Adapting Digital Story Telling in Moroccan Classrooms! Aissam ELHANI.

2. Adapting Digital Story Telling
In Moroccan Classrooms
Aissam EL Hani
The University of Tsukuba, Japan.

3. Plan :
1-Any definition ?
2- Why Digital story telling in Education ?
 3-Digital storytelling: a constructivist approach to learning.
4-The Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling.
5-Digital Storytelling as an Effective Instructional Tool for
Teachers.
6-Digital Storytelling as an Effective Learning Tool for Student.
7-21st Century Skills.
8-How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom?

4. Any definition ?
Digital storytelling is the modern expression of the
ancient art of storytelling. Throughout history,
storytelling has been used to share knowledge,
wisdom, and values. Stories have taken many
different forms. Stories have been adapted to each
successive medium that has emerged, from the
circle of the campfire to the silver screen, and now
the computer screen. (Digital Storytelling
Association, 2011, para. 1)

5. Digital storytelling at its most basic core is the practice
of using computer-based tools to tell stories.
" Digital storytelling is a technology application that is well-
positioned to take advantage of user-contributed content and
help teachers overcome some of the obstacles to productively
using technology in their classrooms.“ -Bernard Robin

6. 2- Why Digital story telling in Education ?
In recent years the use of new technologies in educational
systems has increased worldwide as digital cameras, personal
computers, scanners, and easy-to-use software have become
available to educators to harness the digital world.
 The impact of new technologies in educational contexts has
been mostly positive as new technologies have given
educators the opportunity to enhance their knowledge, skills,
and therefore enhance the standard of education.

7. Researchers have found that student engagement,
achievement and motivation are enhanced through integration
of such technologies.
As confirmed by Armstrong , computers, digital cameras,
editing software, and other technologies are becoming more
readily accessible in the classrooms, and provide learners and
teachers with the tools to create digital stories more easily than
ever before (Armstrong [2003]).
The power of storytelling as a pedagogical tool has been
recognised since the beginning of humanity, and in more
recent times, for e-Learning (Neal [2001]).

8. 3-Digital storytelling: a constructivist
approach to learning
Digital storytelling can thus facilitate a constructivist
approach for teaching and learning. It can be a helpful
educational tool, as it provides a vehicle for combining
digital media with innovative teaching and learning
practices. Apart from building on learners’ technology skills,
digital storytelling encourages additional educational
outcomes (Dakich [2008]).

9.  It enhances learners’ motivation, and helps teachers in
building constructivist learning environments that
encourage creative problem solving based on
collaboration and peer-to-peer communication. In
addition, digital storytelling can be used to facilitate
integrated approaches to curriculum development, and
engage learners in higher order thinking and deep
learning (Dakich [2008]).

10. 4-The Seven Elements of Digital
Storytelling.
1. Point of View – what is the perspective of the author?
2. A Dramatic Question – a question that will be answered
by the end of the story.
3. Emotional Content – serious issues that speak to us in a
personal and powerful way.
4. The Gift of your Voice – a way to personalize the story to
help the audience understand the context.

11. 5. The Power of the Soundtrack – music or other
sounds that support the storyline.
6. Economy – simply put, using just enough content to
tell the story without overloading the viewer with too
much information.
7. Pacing – related to Economy, but specifically deals
with how slowly or quickly the
story progresses.

12. 5-Digital Storytelling as an Effective
Instructional Tool for Teachers.
 There are numerous ways that Digital Storytelling can be used in education.
One of the first decisions to be made when deciding to use this tool in the
curriculum is whether an instructor will create the Digital Stories or have their
students do it. Some educators may decide to create their own stories and show
them to their students as a way to present new material. An engaging,
multimedia-rich Digital Story can serve as an anticipatory set or hook to capture
the attention of students and increasing their interest in exploring new ideas. A
number of researchers support the use of anticipatory sets at the beginning of a
lesson to help engage students in the learning process (Burmark, 2004; Ormrod,
2004) and as a bridge between existing knowledge and new material (Ausbel,
1978).

