Tell a story, become a life-long learner

                                                            

                                      By dreamponderCreate

One of my teaching goals in terms of second language is that not only to teach the language to students, but also to facilitate them becoming life-long learners. Digital storytelling can be a wonderful teaching tool in the classroom, and it also can be used in students’ daily life that forest them to explore more outside the classroom. The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling illustrates that “ the topics that are used in Digital Storytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one’s own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between.”  Therefore, telling and writing a digital story ignites a love of learning for others to share and enjoy. The process of learning a second or foreign language should not be dry.I believe that in ESL classroom, every student is a storyteller.  Students should be encouraged to have creative voice and their creative voice should be heard by others. Digital storytelling empowers students by letting their voices be heard and encourages them to learn and think creatively by enhancing technology-rich project learning. From my experience, if the teacher asks students which they would rather do between writing a traditional paper and creating a digital story that presents their research and learning, students will choose digital story telling without hesitation.

When I was reading sources about Digital Storytelling online, I had a brainstorm. Various Digital Storytelling projects that I can use for my future classroom are popped up. For example, Digital Storytelling of Autobiography can connect students with each other by telling a personal narrative. Students can share stories about themselves, and let classmates know their own personal background, hobbies, special moments in personal life, etc. 

Wouldn't it be cool by sharing such stories towards helping students become more proficient in English?  Telling Stories: Using Multimedia with ESL Students has some suggestions specific to digital storytelling projects in ESL classrooms that I think is useful for future ESL teachers.