Digital storytelling can take many forms and fit within many instructional goals. Below are a few key benefits of incorporating digital storytelling into your classroom.
Practice Based Learning: Digital storytelling allows students to engage with classroom content outside of traditional assignments. It can be used as a different approach to crafting research topics and developing strong arguments. A storytelling project is one way of "AI proofing" parts of your course, since a successful story requires students to incorporate a number of mediums and tools into a single deliverable. Further, digital storytelling requires collaborative drafting and editing throughout the process.
Engagement: "At its best, digital storytelling can serve as a powerful means of democratizing the record, engaging people and communities whose voices might otherwise remain unheard" (Goek 2018).
Community Building: Digital storytelling is a collaborative process, where students take ownership of their own stories while also contributing to the success of their peers. Storytellers, with the support of a facilitator, take an active role in creating a classroom environment where they can share ideas freely and give and receive constructive feedback.
Goek, S.S. (2018, February 14). Keeping up with...digital storytelling. Association of College & Research Libraries. https://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/storytelling
