While exploring digital literature thus far, I have found interactive multimedia journalism to be very engaging and filled with potential to incorporate in the classroom.
A compilation of interactive journalism that I have read so far (some of which I have already used in the classroom):
I’m incredibly excited to start this subject and am already buzzing about the potential to develop great resources and learn widely and deeply about digital literature. I’ve already come across a podcast from ABC, which outlines the significance of digital storytelling for Indigenous communities (2013). What a fantastic way of documenting verbal histories and cultural knowledge! Many individuals and groups work with Indigenous communities to record their languages and knowledge. Digital storytelling appears to be another way for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to document their stories and preserve their culture. A fantastic organisation already doing this is Sharing Stories. Djungadjunga Yunpuingu, Sharing Stories cultural advisor, expresses that digital storytelling allows children to “make a bridge between themselves and other communities with technology” (2014). This concept is particularly relevant this year, as the theme for NAIDOC Week was Our Languages Matter.
‘Your tribe, my tribe, our nation’. NAIDOC Week 2017 Poster.
This already has me thinking about (and planning for) the topic I would like to use for my digital story, as part of Assessment Item 4. My Year 10 History students will complete a Rights and Freedoms unit in Term 4, with a particular focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights and freedoms; therefore, I may create a digital story about Charles Perkins and the Australian Freedom Riders. I can use this to illustrate the key events, motives and also impacts of the Freedom Rides. This will have great links to the Australian Curriculum, Cross-Curriculum Priorities, and relevance to my school context.
It seems that digital story telling has the potential to promote literature (and curriculum concepts) in a highly engaging and interactive way.
References:
Australian Broadcasting Commission. (2013). Indigenous students in remote community experiment with digital storytelling. PM: News and currents affairs radio. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3756653.htm
Cassidy, J. (2017). Your tribe, my tribe, our nation [Poster]. Retrieved from http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/en/content/dream-come-true-wiradjuri-artist-joanne-cassidy
Yunpuingu, D. (2014). Our stories. Retrieved from http://sharingstories.org/our-stories/
