Digital Storytelling

After reading the articles about digital storytelling, I got a much clearer picture about what it was all about. I loved the teacher's idea about having her students write about a special place to them. This was a topic that all students could relate to because it did not have to be a physical place, it could have been a state of mind or an inner place in their heart that was special to them. Transferring their ideas of this place into an iMovie is so cool because the students could add text, images, music, and so much more to really personalize their story and make it their own.
By doing something like this, your students are able to work with multimedia in the classroom and the learning and "work" becomes fun and creative. It is a great alternative to a traditional paper.
I think this is also a great opportunity for the teacher to get to know his/her students in a different light. You learn a lot about your students when they are allowed to be creative and they feel comfortable enough to open up their writing and really share their hearts.
I am interested in the different programs used for digital storytelling and hope to be able to incorporate it in my future classroom.