Sharing Our Stories in a Digital Age

By Michael Black, Grade 4 Classroom Teacher

“Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories.” Laurie Anderson

Our desire to tell stories is a practice that drives most of us throughout our lives. Straight to the point, we all just want someone to listen. I’d argue this theory holds true not only in our personal journey but also in our educational journey. Now in my second year of working within a 1:1 iPad classroom, there is no doubt in my mind that allowing technology to become an active tool within the classroom provides students with a greater opportunity to create, communicate and reflect on their own stories.

My favourite agent for cultivating these important opportunities is the Explain Everything app. In brief, it is an easy-to-use screen casting and interactive whiteboard tool that allows students to annotate, animate, narrate, import and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere. Its advantage over classical educational materials such as pencil and paper, is that students can present information using multiple forms of expression (images, text, video and audio) all at once. Work can then be shared through a multitude of platforms and reach a wider audience. It is a real thrill when relatives in a foreign country are able to enjoy and follow a student’s learning.

Storytelling has been one of the most powerful forms of education throughout the history of the world. Whether you look back to the Middle Ages when wandering bards shared their stories orally from place to place or to the thirst for knowledge following the rise of printing in the 1400’s, storytelling has been front and centre. As storytelling platforms continue to evolve so will the magnitude to which we can share our stories. I see great value in students having an increased sense of purpose when expressing their ideas and when I consider the potential the digital medium has for allowing students to create more personal and captivating work, I can’t help but get excited where their stories will take us.

To read more great articles about how CIS uses technology to support student learning visit www.cismosaic.com