My favorite part of teaching young children has always been STORYTIME! I love the language of a really good children’s story, and how it can both delight and educate at the same time! There are so many benefits to reading and engaging in storytelling activities with young children.
Digital Storytelling
I am currently taking a graduate course where I am learning more about integrating technology into storytime through digital storytelling. In exploring how this could be useful in an early childhood classroom; I crafted an instructional digital story to explain digital storytelling and how it can be used to support and enhance the curriculum. Take a look below!!
Digital Storytelling Examples
Interested in what an end-product COULD look like for an early childhood class?
The first example below is a digital story using photographs, music and student narration on how apples grow, after a class field trip to an apple orchard.
This second example called “Train Parts: A Preschooler’s Digital Story” uses children’s illustrations and text with narration. Notice the early writing skills demonstrated.
[Published by Ruth Ayers, 2011]
This example uses an online tool called Book Creator.
You can explore more about using Book Creator in the Elementary Classroom.
I hope this information gives you a glimpse into the possibilities of how digital storytelling can be used in a preschool class. Future blog posts will focus on some of the digital tools teachers can use for digital storytelling and other literacy activities!
Feedback
I’d love to hear from you! Let me know your feedback so I can improve and add relevant information to support early childhood teachers who would like to explore digital storytelling.
Below are some prompts to guide your feedback. Please let me know your thoughts in the “leave a reply” section below.
- Did you find this video story useful in understanding what a digital story is, and how it can be used in early childhood?
- Did this video help you understand the benefits of creating a digital story in an early childhood classroom? Are there any other benefits that were not mentioned that you would like to share?
- What was the favorite thing you learned?
- What are some opportunities for improvement in the content or production of this video story?
- Any ideas/input of what content you would like to see in the future?
The story was very useful and clear, stating step by step the advantages of storytelling in early childhool. It definitely brought the elements into practice when it comes to create a digital story: images, technology tools, sound, etc. The presentation itself played with those elements and paced them to create a nice learning experience for our students.
Great job!
Thanks Angie for responding! I appreciate your feedback and that you found the story was presented clearly, and that it was a good learning experience!
This video was absolutely fantastic and definitely helped me understand the benefits of creating a digital story. I had no idea how many NAEYC standards would be addressed by incorporating Digital Storytelling into the classroom! I am so glad you also offered examples of Digital Stories in your blog. Thank you for sharing this valuable content!
Thank you Charity for your feedback! And yes, as I started to explore the topic I found many NAEYC standards that could be supported through this type of activity. There are definitely a few more that I didn’t mention in the video (related to art, music, etc). My main focus was on the literacy and technology components. Thanks for your support!!
Did you find this video story useful in understanding what a digital story is, and how it can be used in early childhood?
absolutely, the video had useful information. I really enjoyed it. you had provided very details of video story. I used voice and music in my storytelling. After you presented yours I would like to make some changes to my digital storytelling
Thanks Ahmed for your comments! I am glad you enjoyed it and found the information useful.
1- Did you find this video story useful in understanding what a digital story is, and how it can be used in early childhood?
Yes, it is useful. We can use it to give the children at this age an opportunity to express themselves creatively.
2- Did this video help you understand the benefits of creating a digital story in an early childhood classroom? Are there any other benefits that were not mentioned that you would like to share?
Yes, as a father of a three years daughter, I found it a useful resource to help me as a base to start with my daughter. No, I think the video covered everything that I want.
Thank you for sharing us these great resources
Thanks Abdullah for your feedback! And yes, digital storytelling is also an activity that allows children to express themselves creatively. Thanks for pointing that out!
Definitely found this video very helpful! The information is fantastic, especially for folks who might be hesitant to teach digital storytelling. Perfect for a training video!
I learned what “rare words” are – it’s one of those things you know exists but don’t have a name for.
It might help to include key words onscreen as you’re explaining – the VO has such great info but it’s a lot to digest, so onscreen titles might help emphasize what you want viewers to take away. Also, what a great context to include this in a blog post – so many opportunities for extra resources, like a one-stop shop!
Great work!
Thanks Katie for your feedback and insight! I appreciate your comments, and I like the idea of adding more onscreen keywords to emphasize the main points and will look to add more of those in a future iteration.
Hello! Reading this encouraged me to learn more about digital storytelling (DS). It’s one of the topics I’m interested to pursue for my thesis in grad school. I’m just clueless about what theoretical framework to use if I choose digital storytelling as my topic, and as I read there were times I got overwhelmed and discouraged. However, I’ve seen how DS helped my students be motivated to write, to retell stories, and also create their own stories… so I’m trying to learn more about this.
Hi Enie! What a GREAT topic to explore for a thesis! Having the background where you were able to see firsthand how DS helped your students in their storytelling is wonderful, and will help to make your thesis personal, relatable and relevant. As far as a theoretical framework to choose, you might want to look at the TPACK (knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content are integrated and intersect). I think this aligns very well with digital storytelling. We’d love to hear back from you with any progress, insights you want to share on this topic if you do work on this for your thesis! 🙂
Hi Laura, You’re video is really informative! I’m also a graduate student and currently working on a research training program in the Philippines on how preschool teachers can use digital storytelling as one of the tools in assessing student’s progress.
Since, all classes in the Philippines are done online I would like to create a manual or a guide that will help teachers create content, use online resources, design an online class and evaluate their work using digital storytelling.
I would love to hear from you
Hi Bianca! I’m so glad you found the video informative, and I would love to hear more about your research on a training program for teachers using digital storytelling for assessment! I think the idea of creating a guide for teachers is a great idea, and you could look into using Google Sites to help create that type of resource. I did something similar regarding using assistive technology in early education, and created a Google Site with resources and information (you can view it here: https://sites.google.com/view/assistive-tech-for-early-ed). I’d love to connect more and collaborate! Feel free to email us at info@theseedsnetwork.com. I’d love to hear about the work you are doing in your program!
This blog is astonishing! Thank you for putting this out there. I agree with your opinion and I hope more people would come to agree with this as well.
It is important for you, as an author of children’s literature, to pay close attention to how you write your story. It should be compelling, entertaining, and easily understandable.
Please read my blog about The Necessities of Children’s Book Storylines Hope this will help. Thank you.
Regards,
Patricia
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