cover some of the things that could possibly go wrong during their digital story creations.
The time it takes your class to complete their digital stories would depend on many things. In one article I researched, there was a teacher who had his students create digital stories and it took them six months. However, his class only had access to five computers at a time, so that would invariably affect the amount of time it took to complete the assignment. Firstly it would depend on the amount of time you have access to computers in your classroom. It would also depend on how flexible the teacher is when organizing and scheduling time. It is very important to understand that teachers may not be able to set strict guidelines when it comes to due dates for digital stories because of these reasons.
In the end, you will have an entire class set of digital stories, retelling or recreating a traditional Native myth or legend. What a great way to introduce and teach such an integral part of Canadian history and culture.
I think digital storytelling and podcasting are tools that every teacher should become familiar with. As I have learned, these tools can turn something ordinary such as everyday storytelling or oral language activities, into something extraordinary. I am very excited to put my newly acquired knowledge into experience!