PART B: Critical Reflection of Digital Literature Experiences

 

What makes a good digital text, what counts as one, and what purpose do they serve?

 

According to Davis (2004), A good digital text combines the tradition of oral storytelling with 21st century multimedia and communications tools. They have permanent web presence and can be shared on other social media platforms. Digital Storytelling (DST) is the modern twist and way of expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Like oral tradition stories, the purpose of DST is to evoke an emotional response from its readers whilst communicating the desired message.

 

Digital stories can range from the simple use of slides and pictures that correspond to a narrative to the complex use of advanced sound, visual, and transition effects (Malita & Martin, 2010). Digital storytelling can incorporate many other aspects than just telling a story through using an ever-increasing selection of online applications and creative software, apps, websites etc.  It goes beyond narrative and helps students connect deeply with the content. As students work on DST projects they develop essential management skills like collaboration, problem-solving, persistence, organisation, time management etc.

 

A good digital text fosters appropriate use of technology that suits the ever-changing curriculum and pedagogical requirements. The focus is on learning and not just having fun using technology.  It should integrate with other key learning areas like maths, science, history, art, STEM etc. It should motivate the students and develop their skills to cope up with future workplaces. The hands-on activities should help teachers meet the diverse needs of its learners.

 

Through the creation of digital stories, students not only become more technologically literate, but they also become designers, listeners, interpreters, readers, writers, communicators, artists, and thinkers (Kajder, 2004).

Compare your experience of reading digital texts with reading print

I like reading print texts as it is less distracted and helps me retain information. According to Huang (2012), “Students encounter some problems with e-reading, such as difficulties with reading and browsing, eyestrain, and limited previous exposure to the Internet.”

 

It is astonishing to see how today’s learners’ reading habits have been profoundly changed by the recent growth of digital books. I often read digital texts on my phone, computer, and other portable devices due to its ease of availability. It offers fast and prompt information. I believe digital texts lack the versatility and comfort of a traditional book. I find the experience of reading a printed book more satisfying and effortless as it allows me to hold it, feel the paper and bookmark it. Digital texts encourage superficial reading where you can quickly scan and skim the text to find the required information.

 

While looking for information, I like to make notes and highlight text as this helps my brain retain information. Even in the digital age, students prefer traditional paper textbooks because they are simpler to browse, underline, or make marginal remarks (Machovec,1996).

 

However, with the plethora of digital texts now available, this is something that is unavoidable due to being inexpensive, portable, and easy shareability across different platforms. Digital texts not only make learning easily accessible, but they also help meet the needs of diverse learners/learners with special needs etc. as the shapes, font sizes and colours of the digital texts can be adjusted.

Choose the digital text you most enjoyed and discuss how you might incorporate it into a program at your institution

The digital text that I enjoyed the most is the inspirational and immersive story from Imperial College London- COVID-19: six months on the frontline. Imperial College features amazing digital content on the web which is written and designed by experts in the field.

This story won the Best Education story award in 2021.

This story could be incorporated into any curriculum area that entails writing or research. The past few years have been very challenging and as the world is coming to terms with COVID-19 pandemic, there have been remarkable stories of human resilience, ingenuity, and creativity.

It will be amazing to see how digital storytelling can help students to express themselves and their abilities. I will use Canva and Book Creator with my students to help them write, design, and publish their story. Canva is a wonderful tool that can strengthen students’ literacy(writing) and 21^st century skills. The beautiful templates and images will spark their creativity and imagination. Instead of looking at a blank piece of paper, they will have access to various digital tools to brainstorm their ideas. Their creative process is jump-started in a different way than staring at a blank piece of paper (Tackvic, 2012).

The use of digital stories in education is especially beneficial for countries like Australia which frequently welcomes immigrants and refugees. The ability for expression through visual media, rather than words, facilitates communication for new students and builds their confidence. This is particularly helpful for my school which has a high percentage of Eal/D (English as an Additional Language/Dialect) and NAP (Newly Arrived Students) as they usually shy to express themselves.

