Digital Story Teling


Digital storytelling can be a very effective way for L2 students to practice and improve some challenging skills. One skill that digital storytelling improves on is communication. For many of our ELL students, this basic concept that we take for granted is often one of the most challenging. By allowing the students to practice and hone in their skills in this creative way, we are helping them use and understand English in a more in-depth way. This creative thinking is another skill that can be practiced when creating digital stories. By allowing students to think outside or the box, they may feel less pressure and produce a better end product.

There are a plethora of products out there that are available for digital story telling. One of my favorite free apps is Toontastic 3D (https://toontastic.withgoogle.com/). This app is available for iOS and Andriod platforms. It is easy enough for all level of learners, from students with learning disabilities to high performing gifted and across all ESL learners.

Toontastic allows for the creator to be the author, director and star of their very own cartoon. The creativity and imagination that goes into the thought process during the creation will allow for the students to learn about themselves and each other. The program goes into detail and teaches the students about plots, setting, and important story lines to help build excitement. Upon completion of the cartoon, the students can export them for easy sharing and viewing. This is easy enough for a 1st grader, and at the same time, can be used with high school seniors at a high level.

By using Toontastic 3D and other digital storytelling apps/programs, we are giving our students another tool to help them succeed. I feel that digital storytelling is an essential skill that can be very adaptive to all classes. When allowing the students to have some creativity and flexibility, while following a structured plan, we are teaching them to be self-sufficient. While some students can thrive in this type of learning environment, some need more structure. This may include L2 students that do not have a high comfort level. By introducing a digital story project, we can help them feel more comfortable with this type of learning.


For more info on digital stories...check out https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/empowering-ells-with-digital-stories

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