2. Digital Narrative... by Beena Thomas

Narrative has always been a tool for teaching and distributing knowledge in diverse disciplinary fields. Marie-Laure Ryan in her definition of narrative states that “if narrative is a discourse that conveys a story, this is to say a specific type of content, and if this discourse can be put to a variety of different uses, none of them constitutive of narrativity, then its definition should focus on story.”(The Cambridge Companion to Narrative, 26)

Story telling has proved to be an effective way to teach and learn the English language. ESL/EFL professional journals, conference presentations, books and experts have been highlighting this topic ranging from a focus on teacher as storyteller to student as storyteller. However in the present century, where technology has invaded our classrooms, traditional storytelling may have to be replaced or modified to sustain its effectiveness as a tool for teaching English. Digital storytelling (DST) is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. It is one of the many genres of digital narrative. According to Nick Montfort, “The Computer can be used to extend or demolish traditional narrative concepts in all sorts of ways, but its ability to combine narration and simulation has been particularly significant in digital art, electronic literature, and video games”(The Cambridge Companion to Narrative, 172). In a classroom where most of the learners are those leading e-lives, digital media will be accepted as a new stage on which old narratives are replayed in new dimensions. Marie-Laure Ryan's analysis of Narrative as a virtual reality encompasses both traditional literary narratives and the new textual genres made possible by the electronic revolution of the past few years, such as hypertext, interactive movies and drama, digital installation art, and computer role-playing games.

My claim is that since story telling is a uniquely powerful linguistic technique in the English language classroom, digital storytelling may well be the answer to evolve this time tested tool. Educators, students and others around the world are already using digital storytelling to support the educational process. I propose to give an overview of this exciting concept of using digital narrative in pedagogy and by ESL learners, but a lot of experiment and innovativeness need to go into it.

Digital Storytelling (DST) is a term that refers to storytelling that uses digital tools to help ordinary people to narrate their own stories in a compelling and engaging manner. In other words, it is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories. These stories usually take the form of a relatively short story (less than 8 minutes) and can involve interactivity. British photographer, educator and digital storyteller Daniel Meadows in the University of Houston digital storytelling site defines digital stories as “short, personal multimedia tales told from the heart.” The beauty of this form of digital expression, he maintains, is that these stories can be created by people everywhere, on any subject, and shared electronically all over the world. Just like in conventional storytelling, most digital stories focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view. However, as the name implies, digital stories usually contain some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music. Digital stories can vary in length, but most of the stories can typically last between two and ten minutes. The topics that are used in Digital Storytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one's own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, anything that one wants to narrate.

DST can be used creatively by the English teacher in a classroom to teach the nuances of the language interestingly and effectively. English teachers may download images/clip arts from websites and add a narrative to it to convey ideas, concepts or explain lessons. Monotonous PPT presentations may also be improvised as a digital story and presented.

When ESL students are introduced to DST their English Speaking, Writing, Listening and Presentation skills improve. Three of my students returned from their excursion with interesting photographs and equally interesting stories about each of them. I encouraged them to use it for a DST session which eventually turned out to be a successful learning experience both in learning English language skills and the use of modern technology.

A similar successful exercise was ventured by the final year students who presented a digital story in English about their college life as part of their grooming sessions for placement. In both these instances students elaborated and shifted into storytelling mode with personal narrative, using voice inflection, hand gestures and other techniques to expand upon the written work. In the first instance, one of the students used her cell phone (Sony Ericsson W910 i) which had a picture story facility in it, to present her story.

Bull and Kajder, strong proponents of digital storytelling suggest that storytelling techniques can be a powerful mode of teaching and learning for the classroom. According to them as the goal of DST in an English language classroom is to allow the learner to experience the power of personal expression in a non-native language, students' digital stories need to be constructed from their own experience and understanding. Using the first-person pronoun "I" rather than the more distant third-person point of view is essential. The pitch, inflection, and timbre of the storyteller's voice can convey meaning and intent in a very personal way. This has proven to be one of the most essential elements that contribute to the effectiveness of a digital story. Even the student listeners encounter both familiar and new language skills through DST and become familiar with narrative patterns, speech rhythms, and the use of language.