 

 

References: –

Tackvic, C. (2012). Digital Storytelling: Using Technology to Spark Creativity, The Educational Forum, 76(4), 426-429. DOI: 10.1080/00131725.2012.707562

 

Davis, A. (2004). Co-authoring identity: Digital storytelling in an urban middle school. Then: Technology, Humanities, Education and Narrative. 1(1), 1-16.

 

Huang, H-C. (2012). E-reading and e-discussion: EFL learners’ perceptions of an e-book reading program. Computer assisted language learning, 26(3), 258-281. DOI: 10.1080/09588221.2012.656313

 

Kajder, S. (2004). Enter here: Personal narrative and digital storytelling. The English Journal, 93, 64-68

Malita, L., & Martin, C. (2010). Digital Storytelling as web passport to success in the 21st century. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3060-3064. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042810005057

 

Machovec, G.S. (1996) Books on the world wide web: issues and trends. Information Intelligence, Vol. 16, no. 6-7, pp. 1–6

 

 

Assessment item 2 – Experiencing Digital Literature

 

PART A: Digital Literature Reviews

 

 

1. Evanson D., & Wilson, J. (2021). COVID-19: six months on the frontline. Retrieved from https://www.imperial.ac.uk/stories/covid-19-first-six-months/

 

 

Image 1: Screenshot retrieved from https://www.imperial.ac.uk/stories/covid-19-first-six-months/

 

There are many amazing stories produced by COVID-19 pandemic. ‘COVID-19: six months on the frontline’- this digital story won the Best Education category of the Shorthand Awards 2021. This wonderful story comes from Imperial College London. It shows timeline of the defining moments of college’s efforts to tackle the pandemic. The story unfolds the first six months of the pandemic when researchers are racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

 

This digital story is a visual delight as it reveals an essentially complex narrative in a right proportion of text and visual content. As a result, the story looks appealing, and the text looks interesting and engaging to its readers. It contains clear heading and subheading, hence visually communicating the content that is being covered in the following paragraphs. An audio software called soundcloud is used for all sound clips where college researchers talk about understanding and treating COVID-19 and its effects globally. The story put you in the driver’s seat and let you control the storyline. The reader can easily revisit any specific part of the story using the tabs at the top of the story. The headings and the subheadings are interesting, short, catchy and convey the gist of the story.

 

In the era of information overload, this story gives you real insights from the experts in the field. The hyperlinked articles make it easy to navigate and find relevant online content. It adds more credibility to the story. It is immersive, interactive and engages the active readers of today’s world. This informative piece uses white text on a dark background which makes it easy to read the text and follow the images.

 

It is a well-accepted fact that we are living in a state where time is the most important commodity. Everyone is striving to garner the attention of its consumers to establish their brands. This is one essential reason why companies are creating innovative digital stories that can appeal to their consumers’ senses thus leaving a lasting impression. This COVID digital story has successfully achieved its goal of providing the relevant and timely information through making the best use of technology and the various multimedia tools like images, text, voiceover, careful selection of fonts and type size. The flow and rhythm of the story sustains the audience’s interest throughout its duration and it visual effects create a sense of urgency and excitement.

 

‘COVID-19: six months on the frontline’- digital story can be used in various key learning areas. As the world is still reeling from the effects of Covid, students can plan, organise, and make their own digital story about resilience, virus, infographic or a social story about overcoming loneliness/sickness etc. This will help develop their critical and creative thinking.

 

The story can be viewed on a computer, phone or a tablet. It can be viewed either as a landscape or portrait mode on a portable device. There are several links attached to the story if the readers are interested to read more pandemic stories. These working links have different stories/facts about pandemic, and some can be translated into another language.

 

This digital story can be shared on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to allow for further discussion. These popular social media platforms surpass billion users and are usually available in multiple languages. They enable users to connect with people across geographical, political, or economic borders.

 

This piece is a truly delightful read and an inspiring example of what’s possible with 21st century digital storytelling tools.

