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“Thus, many social network services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have become the craze among worldwide [sic] (Abdel-Hack and Helwa, 2014).” This also drives home the importance of incorporating technology into our teaching skills. The students know about it and already use it, so why not use it to our teaching advantage? By incorporating things they are already interested in and motivated to use I do believe we can further grab and hold our students’ attention and put it to good use. - Shad

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“Taking the findings of this study into account, it can be claimed that technology of digital story telling [sic] brings about new ways of thinking about and organizing materials and as a result increases students’ motivation (Razmi et al., 2014).” The results of the study in the article serve to really drive home how effective digital storytelling can be and how it can motivate our students to do better with their use of language. Especially these days, with our students buried nose-deep in technology and “pocket computers” (their phones), any way that we can utilize these tools to motivate them to learn is a plus. - Shad

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“Each digital story created with this model encompasses 5 steps in its creation, each representing one of the five edges of the letter W (Psomos and Kordaki, 2015).”
I like this interpretation of the “hero’s arc” and its application towards learning. It’s a good reminder that not all conflicts can be resolved in one fell swoop; that we need to sometimes go back and review the conflict two or more times before we can truly resolve it. - Shad

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“Storytelling is the backbone of human communication, the two constituting a natural pair (Psomos and Kordaki, 2015).” “All through history, storytelling has been utilized to pass information, knowledge, culture, and [sic] etc. (Razmi et al., 2014).” “Combine the old age tradition of storytelling with the latest technology and the result is a compelling tool that motivates students to read more and write better (Abdel-Hack and Helwa, 2014).” I find it interesting to see every item I read about digital storytelling refer back
to the importance of traditional storytelling. It is also an import reminder of the
importance of storytelling in all aspects of life. By keeping these reminders close,
we can become better teachers and put forth better students. I say this because
we all tend to remember things more vividly when they are told through a story arc
instead of just being presented as dry information. – Shad

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“Storytelling is the backbone of human communication, the two constituting a natural pair.” (Psomosa & Kordak, 2015, p. 82)

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“Storytelling is the backbone of human communication, the two constituting a natural pair.” (Psomosa & Kordak, 2015, p. 82)

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Since storytelling is the backbone of human communication, it can be inferred that most humans participate in listening and telling stories. If telling a story is a natural occurrence of human interaction, then it stands to reason that storytelling should be used in an educational setting. Nowadays, the English as a foreign language education system  has shifted from a teacher oriented focus to a student centered learning environment. (Abdel-Hack & Helwa, 2014, p. 8) In order to support students to overcome their learning difficulties, using a natural mean of communication (storytelling), plus technology (digital media), seems like a creative way to get a student involved in any educational subject area. -Vince

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“Critical thinking is described as the capacity to work with complex ideas whereby a person can make effective provision of evidence to justify a reasonable judgment, as the shift of learners from absolute conceptions of knowledge towards contextual knowing and as an understanding of knowledge and related to its context.” (Abdel-Hack & Helwa, 2014, p. 9)

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“Critical thinking is described as the capacity to work with complex ideas whereby a person can make effective provision of evidence to justify a reasonable judgment, as the shift of learners from absolute conceptions of knowledge towards contextual knowing and as an understanding of knowledge and related to its context.” (Abdel-Hack & Helwa, 2014, p. 9)

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Abdel-Hack & Helwa’s (2014) found that English as a foreign language (EFL) students dramatically improved critical writing skills as a result of creating digital stories. According to Abdel-Hack & Helwa’s (2014), “DS (digital story) is a means of encouraging student engagement and reflection.” (p.15) With certain goals in mind, students follow a five step writing process to create a digital story which enhances creativity, and writing skills. Prewriting a narrative,  drafting a narrative essay, revising the narrative essay, editing, and then publishing are the steps EFL students follow to complete a digital story. Being an (EFL) instructor, I personally enjoyed this study. Not only would a digital story enhance speaking skills for the audio portion of the digital story, but the prewriting and editing process also enhances  creativity, leading to improved writing skills. - Vince

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A Novel Educational Digital Storytelling Tool Focusing on Students Misconceptions

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This paper describes the design and implementation of a new educational digital storytelling tool for the design and creation of multimedia digital st...

