Many teachers at educational technology conferences are innovators and early adopters. Most teachers, however, fall into the categories of early majority and late majority teachers when it comes to technology integration. Different strategies for technology integration are required to help early and late majority teachers utilize digital tools for personal as well as professional purposes. Digital storytelling is an ideal arena for technology integration since it is applicable to learners of all ages, in all content areas. Considerable academic research supports the value of finding ways to encourage students to read and write in greater quantities. The contageous energy with which students often embrace digital storytelling projects can translate into better reading and writing skills as well as 21st century digital literacy skills and dispositions outlined in the NETS-S.

Outline

We will show examples of digital storytelling projects created with VoiceThread and other web-based digital storytelling environments. We will provide participants with an overview of digital storytelling tool capabilities and options, discussing which tools are most appropriate for different contexts and instructional purposes.

Supporting Research

I have extensive references to academic research sources as well as practical examples of digital storytelling on my blog (awarded "Best Learning Theory Blog" of 2006 by Discovery Education and eSchoolNews) on www.speedofcreativity.org.

Presenter Background

My biographical information and vitae is available on http://www.wesfryer.com/bio/.