Digital storytelling allow students to express and personalize their projects using pictures and visual tools for ELL of all ages and language abilities. Ware (2008) recommends using digital stories to give voice to language learners who struggle with oral and written language. She studied a number of English language learners in the classroom and found that they expressed difficulty in conveying their work in ELLs environments. Teachers must incorporate learners’ life experiences into the classroom and select materials that establish relevance to students’ lives. Digital stories allow ELLs to make connections to a learner’s community, home, and experiences regardless of language level. Some examples of using digital storytelling can include podcasts, producing videos, creating multimedia storylines, or making virtual tours using a multimodal approach in learning.
Visit 30hands Storyteller Web to create a creative digital project through storytelling
This free digital storytelling application is user-friendly and compatible with Google Applications and Powerpoint. Learners can easily combine video, audio, and images to personalize to their taste using a multimodal approach to learning. Miller (2007) recommends that teachers use a creative approach to teaching, "The teacher working from this position will use strategies such as creative problem solving, cooperative learning, and the arts, which encourage students to make various types of connections. These connections make learning personally and socially meaningful to the student" (p. 12) which I believe 30hands Storyteller as an application can support this kind of creative approach to teach in holistic education.
Visit Google Slides to learn more on how it can be used to support ELL to create their project!
Learners can easily use Google Slides to learn collaboratively or individually while building on individual or group projects. This free application can support hands-on activities where students can express themselves by writing a poem, song, or play to reinforce key learning concepts and grammar using pictures or videos.
Visit WriteReader to learn more in how learners can create eBooks easily!
WriteReader is a great writing tools for language learners where they can build on creating multimedia ebooks. The application has an extensive picture library that is copyright-free and students can use for their digital writing
Miller, J. (2007). The Holistic Curriculum. University of Toronto Press. Second Edition: Canada.
Ware, P. (2008). Language learners and multimedia: Literacy in and after school. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 3, 37–51. doi:10.1080/15544800701771598