Traditional Storytelling in the Digital Classroom

There are multiple reasons to use digital storytelling in your classroom in order to support Indigenous learners.  First and foremost, is the connection to oral tradition and traditional storytelling.  When using technology, it is essential to honour cultural traditions and ensure technology is not usurping tradition, rather supporting the continuation and strengthening of culture.  Digital stories enable students to integrate their culture, perspective and identity into an assignment.  Like with all students, teachers should support and guide student topic and tool choice by inquiring into theirs students’ needs and goals for the assignment. An example is a project I had students complete on Canadian Immigration.  Students were required to pick an immigrant group and create a digital story highlighting their experiences while including the Francaphone, Anglaphone and Aboriginal perspective.  My mistake was not having individual conversations with my Indigenous students about the possibility of flipping the assignment and focusing on the impact immigration had on their community.   I also did not discuss what aspects of their culture and their learning preferences that could be supported by the technology.

In order to create an effective digital story it is essential to go through the following processes:

1. Planning
2. Review of Digital Storytelling Elements
3. Tool Choice