INF533 – Critical Reflection.

INF533 – Assessment 4 – Part C – Critical Reflection – 700 words.

In my first blog post for INF533, I stated how little I knew about digital story telling processes and the types of digital tools available for creating digital stories (Dunn, 2019a). Throughout this journey, I have found my knowledge and understanding of digital literature environments, tools and uses have improved. I am now excited about the possibilities of embedding digital literature into curriculum units and collaborating with classroom teachers to bring digital stories to life with students within various subjects and stage levels. It is important to remember, as Ross (2019) stated, that teachers are often scared to use digital elements. It is through our role as Teacher Librarian that new technology and ideas are brought into our schools and to assist in decreasing the anxiety of using these new tools through collaboration and team teaching.

Integration of digital literature in education provides an outstanding opportunity for educators, not only through the use of digital stories within classes but also through the creation of stories by students. As I stated in the Module 2 Forum I had already advocated the use of audio and eBooks for all students, in particular for the schools EAL/D students and students who are struggling with literacy (Dunn, 2019b). I will admit that, through completing this unit, I now have a greater understanding of the benefits for students of using audio and Ebooks including the ability to manipulate the many settings of the books. Slowing the pace of reading of audio books assists students to follow along as well as allowing students to hear words defined or pronounced benefits students understanding and learning (Lamb, 2011). When using Ebooks being able to increase the font size on screen leads to greater space between letters and lines and this ultimately leads to a more immersive and improved reading experience for students (Delamater, 2012 & Anguera, 2015). This knowledge now provides me with a greater ability to advocate the use of digital books and to continue the subscription of a digital library to enhance our traditional school library.

New technology is being created and used at a phenomenal rate with students often the first to engage and use new technology as it becomes available; as Travassaros (2019) highlighted new technology is not enough to keep students engaged and we have to work with the technology to improve interest and motivation. It is essential that we stay abreast of these technological and social changes in order to keep students motivated and to learn essential 21^st Century skills while they are engaging with technology. Digital storytelling is an excellent opportunity for students to engage with new technology and trends while also practicing and mastering 21^st Century skills (Porter, 2019 and Sinclair & Loera, 2019). Students are presently using their devices to create digital stories through a number of apps, with TikTok the newest digital story telling app; it is therefore important to tap into these creative means of expression to engage and assist with learning (Dunn, 2019c).

It is an exciting time to be engaging with digital literacy and to use digital literacy as a tool in education. As stated by Khyiah Angel (as cited in Taylor 2018), we know that students are reading they are just reading and engaging with literacy in different, and what could be termed, non-traditional ways. I am looking forward to providing avenues to digital literacy that the printed word cannot (Dunn, 2019b) and have already planned collaboratively with our Science and HSIE faculties a digital literacy enrichment activity with Stage 4 classes. The students will be creating their own digital stories utilising software and the techniques I have experienced and demonstrated in Assessment 4. Students can choose to create their story, focusing on either Science or History. The students will be learning 21^st Century skills while embedding digital literacy skills and citizenship in the creation of their final product. Collaboration will take place between classroom teachers and myself that will provide classroom teachers with a greater understanding of the creation of digital stories as well as digital citizenship. I am looking forward to continuing my journey with digital literature, as I put my learning into action with the students and teachers of our school.

References

Anguera, X. (2015). Multimodal read-aloud eBooks for language learning. Retrieved from https://www.isca-speech.org/archive/interspeech_2015/papers/i15_1884.pdf

DeLamater, W. (2012). How larger font size impacts reading and the implications for educational use of digital text readers. Retrieved from http://www.ereadia.com/research/How_Larger_Font_Size_Affects_Reading.pdf

Dunn, B. (2019a, July 28). Digital literature = an exciting engagement tool [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/bellid/2019/07/28/inf-533-assessment-1/

Dunn, B (2019b, August 1). The times they are a changing… [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_39502_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_76005_1&forum_id=_159419_1&message_id=_2398153_1

Dunn, B (2019c, September, 2). Tapping into digital storytelling. [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_39502_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_76005_1&forum_id=_159422_1&message_id=_2458200_1

Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning and leading with technology, 39(3), 12-17. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67371172&site=ehost-live

Porter, B. (2019). Digital storytelling across the curriculum. Creative Educator. Retrieved from https://creativeeducator.tech4learning.com/v05/articles/Digital_Storytelling_Across_the_Curriculum

Ross, L. (2019). Module 4.1 digital storytelling. [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_39502_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_76005_1&forum_id=_159422_1&message_id=_2504992_1

Sinclair, H. & Loera, M. (2019). 5 reasons to integrate digital storytelling into your teaching. Eschoolnews. Retrieved from https://www.eschoolnews.com/2019/08/29/5-reasons-to-integrate-digital-storytelling-into-your-teaching/2/

Taylor, A. (2018, September 16). ‘Technology can bring books alive’: Harry Potter inspires novel with moving images. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/technology-can-bring-books-alive-harry-potter-inspires-novel-with-moving-images-20180915-p50407.html

Travassaros, E. (2019, August 10). Challenges of using digital literature in the classroom. [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_39502_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_76005_1&forum_id=_159420_1&message_id=_2419331_1