Week 14 reading and Discussion

“Students of narrative believe that we formulate notions of ourselves by telling ourselves stories about who we have been in the past and who we want to become in the future. Certain life changes have special import for one's sense of self- critical periods like adolescence or events such as changing jobs or the loss of a family member as was the case for Doris.”

Hull Glynda A.  At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Nov., 2003), pp. 229-233

I found this statement particularly hitting close to home, as I just recently lost my mother. Her loss was just one of many life changing events for me this year alone. I found by exploring the events of her life for my digital story, I also discovered things about me, who I was and who I still want to be. My mother was a strong inspirational woman, I hope to emulate.

 http://justhappyquotes.com/i-know-the-strong-women-in-the-world-women-quotes/ 

1. How does digital storytelling support academic literacies? It allows the student to look up important facts about the past and perhaps the future, beyond the usual text book information. It empowers the   student to make contributions that are recognized by their peers.  

2. Now that you have created your own digital story, do you think that using images, words and music to create a message is simplistic compared to traditional alphabetic print based argumentation? I don’t think simplistic is the right word. It’s different. One still needs to do the same research to tell their story, but putting it in a format that everyone can understand.

3. After creating your own digital story, do you see how digital storytelling can help develop a stronger sense of agency with in their own lives? Absolutely.  Everyone’s story is different, even within the same family. Their perspectives of time and events . Case in point would be the 50^th anniversary of J.F.K’s assassination. Where were you?, is totally different for each and every person. Now storytelling can express their feelings of that day.

 Do you think this might have a positive impact on students’ academic lives? It depends on the story. Not everyone has a positive tale to tell. It may be cathartic. I think teaching  this in a positive light may make it a positive experience.