Saturday, November 18, 2023
Bonjour tout le monde! A new week has come! I know everyone must be tired recently. Let's all work together to go through these weeks! After all, the Christmas holiday is coming soon! 💪
Experience and feelings of week 7
Last week was the reading week of our school. Therefore, there were no classes in the last week and reflection as well. However, because of the Deepavali holiday (Happy Deepavali!), we have a three-hour substitute session. To be honest, three hours of continuous class is really tiring not only for students but also for Dr. Lina. At the beginning of the lecture, Dr. Lina talked about the feedback of LCF. I could not believe that she received a lot of negative feedback (I thought Dr. Lina was a good professor because I saw Amisha this week, and Amisha was sick so she could not attend the lecture. Dr. Lina knew this and had a meeting with her so that she would not be lost. This was the thing that I knew from the conversation with Amisha because she just finished the meeting and met me on the way back to the dormitoryðŸ’). 
After that, Dr. Lina talked about the assignment requirements in detail, and I had no questions about the assignment requirements anymore because of her detailed explanations such as the time of deadline, length of personal recording, and rubrics. Next, she introduced an interesting topic named "storytelling". I had never heard of this before. In the beginning, I was quite confused. With the clear explanation of Dr. Lina, I understood it and its importance in our daily lives or even working situations. The most impressive part for me was her experiences, which made me realize the importance of storytelling. I also related this to the plots of other stories. For example, If you could tell an impressive and attractive story, you would obtain a lot of investment in businesses, right?
She also introduced four elements of storytelling including "the challenge plot", "the creativity plot", "the connection plot", and "the conversion plot". These four elements were important for us to create a good plot in the story, which reminded me of the plot diagram of Dr. Too's teaching. Following that, she talked about the five key ingredients in storytelling. These five ingredients were so important for us to tell a good story because we needed to have a clear purpose and speak to the audience's senses, which made an emotional connection with the audience. Lastly, we were introduced to the tools and media used in digital storytelling such as computers, image capture devices, audio capture devices, and digital media software with examples to help us better understand digital storytelling. We had an activity of changing telling to showing. I thought I was fully prepared at that time, but when it came to me, the content was changed. I was so nervous at that time because I was not familiar with this and I was afraid of being a bad example (💀). However, I understood it after numerous examples and explanations.
In the tutorial, we had an activity and we were provided with a short story. We were encouraged to use our creativity to continue the story properly. It is interesting an activity and I could see the funny or imaginative continuation of the story. Everyone needed to make full use of their creativity and storytelling skills were improved simultaneously. This also related to my previous experience in secondary school, I was asked to rewrite the resolution of a short story with explanations. All of these practiced my storytelling skills because I needed to think about the four elements and five key ingredients if I wanted to tell an attractive and good story.
Digital storytelling
development of digital technology, digital storytelling has been a crucial component of our lives. Digital storytelling is frequently employed in the realm of education because of its efficacy as a potential tool for both educators and students (Robin & Mcneil, 2019). According to Dreon et al., (2015), the utilization of digital storytelling can enhance the interest and engagement of students as "YouTube generation". The digital storytelling utilizes multimedia tools such as computers, software, pictures, and videos to fit students' interests, which enhances their participation and learning outcomes as well. In addition, Alismail (2015) added that digital storytelling affords students opportunities for active engagement and interaction within the classroom, concurrently fostering the development of essential skills, including synthesis, analysis, and evaluation. It promotes students' knowledge and skills in the utilization of information and communication technology (ICTs) and their ability to proficiently and effectively undertake a variety of complex tasks in the digital environment, which enhances their digital literacy (Jones-Kavalier & Flanniganm, 2008). Moreover, the research of Smeda et al. (2014) indicated that the utilization of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool facilitates the integration of instructional messages with learning activities, culminating in the creation of a more dynamic and compelling learning environment, which enhances students' engagement as well as providing better learning outcomes for students.
Showing instead of telling
To be a good storyteller, we should use showing as much as we can instead of telling (Orech, 2007). Telling is flat and boring, which limits readers' experiences as well. On the contrary, showing can depict vivid pictures for readers so that they feel like they are in the real scene. Showing makes sensory connections with readers by invoking the senses to scenes more immersive, concrete, sensations. As we all know, sometimes less is more, right?😊 However, how can we change telling into showing? After delving into research, here are four strategies (link)for us to follow.
