Digital Storytelling: Capturing lives, creating communities

Lambert, J. (2006). Digital storytelling: Capturing lives, creating communities. Berkeley, CA: Digital Diner Press.

p. 142.
...historically, different technologies had been pushed into the classroom from above rather than in response to teachers' desires or needs. Consequently there was a history of resistance to technology by teachers, as technology often interfered with their classroom goals. The headaches of learning these new technologies and troubleshooting technical problems simple weren't worth it. Teachers for the most part have not felt comfortable with using technology themselves, which was reflected in how they imagined implementing it in their curriculum.

Teachers are tired. Teaching is a tiring profession. It is very emotional. Teachers are also tired of technology since it has been pushed into the schools from above fro years and rarely with any thought about as to how it would really integrate into actual classroom practice, or what teachers actually wanted to do, or about how how it impacts the relationships within a classroom that are so important.

Story is a much more effective repository of data than many research methodologies that use data points as metrics. When making digital stories, teachers are given a new way to be creative with artistic expression which is not encouraged in the context of their daily work. This re-energizes them about teaching by taking themselves back into the classroom and allows them to express it in a way they've never been able to.

Digital storytelling thus can be an action research tool, an iterative tool where the points of reflection develop a professional portfolio. The idea is to return to your earlier story, again and again, in each iteration, and have that shape the research questions and artifact collection over many semesters or years. (Can be very powerful!)

Self-empowerment; sense of audience (the public role became part of the process with digital storytelling); intense writing revision (much more careful critical reflection)

Reference:
Paull, C. (2002). Self-perceptions and social connections: Empowerment through digital storytelling in adult education. Unpublished dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, School of Education.