Creatively Connecting Curriculum to the Digital Learner
Message From the Executive Director
Ready for this? The Department of Homeland Security has an ounce of creativity. I swear. Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, the wonderful Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), referenced, in a recent newsletter, this thing called The War on Pineapple.
I went there. How could I resist? And it is fundamentally a digital story, driven by clear curricular goals, about MISINFORMATION. But since it’s a story, it’s funny …and engaging, creative and thoughtful. It works!
This is a small example of what Meridian Stories stands for: the creation of engaging and entertaining stories about serious content. The process to create these stories is educationally explosive. The experience of viewing of them: compelling. Win – win.
Check out The War on Pineapple. Then imagine your students creating something like this.
– Brett Pierce [email protected]
Under the Radar
At long last, the first comprehensive study on the efficacy of Digital Storytelling in schools has been published.
Working with a school district in Palm Springs, California, the study was conducted out of UC- Irvine, in collaboration with a local non-profit called Digicom – which was founded by the former head of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, David Vogel.
I have read the study. Three of the results are as follows:
- Students are more engaged in the classroom, retain information longer, and have a deeper understanding of concepts.
- Teachers and students have greater competency using 21st century technology.
- For English learners, digital storytelling promotes literacy development and positive student identities.
Those are just a few highlights. The first outcome should headline the NY Times, honestly. But it’s this last bullet that for me was such an eye-opener. For students whose first language is not English, Digital Storytelling provides an outlet for communication that both increases their literacy skills and their self-confidence. That’s huge. And there’s so much more. Take a look HERE.
Featured Meridian Digital Storytelling Project – Local Flora and Fauna: A Documentary
In a short documentary tell us the story about the past, present, and predicted future of a local plant or animal that has experienced a significant population growth or decline over the past 50 years in your state.
Relevant. Activist. Local. Societally Useful.
For the full, free 12 page Curricular Challenge, Click HERE
Featured Meridian Resource – Tips for Conducting an Interview
Interviewing is a small art form unto itself. As an interviewer, your primary job is to extract information and compelling stories from the interviewee. This guide points you to the essential fundamentals of how to conduct a good interview.
Check out this simple, focused resource HERE.
Featured Student Work – “Untitled”
This week’s featured Digital Storytelling Challenge returns us to the Young Adult Fiction category for one final time. This is one minute long. Among the many choices this student made was in sound design: silence. …Note how long the silence continues after the piece is finished.