 

 

2. Bell D. (2021). Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day – Auslan Edition. Scribe Publications. Retrieved from https://storyboxlibrary.com.au/stories/tomorrow-is-a-brand-new-day-auslan-edition

 

Story Box Library (SBL) is a digital storytelling tool that engages its audience through high quality story production, sound effects and other amazing features.

 

‘Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day’ is a 2022 CBCA Notable Book which is written by Davina Bell and illustrated by Allison Colpoys. This story is a part of Auslan Story Time series. The book delivers a message of hope that bad days come and go, but no matter what happens, we are deserving of love. It is an inspiring and healing book that every family needs in this era of overwhelming change to manage their emotions. It is read by Tamala Shelton on SBL platform. This book is suitable for students in early years (3-5 years) and lower primary (5-8 years). But I think it could be enjoyed by readers across different age groups as this well-crafted story delivers a hopeful and reassuring message that we all have bad days, but they do pass.

 

This resource also features curriculum-linked resources that could be used in the classroom. There are some amazing classroom ideas and student task sheets to complement this resource. The readers can also view this story on their portable devices as there is a story box app that allows you to listen to stories anytime, anywhere!

 

Story Box Library (SBL) features some of the best Australian stories being read aloud by an all-star cast of storytellers. A wide range of storytellers are chosen to ensure a diverse range of voices, age, gender, and backgrounds. The storyteller of this DST- Tamala Shelton is an actor and an avid reader and writer. She is also a voiceover artist and audiobook narrator. This story is translated into Auslan by Luke King and Auslan Consultancy.

Auslan is the official sign language of the Australian Deaf community. Auslan Consultancy are a team of deaf professionals with experience in video production. The story promotes social inclusion and equal access to information. Students in mainstream classes can also benefit by understanding sign language, challenges perceptions of what deafness means and interpreting body language, thus creating a fairer society for all. It could be used as a fun challenge too.

 

The story also features closed captions for students who would like to view the words whilst listening to the story. The listeners can also adjust playback rate and rewind the story. There is an option to view story on full screen or only portion of the screen size. The stories are arranged by age, theme, author, illustrator, storyteller, and duration using the search filters. It also lets you create your own personal story list which specifically caters to needs and interest of your students.

 

There are CBCA titles, Indigenous story time series and a growing AUSLAN story time series etc. The app/website is ad-free, safe, and extremely well organised educational resource for primary kids. This digital resource was very helpful during COVID lockdown period allowing access to Premier’s Reading Challenge titles and other titles to students when physical borrowing was not an option.

 

Story Box library has an ever-growing library which is suitable for primary aged children across different backgrounds and learning abilities.

 

The International Literacy Association (ILA, 2019) emphasises that meaningful use of high-quality digital resources is important in preparing all young children for long-term academic success”.

 

3. Safi M., Kuo L., Augustin E. & Roth A. (2019, Jan 11). The internet, but not as we know it: life online in China, Cuba, India, and Russia. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2019/jan/11/the-internet-but-not-as-we-know-it-life-online-in-china-russia-cuba-and-india

 

 

Image 2: ‘The Internet’ screenshot. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2019/jan/11/the-internet-but-not-as-we-know-it-life-online-in-china-russia-cuba-and-india

 

‘The internet, but not as we know it: life online in China, Cuba, India and Russia’ is a non-fiction multimedia news report and shows how internet differs enormously in some parts of the world. With more than half of the world’s population now online, internet services and experience in countries like India, China, Cuba and Russia is highly different, restricted and regulated by government’s laws and policies.

 

It is wonderful to see how newspaper journalism is not just restricted to news article and few photos. As an innovative newspaper, the Guardian has embraced new technologies and new ways of doing things. The story features immersive visual presentation and various interactive features making it a treat for its readers. A range of multimedia types such as animations, images, infographics, and illustrations are used throughout this digital story. It appeals to one’s sense of touch through the interactive experience of clicking, scrolling, and hovering. It is eye-catching, user-friendly, and visually stimulating.