Strong verb
Telling: She walked into the room. (weak verb)
Showing: She sauntered into the room. (strong verb)
Another example:
Telling: The car quickly moved down the road (weak verb)
Showing: The car zoomed down the winding road. (strong verb)
We can feel the different tensions of these two examples, right? Using strong verbs could help us to make a sensory connection with readers, which makes readers more immersed.
Specific nouns and clear adjectives
adjectives are imperative to be utilized. Moreover, vague or general descriptions should be avoided if we want to be a good storyteller. Here is one example.
Telling: The cat is cute
Showing: The fluffy, amber-eyed cat purr contentedly in the sunlight.
We can present a vivid picture that will resonate with readers by using more specific nouns and clear adjectives.
Sensory Detail
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Telling: The coffee smelled good.
Showing: The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafts through the air and attracts even those who have sworn off caffeine.
It creates a vivid picture of coffee with a rich aroma by giving more sensory details. Readers through these sensory details can create imagery to understand how good the coffee is. We also should try our best to create more sensory details to be good storytellers.
Dialogue
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Telling: They were angry with each other.
Showing: "How could you do this?" she shouted, her eyes ablaze with betrayal. He clenched his fists, jaw tight, and replied, "You never understood."
Through these dialogues, we can feel the emotions and tensions between them, which depicts a vivid picture for us and attracts us deeply.
Therefore, these four strategies are important for us to be good storytellers. Even though we learned five principles of showing (1. use evidence to support your claims 2. replace the abstract with the concrete 3. substitute vague descriptions with specific sensory details 4. avoid relying too much on body language 5. show emotions through dialogue) Even though there are some overlaps between the five principles and four strategies, We can still make full use of these strategies as well as principles to tell attractive stories. Good storytelling skills can not only help in study but also in all aspects such as work, business, and presentation.
Schema
Conclusion
One takeaway message from this lesson was that I would apply digital storytelling in future classes and teach students how to utilize digital storytelling for its importance. I will teach them how to use software such as Storybird, Anchor, and Audacity to create their own digital storytelling. Through the creation of digital storytelling, students are also equipped with digital literacy and digital competence to prepare for their future in all aspects. Besides, I will also improve my storytelling ability and teach by telling stories to enhance students' engagement or interest, which creates a more conducive environment for students. Digital storytelling is one crucial component of our lives no matter what roles we have, we should have the ability to be good digital storytellers.
Reference List
Alismail, H. A. (2015). Integrate digital storytelling in education. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(9), 126-129.
Dreon, O., Kerper, R. M., & Landis, J. (2011). Digital storytelling: A tool for teaching and learning in the YouTube generation. Middle School Journal, 42(5), 4-10.
Goodall, Jr, H. L. (2010). From tales of the field to tales of the future. Organizational Research Methods, 13(2). 256-267.
Jones-Kavalier, B. R., & Flannigan, S. L. (2008). Connecting the digital dots: Literacy of the 21st century. Educause Quarterly, 31(2), 8-10.
Kollmer, J., Schleinschok, K., Scheiter, K., & Eitel, A. (2020). Is drawing after learning effective for metacognitive monitoring only when supported by spatial scaffolds? Instructional Science, 48, 569-589.
Lina, G. (2020). Teacher's mediation in students' development of cognition and metacognition. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 50(5), 458-473.
Orech, J. (2007). Tips for digital storytelling. TechLearning Magazine.
Robin, B. R., & Mcneil, S. (2019). Digital Storytelling. 1-8.
Smeda, N., Dakich, E., & Sharda, N. (2014). The effectiveness of digital storytelling in the classrooms: a comprehensive study. Smart Learning Environments, 1(1).
Thiede, K. W., Wright, K. L., Hagenah, S., Wenner, J., Abbott, J., & Arechiga, A. (2022). Drawing to improve metacomprehension accuracy. Learning and Instruction, 77, 101541.
just can't wait. a quick look through. will be back for my marking next week. well done shiwei
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shiwei. You are always caring and keen to learn new things. You have done a very good job. I am proud of you.
ReplyDeleteMarked
5R reflected.
Best
Lina