Digital Stories Inside and Outside of the Classroom

As Diaz and Fields explained, a digital story is meant to make the audience question certain assumptions and seek a deeper understanding of something different. With that being said, there are ways to get certain results out of showing and viewing a digital story. Two examples are inside and outside of the classroom. In an academic setting, a major point of using digital stories is to teach students about what they are- much like we are doing. From there students create their own stories more for the purpose of the learning experience than to really get something out into the world. Instructors could also use these stories to prompt specific thoughts and feeling among students. For example, if a class is discussing issues in the Middle East and they viewed Wall of Hate, students would begin to consider the morality and purpose of the wall and question what should be done about it and how they feel in general. From there, discussion would more than likely occur. In academia, digital stories are manipulated so that they either can get students to do certain things or make them think in ways towards an assignment.

Outside of the classroom, I feel that there is more to get out of digital storytelling. This mainly has to do with what emotions and thoughts that are brought out in people and what this leads them to do. In class, after watching one of these stories, a student would either do their assignment or have their discussion and that is usually the end. Rarely would a student continue to ponder what they had seen. In any other situation, however, it is likely that action can be taken. Although this is a stretch, I think of the Kony 2012 video as an extended digital story. It has a “so what”, a provoking question, and delves into peoples’ lives that creates something very personal. After viewing that, millions of people have been called to take action and a countless amount of emotions can be said to have also been provoked.

It does not have to be as serious as that though. Let’s say that a person decides to create a story about how an accident left them unable to pursue their passion. An audience member would be prompted to think about the loss of something special and as a result, think more carefully about what they have and appreciate it. Of course it is possible that a story in a classroom setting could provoke students’ emotions, but the usage is altered so that certain emotions are hit and then certain actions are done. All in all, it is not a difference of what the stories contain and are made up of, but a difference in how they are approached and used.