 

Featured in January’2019 in technology section of the newspaper, this skilfully written digital story shows how surprisingly the internet is largely a mobile experience in India. The country with largest number of smartphones in the world, most of its users are connected via Whatsapp that allows them to interact in text, audio, images, using emojis. The designers of this digital story have used Whatsapp interface to convey the story. The use of the Whatsapp prototype makes it appealing and gratifying experience for the readers.

 

The second case study is China’s internet where services like Google, Facebook, Twitter and the BBC are blocked using Great Firewall. But China’s 800 million internet users seem unperturbed as there are hundreds of apps, sites, games and online services to choose from. Wechat, China’s most popular messaging platform. Using cross-out Google interface and exclamation signs, the animators have weaved an interesting and interactive story.

 

For Cuba, designers have used offline notepad text template to convey how Internet access in Cuba is limited and most of its users connect digitally using El Paquete which is often dubbed as ‘offline internet’.

 

 

Image 2: ‘The Internet’ screenshot. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2019/jan/11/the-internet-but-not-as-we-know-it-life-online-in-china-russia-cuba-and-india

 

Russia’s interface is inspired by Facebook. This DST is visually compelling, immersive, well-thought and is better able to sustain the attention of the reader.

 

This outstanding piece of visual journalism was written by Michael Safi, Lily Kuo, Ed Augustin and Andrew Roth in 2019 for the Guardian. There is also a team of interactive developers, animators, and designers behind it.

 

There is the ability to share this story using social media channels like Facebook, Email and Twitter.

 

The illustrations are intended to show how the experience of being online can differ from country to country. This well researched, written, and animated digital story tells us how diverse economic, political and technological conditions can suppress freedom of internet access across the world.

 

Digital storytelling is one of the innovative pedagogical approaches that can engage students in deep and meaningful learning (Smeda et al., 2014). This digital story can be used across different key learning areas to support a rich, authentic learning experience for the students. Students can be taught different ways the internet has evolved over the years; responsible use of internet; how to be safe online; creating online safety classroom agreement that encourages safe and respectful online behaviours.

 

To further augment teaching on the safe use of internet, there are resources available on https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators/classroom-resources.

 

There is no doubt that digital technologies hold tremendous promise in relation to transforming student learning.

References:

 

International Literacy Association. (2019). Children’s rights to excellent literacy instruction [Position statement]. Newark, DE: Author.

Smeda, N., Dakich, E. & Sharda, N. (2014) The effectiveness of digital storytelling in the classrooms: a comprehensive study. Smart Learning Environments. 1, 6 (2014). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-014-0006-3

 

 

 

Topic: In search of greener pastures- My Immigration story

Platform or tool for the creation of the digital storytelling project: Canva/Book Creator

Rationale:-

Each immigrant has their own story to tell.

Settling into a new country is not easy. Immigrants must adapt to an unfamiliar environment and lifestyle, while maintaining their cultural identity, language, and background. I moved to this beautiful and multicultural country which is famous for its natural wonders, beaches, and the outback as a Permanent Resident in March’2008 at the age of 25 years.

My digital story will feature a timeline of my journey, many challenges, and opportunities that came across my path, new work culture, climate, accent (not to mention funny Australian slangs) and overall living style of the people living in this busy and developed urban environment.

I will be using Canva as a graphic design platform to create multimedia content that can be easily shared through social media. Canva is a user-friendly tool that is packed with wide array of features and elements. It has copyright free high-quality graphics, photos, and animations and music. This free designing tool has thousands of templates, animated gifs, and infographics. As students under the age of 13 are protected by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, so they need a consent form to create Canva for Education account. Canva also lets you print in different formats. Book creator will be used to create and publish/share the book.

This story writing and storytelling activity can be integrated into KLAs like English, Computer, Art, and Values. It will meet the diverse learning needs of students and will allow them to make their thinking visible using amazing storyboard templates and video collage. Digital storytelling will allow to make personal connection and an opportunity to reflect, think critically and apply problem solving skills whilst helping students become a better writer as they create their digital story using their imagination and creativity.