13. Teacher-created digital stories may also be used to enhance
current lessons within a larger unit, as a way to facilitate
discussion about the topics presented a story and as a way of
making abstract or conceptual content more understandable.
While many educators still lack a cohesive plan for integrating
multimedia into their instruction, a growing number of teachers
are interested in exploring ways to engage their students by
including images, audio and video elements in their instruction.
Researchers such as Hibbing and Rankin-Erikson (2003) and
Boster, Meyer, Toberto, & Inge (2002) have shown that the use
of multimedia in teaching helps students retain new information
as well as aids in the comprehension of difficult material. And
Digital Storytelling can provide educators with a powerful tool
to use in their classrooms.

14. 6-Digital Storytelling as an Effective Learning
Tool for Student
Digital Storytelling can also be a potent tool for students who
are taught to create their own stories. After viewing example
digital stories created by their teachers or other story
developers, students may be given assignments in which they
are first asked to research a topic and then choose a particular
point of view and, as described in the Seven Elements of
Digital Storytelling, a dramatic question. This type of activity
can generate interest, attention and motivation for the "digital
generation" students in today’s classrooms.

15. 7-21st Century Skills
 Digital Literacy -the ability to communicate with an ever-expanding
community to discuss issues, gather information, and seek help.
 Global Literacy -the capacity to read, interpret, respond, and
contextualize messages from a global perspective.
 Visual Literacy -the ability to understand, produce, and communicate
through visual images.
 Technology Literacy -the ability to use computers and other
technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance.
 Information Literacy -the ability to find, evaluate and synthesize
information.

16. 8-How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your
Classroom?

17. 1. Learn from what you watch.
Think of movies you adore, movies you could watch again and
again. What makes them so effective? Is it the dialogue, the
character development, the way shots are framed? Likewise,
consider movies so bad they make you squirm. Just why are
they so excruciating? Work with your students to dissect
several well-known films; you'll soon find yourselves with
several categories that fall under the rubric of storytelling
techniques. You will be amazed at how much you already
know.

18. 2. See technology as a storytelling tool, not as a
teaching goal.
Though students need some knowledge of how to use
equipment, teaching about technology should never be the
focus of the curriculum. Simple editing programs such as
iMovie are intuitive and easy to learn. If you have a camera
or phone and a computer, you're ready to go; your creative
aspirations will drive your technology learning curve. Once
you think of an element you want to include that requires
more advanced software or gear, you'll be compelled to learn
how to use it.

19. 3. Allow your students to push you (and lead
you)
Don't be intimidated if your students learn faster than you
do. Many of them are accustomed to quickly absorbing
technology. Use their aptitude to your advantage by letting
students teach each other; you'll find that they show their
strengths fairly quickly. Within a class, you'll have great
writers, editors, camera operators, and technicians. They
can improve their weaker points while using their strengths
to help others (including you).

20. 4. Learn by trial and error.
 Accept the fact that you will spend a portion of your time scratching your
head, wondering, "Why won't that work?" Seek out resources where you
can post questions and get answers quickly. (Creative Cow is an
excellent online destination; it has sections for virtually every kind of
production and postproduction software and hardware.) Every glitch will
build your technology savvy until you get to the point where you can
anticipate the kinds of problems students will have. Take heart in
remembering that most great filmmakers come from a creative
background, not a technical one; they depend on others to make
technology work on their behalf.

21. 5. Give your students freedom, but hold them
accountable.
Kids are not used to the kind of freedom they'll need
to do great creative work. Some will thrive in that
environment, others will require close supervision to
make sure they complete their projects. One good
way to do this is to have students pitch a one-
paragraph description of their project and provide a
production schedule. In essence, it's a work contract.

22. 6. Consider yourself the executive
producer.
Work with your students as a partner learning about
technology and storytelling, but don't forget that you call the
shots. You have to be the arbiter of good taste and the studio
boss who decides whether an idea is production worthy.
Serving in this role as a teacher is actually much easier than
it is for a real-live executive producer, because students
naturally look to you for leadership.

23. 7. Don't forget to celebrate your students' work.
Whether you show completed projects to the class alone or to
the entire school or even the whole community, present the
stories your students tell. There's a good chance their work
will be much more professional than you expect, and light-
years beyond what your community might anticipate. A great
side benefit of public showings is that your students will take
their work very seriously. The knowledge that others are
going to see it (and you can't hide C-quality work on a big
screen) has been the source of tremendous inspiration for
filmmakers for a hundred years.

24. Thank You !