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I think the notion of invention works across traditional (text-based) composing environments as well as digital storytelling. Invention, in my mind, really works across all composing events, including music, dance, painting, etc., because it is the conceptualization of audience, mode, purpose, and situation given the particulars of the assignment. In addition to invention, I find that pacing is particular to both traditional composing and digital storytelling. In an essay, pacing is important in terms of where one places his or her argument/thesis and the order in which the supporting information is presented. Where do I place my anecdotes? Where should my own judgments weigh in? These are a few examples of the type of pacing I'm referring to. In the digital storytelling environment, the pacing has more to do with aligning words with images and sounds; but also, beyond that, the pacing is very rhetorical in nature – how does the pacing contribute to the overall effect I'm trying to convey? In addition to invention and pacing, I find that personal engagement works across both contexts. In my teaching I have found that the most accurate indicator of student success is student engagement with the topic (i.e., ownership). This is what most impresses me with digital storytelling – the engagement it fosters for a variety of reasons (some of which I don't understand myself). What is different and/or challenging is the fact that a new skill-set has to be learned in terms of the software. A certain level of mastery has to be attained in order for students and teachers to be able to take full advantage of what digital storytelling offers. What I have found, however, is that digital storytelling lends itself to play as a type of learning process. The other difficulty I have is that the mode offers different possibilities that I have not encountered before; or, at least, am not very familiar with. I've been working with digital storytelling for about a year now, but I've been working with traditional writing for over twenty-five years. Describe your current teaching situation, as well as the rubric(s) you might implement for digital storytelling projects. I teach freshman writing at Michigan State. In addition, I will be observing high school English student teachers next year. The teaching of writing at the university level is the ideal setting for implementing digital storytelling in my classroom because of the level of the students, as well as the hardware/software available to me through the writing center. I'm not sure how the student teaching observation will allow me to utilize digital storytelling, because this is my first experience at this position; but I do intend to look for ways to role-model this type of pedagogy to the interns. The question of rubrics for digital storytelling is one of the most important and interesting questions in my mind. What I've found to be most often relied on by educators (including myself) is a return to the traditional essay format for grading purposes (i.e., the student reflection written about the digital storytelling experience). I am very interested, however, in compiling a rubric that deals exclusively with the digital storytelling. Currently, I would break it up into these distinct parts:
What are your thoughts about audience and voice? I have lots to say about audience and voice in the writing process; but, generally speaking, I believe that these are both heuristics that contribute to the holistic approach toward writing. I think audience has a great deal to do with the conception and completion of all composing. In terms of voice, I think this idea of voice is often misused and misunderstood. I think voice has connotations of being a single voice that is the true voice for a particular author. I don't think this is true, since I believe that any single author can have a multiplicity of voices that they utilize in any given composing event. There is something magical about working in a digital environment – something that attracts people to work on their projects independently and for long hours of time. I would love to know what fuels this experience. I'm thinking it could be the idea of a new medium, the affordances of this medium, the cultural attraction to film writ large, the age-old attraction to story… I wish I knew, and I think that as I work within this medium and teach this medium more and more, perhaps these driving elements will come further to light. My single apprehension is that as this medium becomes more and more commonplace, the drive to work in the medium will dwindle. Will students eventually respond to creating digital stories the same way they respond to the five-paragraph essay today? Describe your project and your workshop experience. I had an enjoyable project and workshop experience. Because I'm somewhat familiar with creating an iMovie and am familiar with Photoshop, I was able to really focus on creating a rather intricate film. I chose to render a poem I wrote last semester, mostly for the fact that this is the activity I assign my own students – render a poem they've written into iMovie. I think this will serve as a good example for my students.
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