ETEC 532- Critical Inquiry Project (CIP): The Power of Digital Storytelling
This group project is another example of a very positive learning experience. Our group was very cohesive right from the beginning and each member was keen to take on their own share of the work. The way that our topic (digital storytelling) ended up unfolding was actually very advantageous. We were able to establish four themes early on in the process that allowed each of us to dive into our own topic separately. The individual themes that we researched were so deeply entwined with each other and with our broad topic as a whole that coming back together to create one final project was relatively seamlessly done. Part of what made this assignment so enjoyable was the incredible amount of freedom that we had not just in choosing our group and our topic, but also in regard to how we chose to document and present our findings, reflections, and digital stories. As a group, we decided that we wanted to present our information through ‘mock’ digital stories (I use the word ‘mock’ here only because a true digital story should have a dramatic question and be much more personal than what we created for informational purposes). By incorporating the elements of a digital story to delve into each of our themes using images, sound, and voice over, we were able to provide our viewers with examples of digital storytelling while sharing the highlights from our research findings as well. In addition to this, we also wanted to provide examples of some of the digital storytelling tools that we had used in the past and those that we came upon during the time spent working on our CIP. These resources have been shared throughout our presentation as well, as we embedded many of these tools as hypertext links within our webpages.
I am including this project as an artifact of my learning because I think that it demonstrates my ability to work well as a contributing member of a collaborative group. I also think that this particular artifact will help me meet one of my overlying e-portfolio goals. One of my intentions in building this e-portfolio was to create a practical resource that would be of use to other educators. I think that digital storytelling is a very versatile medium that can be done with virtually any grade level and I truly feel that my colleagues and other interested parties will find this portion of my e-portfolio useful and valuable.
I am including this project as an artifact of my learning because I think that it demonstrates my ability to work well as a contributing member of a collaborative group. I also think that this particular artifact will help me meet one of my overlying e-portfolio goals. One of my intentions in building this e-portfolio was to create a practical resource that would be of use to other educators. I think that digital storytelling is a very versatile medium that can be done with virtually any grade level and I truly feel that my colleagues and other interested parties will find this portion of my e-portfolio useful and valuable.