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“[Digital storytelling] can assist
EFL learners to develop multimodal communicative competence by
promoting a learner-centred environment” (Razmi, Pourali, &
Nozad, 2014).

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“[Digital storytelling] can assist
EFL learners to develop multimodal communicative competence by
promoting a learner-centred environment” (Razmi, Pourali, &
Nozad, 2014).

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This quote, I feel, is a great reason for why we should be using digital storytelling in the classroom. I find that learner-centered activities and lessons can be very beneficial to students. Using a tool in the classroom that has this capability while also improving communication skills is something that should not be over looked. This study is a great example to the benefits that digital storytelling can bring to English learners. -Jessica

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Abdel-Hack, E.M. & Abdel-Hamid Ahmed, H.S. (2014). Using digital storytelling and weblogs instruction to enhance EFL narrative writing and critical thinking skills among EFL majors at faculty of education. Educational Research. 5(1), p8-41. doi: http:/dx.doi.org/10.14303/er.2014.011

Psomosa, P. & Kordaki, M. (2015). A novel educational digital storytelling tool focusing on students misconceptions. Elsevier Ltd. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.476

Razmi, M., Pourali, S., & Nozad, S. (2014). Digital storytelling in EFL classroom (Oral presentation of the story): A pathway to improve oral production. ScienceDirect. 98, p.1541-1544.

Student-centered learning and technology in [digital image]. Retreived from sites.google.com

ASA Emotions Section (@SocEmotions) [digital image]. twitter.com

Liven your lesson with digital storytelling [digital image]. Retrieved from kidslearntoblog.com

Digital Storytelling. [image]. Retreived from http://borchardtlibrary.edublogs.org/digital-storytelling/

SLVLOGS. [Image]. Retreived from http://slvlogs.com/vlog-lol/

Share your story [Digital image]. (2012, June 21). Retrieved from http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/ensure-users-remember-you-tell-a-story--webdesign-7449

Letter "W" print [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved July 5, 2015, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/380624605978528393/
Success graph [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://menopausemind.com/

Skinner, V. (2015, May 21). Student cell phone [Digital image]. Retrieved from http://eagnews.org/study-banning-student-cell-phones-in-school-increases-academic-performance/

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“Narrative essays are told from a
defined point of view, often in first person, so there is feeling as
well as specific and often sensory details provided to get the reader
involved in the elements and sequence of the story” (Abdel-Hack &
 Abdel-Hamid Ahmed, 2014).

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“Narrative essays are told from a
defined point of view, often in first person, so there is feeling as
well as specific and often sensory details provided to get the reader
involved in the elements and sequence of the story” (Abdel-Hack &
 Abdel-Hamid Ahmed, 2014).

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This quote reminds me of our first digital story we created in this course. Our goal was to make a story that told about ourselves. After viewing many of our classmates' videos, I could see and hear the feelings and emotions that were put into each story. It is nice to think that when this is completed in a classroom that the students will also be able to convey the same strong feelings and emotions. -Jessica

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“Digital storytelling is well documented as a key factor in education, since it encourages reflection, improves students’ critical thinking, and promotes student engagement” (Psomosa & Kordaki, 2015).

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“Digital storytelling is well documented as a key factor in education, since it encourages reflection, improves students’ critical thinking, and promotes student engagement” (Psomosa & Kordaki, 2015).

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Based on all of our class readings on the topic of Digital Storytelling, I found this quote to be very accurate. Digital storytelling has many benefits for the classroom, for teachers and students alike. It can allow for students to practice researching, completing projects, and sharing a bit about themselves, among many other things. Incorporating this strategy into the classroom can aid students in ways that regular lesson activities may fall short on. -Jessica