English language learners (ELLs) often need to acquire content knowledge and English proficiency while simultaneously adjusting to a new classroom environment and a new culture of learning, commonly one that puts added pressure on struggling students because of high stake standardized testing and the need for teachers to demonstrate academic gains in their classroom. To help support ELLs in their acquisition of grade-level content knowledge and English language skills (i.e., speaking, listening, reading, and writing), educators can provide engaging, active learning experiences through the inclusion of educational technology. One form of technology that has been found to help facilitate ELLs in their development of language skills and content knowledge is digital storytelling.

Digital Storytelling

Digital stories have been described as short, movie-like digital productions (Rance-Roney, 2008). These types of stories integrate images, photographs, sound, music, narrations, and other forms of multimedia. You can instruct students to search for these resources online or to include their own materials in their digital stories. Additionally, the various available digital story platforms and online programs provide students with flexibility and creativity in their story development, allowing the student to personalize their learning in a meaningful way. Further, many educational digital story platforms are free and contain access to a wide variety of fonts, images, and themes. Following is a list of platforms that you may want to consider for digital story activities.

• Adobe Spark
• Animoto Video Maker
• Canva
• Slidestory
• Smilebox
• Storybird
• Sway
• Thinglink
• VoiceThread
• WeVideo
• ZooBurst

Creating Digital Stories

Morra (n.d.) outlined eight essential steps that are needed for creating an engaging digital story.

1. Students develop an idea and write a proposal. You can provide students with general digital story prompts or with ones specific to the subject matter or content being studied. For example, in an elementary language arts class, the teacher might ask students to share how their family celebrates holidays using descriptive adjectives and action verbs. A high school social studies teacher might ask students to create a digital story based on a historical event they have covered in the class, leaving the specific event and story up to the student to choose and develop.

2. Students develop their ideas through research and exploration. This step encourages students to develop digital literacy skills through online investigation and to cultivate a deeper understanding of the content being presented.

3. Students draft a script of their story. This phase develops a student’s writing abilities with vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, all vital skills for learners of all backgrounds.

4. Students begin to plan their stories through storyboarding. During this phase, students will develop a plan of what to include in their digital stories and determine appropriate forms of multimedia content.

5. Students to select appropriate images, audio files, and videos. They should choose media that can be integrated into their stories to further capture their viewers’ attention. Again, students’ levels of digital literacy and comfort with technology are enhanced through these steps.

6. Students compile their stories into a digital format. They should also carefully review their stories to make certain that all pertinent information is included and that all multimedia formats are functioning appropriately.

7. Students share with their teacher and peers. The sharing of digital stories allows students to develop their oral grasp and confidence with the English language as well as receive feedback and positive affirmation of their learning.

8. Students receive feedback. You can develop rubrics to provide students specific feedback focused on the students’ English skills and levels of content understanding.

According to Sylvester and Greenidge (2009), digital stories should also include seven essential elements:

1. A point of view. For this element, students should create a story that provides their perspective of the event or topic. This element of digital storytelling encourages the students to make the learning more meaningful and relevant to their own lives.

2. A dramatic question that captures the audience’s attention.

3. Appropriate emotional content that focuses on serious issues and evokes powerful emotions.

4. Appropriate amount of information. Students need to review their stories to make certain that sufficient information is provided without overloading their audience.

5. Appropriate pace. Students need to ensure they are not telling their story too fast or slow.

6. Students’ own voices to personalize the story.

7. Music or song lyrics that appropriately correspond to the story.

Educational Benefits

Digital storytelling activities encompass a student-centered approach in which learners are engaged and active in their lessons. By educators including digital stories in their lessons, students are afforded a wide array of educational benefits. These types of activities can be perceived by students as engaging and motivating assignments that provide them the opportunity to further practice all target language skills. Here are some of the educational benefits to completing digital storytelling activities:

• Students are able to convey their understanding of the content and share their voices about a subject of interest.

• Students are provided the opportunity to develop vital communication (presentational and conversational), critical thinking, and technology skills.

• ELLs are able to receive valuable experiences receiving course content from multiple perspectives, which can help to facilitate their levels of understanding.

• ELLs are provided the opportunity to be creative in how they approach their assignments and gain valuable digital literacy skills. These skill sets can be particularly important for ELLs who may have limited English interactional opportunities and access to technology outside of their classroom settings.

