Readings for "Digital Storytelling"

        While educators are certainly justified in their wariness to constantly adapt new technologies into their curriculum--after all, no one would profit from a teaching curriculum that had no technological or pedagogical stability--I don't think any educator could find a subtantial argument for not implementing digital strytelling into the curriculum. The fear that digital storytelling would erode the traditional roots of storytelling and learning is unfounded. Quite to the contrary, the only difference between digital and non-digital storytelling is the computer application. Bernard Robin describes in very simple terms the mechanics and application of digital strytelling: "at its core, digital storytelling allows computer users to become creative storytellers through the traditional processes of selecting a topic, conducting some research, writing a script, and developing an interesting story" (3). That's all, no bells and whistles, nothing fancy, only time-honored storytelling put on a screen instead of a page.
       It is contradictory than in a technological age such as this one, where hardly anyone is ever really incommunicado, we seem to feel the most isolated from our past and each other. Technology moves so fast we feel afraid to atttach ourselves to anything. Digital storytelling helps to remind us that we still a technological and societal heritage that can be tapped and studied. Kristen Rebmann describes one of the great uses of digital strytelling as "the desire to help children develop personal narratives while engaging in the literacy practice associated with the information age" (2). Sharp educators have realized it is imperative we keep the "personal" in "personal narrative", and that digital storytelling's aim is to do just that.
       One of my favorite instructional examples of digital storytelling came from the article entitled "Tell a Story, Become a Lifelong Learner". On page 22 of the article, the suggestion to students is to create a digital stry centering around a Greek myth. I think such a project sums up perfectly the link between traditional and digital learning. Myths and legends were how our ancestors passed along morals, information, beliefs, anything really. In the 21st century, students can reread these myths and create a presentation that  "adapts it for their own culture and generation". The greatest promise of digital storytelling is its ability to make the past seem relevant to the modern student, who seems to be losing hope in the traditional modes of information distribution and entertainment. The greatest way to show the current relevance of literature, anthropology and history is to close the perceived, but false, gap that separates students from their educational past.