As a high school teacher with History and English classes, I’m always on the lookout for new ideas and resources that can enhance the my students’ engagement and learning. However, with so many options it can definitely be overwhelming for teachers to consider how to most effectively implement ICT and digital storytelling into their practice! I really enjoyed the questions presented by Reid (2013) which teachers should consider before embarking on this journey:

• What do you want your e-book to do?
• What kind of technology do you have access to?
• What ratio of technology to students do you have?
• What basic skills and knowledge do your students already have?
• Which curriculum outcomes do you want your students to achieve?
• What are the minimum expectations?

It’s crucial to consider these questions in order to ensure our use of digital storytelling and digital resources has a sound pedagogical foundation and avoids falling into the realm of the gimmicky, or being what the SAMR model designates as Substitution.

I’m really intrigued by the possibilities of digital poetry at the moment. One of my year 11 English Extension students has discussed the possibility of writing a suite of poetry for the Extension 2 course in Year 12, and I think that exploring this emerging form could be an exciting pathway for her. I also really like the idea of the digital interview suggested by Kolk (n.d.), which could fit our current year 7 English unit on Respecting Differences and support our students’ developing empathy.

 

Kolk, M. (n.d.). Six ways to implement digital storytelling. Retrieved from https://creativeeducator.tech4learning.com/2016/articles/six-ways-to-implement-digital-storytelling

Reid, K. (2013). Creating e-books in the classroom. In J. Bales (Ed.), E-books in learning – a beginner ‘s guide (pp. 37-43). Australia: Australian School Library Association.