DST also lends a cognitive phenomenon to narrative which Ryan claims is important “because to notice objects or events in our perceptual environment is to construct embryonic stories about them” (3).When students are asked to use a medium they are most familiar with to learn a language not too familiar to them they seem to meet with success.

Technology has added a new twist to storytelling through digital narratives. As most colleges are equipped with English language labs and other technology in classrooms, implementing DST would not be cumbersome.The immersion that DST encourages may be instrumental in finding a solution to the perennial struggle that English language classrooms witness. At a time when higher education is attracting more and more first generation learners into our classrooms, DST, if used creatively in teaching and learning the English language, may help them conquer their greatest impediment in finding success– English language skills.

Required Technologies:

• • A computer with Microsoft XP Operating Systems and internet connection.

  • A digital camera/camcorder or a camera cell phone.

  • A microphone that can be plugged into the back of your computer.

  • Media player

  • Windows Movie Maker (which is included in Microsoft XP Operating Systems)

  • Audio software (This is optional-if required download a free music mixing software program, such as Audacity)

How to Prepare a Digital Story:

• 1. Download relevant images or clip art images from the internet. Or shoot images with a digital camera or camera cell phone or use old shots.

  2. Prepare a storyboard (Template shown below - Table 1)

  3. Write a narrative story based on the images.

  4. Open the Movie Maker programme. Under "Tools" of MovieMaker, click on command to "Create New Collection". Add your images. Give this Collection file a name, which may also be the title of your digital story.

  5. Under "File" of Movie Maker, click on "Import into Collection" and then browse to find the desktop folder with the saved images. Click on each image, or select all, and then import. All the images should now appear in the Collection folder in Movie Maker.

  6. At the bottom of the screen, there is a button that says "Show Storyline." Click this, and it will present a series of boxes -- these are the frames of your digital story. Now, just click on an image from Collection and drag the image into one of the boxes. Continue dragging images until you've created the sequence of images you want.

  7. At the bottom of the screen, there is a button that says "Show Storyline." Click this, and it will present a series of boxes -- these are the frames of your digital story. Now, just click on an image from Collection and drag the image into one of the boxes. Continue dragging images until you've created the sequence of images you want.

  8. To add a title to your story either/or at the start and end, go to "Tools" and then down to "Titles and Credits" and follow the directions. To add transitions between frames, go to "Tools" and down to "Video Transition." Click on your choice of transitions and drag down to the area before the image. To add effects to images, go to "Tools" and then down to "Video Effect," and click on your choice of effects and drag down to the small box on the lower left corner of the image you want to be affected.

  9. To view the sequence, just click on the play button below the little viewing screen to the right. If you want an image to last longer or shorter on the screen, you first need to hit "Show Timeline" icon. Then click on the right side of the image in the timeline and drag either left or right to make longer or shorter.

  10. To add narration, you will need a microphone that can be plugged into the back of your computer. Then, go to "Tools" and down to "Narrate Timeline." When you are ready, click on "Start Narration" and read the personal narrative that you wrote at the start. Make sure you use voice inflection (tone and pacing) to move your story along. After the recording, click on "Stop Narration." The file will be saved within your Collections as a sound file, and then you just drag it down to the space beneath the images in "Timeline" mode. You can move the narration file within the timeline simply by clicking on it and moving it left and right.

  11. You can also add some music as a soundtrack

  12. When the digital story is done, go to "File" and down to "Save Movie" and say "yes" to all the prompts. This will create the actual digital story file for viewing in your media player. If you don't like the final product, just go back to Movie Maker and your files will still be there. Re-work and edit them as needed.

Table: 1

In DST, it is important to plan out your story. The best way to do that is with a storyboard (Template shown below).The storyboard gives you some organization before you begin creating your story on the computer.