In August 2005, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi experienced Hurricane Katrina firsthand. This spring, Mobile Learning Institute Digital Arts Summer Camps provided students at Bay/Waveland Middle School an opportunity to share their own stories.
Working together in small teams students researched specific businesses, landmarks, and locations, charting their community’s history in the process. Then, they used the latest mobile phone and communications technologies to present these parts of their town in digital films that combine their personal reactions to their experiences since Hurricane Katrina with their own specific recommendations for their communities can be preserved or re-created as the region rebuilds.
In many ways, the process by which these student works were realized is even more important than the films themselves: After researching and writing structured narratives, students gathered and created images, video, and audio to integrate into their completed projects. In the process, participants had the opportunity to consider and share their feelings and to synthesize their experiences with those of their peers. Later, they also had the chance to share their recommendations for the future with other students and with parents and civic leaders.
To view the resulting digital stories, click on the images below. |
