1. Digital Tapestries: Weaving Stories Dr. Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts 3M National Teaching Fellow Wilfrid Laurier University

2. Digital Storytelling (Nyboe & Dortner 2008) Creative socio-cultural practice Participants appropriate cultural and personal repertoires and push boundaries of expression and experience A particular form of creativity: aesthetic production Allows connections between the ‘internal world’ and the ‘external world.’

3. Project: Digital Stories Higher Education Quality Control Ontario (HEQCO) research grant SP100* class / 150 students 3’ to 5’ personal story / multimedia experience Combines: music images narration still images

4. Why a DS? Explores and develops a broader semiotic capacity (Nelson & Hull, 2008) Contributes to a reflective learning experience Fosters creativity Encourages affective learning Promotes learning communities

5. Use of Media (Miller 2008) Integrated Media Use of New Media: wireless/internet Physical World: real-life events Traditional Media: film/video/radio/ print

6. Digital Stories as a High-Impact Practice Active learning High Impact Learning community Affective learning Formative feedback

7. Pre-Project Survey

10. Project: Digital Stories Learning Objectives: a.Developing and integrating oral and writing skills b.Strengthen course participant learning c.Increase student engagement and commitment d.Promote a learning community e.Produce a powerful intercultural tool (Matthews-DeNatale, 2008)

11. Learning Outcomes Apply acquired linguistics skills in a creative manner Be able to develop the correct pronunciation Communicate a personal story in the target language Learn to reflect on learning style Acquire and/or develop technical skills applicable to other projects Receive formative feedback from peers and instructor Share product Work collaboratively

12. Writing a narrative Planning the project Organizing project folders Making the voiceover Gathering and preparing media resources Pre-production phaseProduction phase

13. Digital Stories Putting it all together Applause, applause Post-production phaseDistribution phase

14. Storyboard and sample http://www.digitales.us/story_detail s.php?story_id=107http://www.digitales.us/story_detail s.php?story_id=107 http://www.digitales.us/resources/seven_step s.php#

15. Themes and Threads Impactful events that have transformed my life: -Death -Violent event -Teachers -Family members -Friends -Life experiences -Giving to others

16. Students have Shown Openness Maturity Engaging attitude Creativity Honesty Willingness to ask for help Good organization skills Some have trouble with time management

17. engagement positive educational outcomes more contact with others more integration of knowledge higher level of academic challenge deep learning DS as a High-Impact Practice (Kuh, 2008; Nelson Laird et al., 2008)

18. Questions? Thank you! mrowinsky@wlu.ca