Beyond the purely educational benefits of digital storytelling, this learning format also contributes to a stronger sense of self and of community for ELLs. Castañeda, Shen, and Claros-Berlioz (2018) posited that digital storytelling activities allow ELLs to learn from one another’s experiences with social injustice and for their peers to “be exposed to the inequities faced by ELs in the classroom, in the community, and in society” (p. 20). You can create dialogue through digital storytelling activities that recognizes, respects, and celebrates cultural differences in the classroom.

Language Skills: Activity Ideas

You can develop digital story activities that encompass all language skills. For example, you can require ELLs to create a digital story focused on their immigration experiences to the United States. Particularly, to accomplish this type of activity, you could direct ELLs to create a digital story that includes both written text and audio overviews of their immigration stories. To enhance ELLs’ reading and listening skills, you could require students to read and listen to their classmates’ stories. Students could then be further engaged in a whole class discussion on selected stories to ensure that they accurately understood the information conveyed in their classmates’ stories. Give students access to the stories both inside and outside the classroom setting to provide additional language exposure and target language practice opportunities.

Additional digital storytelling activities could focus on ELLs’ levels of understanding of course content. In this type of activity, you could create activities that involve ELLs developing digital stories about a particular concept that was recently taught. For their digital story, ELLs would provide an overview of the concept and include examples that demonstrate their understanding of the studied subject matter. Learners would then turn in their digital story for review and feedback. To ensure that all language skills are incorporated in the digital story activity, be sure to include both written and audio feedback. You could also require ELLs to revise their stories in order for them to reflect on your recommendations and edits. Including a revision component to the assignment helps you verify that ELLs accurately understood their feedback while providing them vital repeated exposure to concepts to further facilitate the learning process. Moreover, students could work in pairs or groups to develop their digital stories, providing peer support and developing a sense of collaboration throughout the learning process.

You could also develop lessons that are reflective of a digital book report. For this type of activity, either assign ELLs a book or let them select one that is appropriate for their current reading level. Have ELLs create a digital story that provides an overview of the book and their reactions to the text. Similar to the aforementioned activities, include lesson components that incorporate all four language skills, such as by having students review each other’s digital book report and then providing written and/or oral feedback or reflections of the story.

Another digital storytelling activity that can be beneficial for ELLs includes the creation of virtual field trips. Assign or let ELLs choose a historical landmark or geographical location (e.g., country of origin). Have the learner develop a digital story that provides a descriptive overview of the location and includes information focused on its culture, official language, imports and exports, political structure, and so on. Students then present their digital stories to their classmates in a formal presentation format, and all students engage in a robust discussion to ensure that the lesson is inclusive of all language skills.

Conclusion

There are a multitude of lessons that you can create to provide ELLs digital storytelling experiences. Through these types of student-centered digital activities, ELLs may feel more motivated and engaged in their learning. ELLs who create digital stories are also provided ample opportunities to practice and further acquire all target language skills, thus enhancing not only their abilities but their confidence levels as well. Further, by completing digital storytelling activities, ELLs can gain essential 21st-century learning skills. As technology continues to evolve and impact the way students learn, educators need to provide ELLs adequate access to activities that promote technological skills. By including digital stories in their classes, educators not only provide ELLs access to technology, but they offer ELLs the opportunity to obtain content knowledge and English proficiency through engaging and interactive lessons.

References

Castañeda, M., Shen, x., & Claros-Berlioz, E. (2018). English learners (ELs) have stories to tell: Digital storytelling as a venue to bring justice to life. English Journal, 107(6), 20–25.

Morra, S. (n.d.). 8 steps to great digital storytelling. EdTechTeacher. Retrieved from https://edtechteacher.org/8-steps-to-great-digital-storytelling-from-samantha-on-edudemic/

Rance-Roney, J. (2008). Digital storytelling for language and culture learning. Essential Teacher, 5, 29–31.

Sylvester, R., & Greenidge, W. (2009). Digital storytelling: Extending the potential for struggling writers. The Reading Teacher, 63(4), 284–295.

Kelly Torres, PhD, is the department chair for the online EdD in Educational Psychology and Technology Program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is a K–12 certified ESOL educator and has mentored English language learners at all levels of education.

Aubrey Statti, EdD, is a core faculty member for the online EdD in Educational Psychology and Technology Program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She has worked with English language learners as a former high school teacher and school counselor and is currently conducting research focused primarily on the use of technology interventions to support academic gains of English language learners.