Classroom Connections

We need to tell someone else a story that describes our experience because the process of creating the memory structure that contains the gist of the story will be remembered for the rest of our lives. - Robert Shanks, Tell Me a Story

Digital Storytelling brings multiple skills, challenges and benefits worth the time invested by teachers and students to incorporate this type of communication into their content learning. It is through the process of reflecting and shaping the telling of the storytelling of what we know and understand from an event or topic that provides a "sense-making" process enabling us to deal with a myriad of data details in a profound way that sticks with us over time. Artificial intelligence research is showing that the more people are buried in the mind-numbing avalanche of today's information, the greater the importance of stories in making sense of the endless pieces of data. Designing information requires learning a new type of grammar beyond writing words that helps students to deepen their understanding of content while increasing their visual, sound, oral language and information literacy skills.

Digital Storytelling provides a process and unique medium enabling data factoids to be transformed into deep understandings with sticking power so needed by our students living in today's world of exploding information. Explore the newly posted web section at Adobe's Digital Kids Club for additional information created by Bernajean Porter on classroom connections, skills, standards, management tips, and other resources shared to support teacher's implementing this dynamic communication style.

If you have any additional tips, strategies, lesson ideas, student movies, resources or implementation stories to share with other teachers, please email them to Bernajean Porter who will incorporate them with credit into the Adobe Digital Kids Club website. Sharing what you learn and know helps everyone to make Digital Storytelling be a special experience for all kids.