Digital Storytelling Tools for Young Learners

Digital storytelling tools for young learners by Özge Karaoglu Ergen © Cambridge University Press 2012

21st century technology has added a new twist to traditional storytelling. We can now easily create digital stories beyond the scope of pen and pencil.

Technology has become a powerful learning tool, both in and out of the classroom, which engages students in their own learning by giving them a chance to be in the director’s chair. It stimulates imagination and sparks creativity by giving students a voice, motivating them, capturing their attention with different multimedia options and encouraging shy students to get involved. Technology opens up new opportunities to increase collaboration and interaction in the classroom by engaging children in more advanced cognitive activities.

Interactive web tools

There are numerous online tools that allow learners to create digital stories in different ways; from creating animations and movies to recording their own voices. Here are some examples of interactive web tools that we can use to tell colourful, digital stories in young learners’ classes: Storybird is a collaborative tool that lets you create stories using a wide range of artwork from different illustrators. Without requiring any artistic talent, you start writing the text of your stories by choosing pictures from the art gallery. Storybird also allows you to collaborate with others to work on the same story. Children can work on the same project to create a class story or they can create their own unique stories using the same initial picture and text. Children can create their own stories about the themes that they are interested in.

Digital storytelling tools for young learners by Özge Karaoglu Ergen © Cambridge University Press 2012

Voki is a tool that creates personalised speaking avatars. After customising your voki avatar, you give it a voice by recording your own voice or by using the text-to-speech application. Children create their own avatars reading or retelling a previously learnt story or they can create an avatar for their favourite characters in a story.

Animoto is an easy way to turn your pictures, film, text and music into a video. Children can create teasers for the stories that they have read, they can produce a film using their pictures and adding text or they can summarise a story by creating a video of it.

LittleBirdTales lets you create narrated slideshows using your own pictures and drawings or using your own voice and adding the text of your story. You can also use the tool’s art pad to draw pictures online. Children can create two- or three-page stories recording their voices. They can create an online booklet with the keywords for the stories that they have read and they can create a class story by adding a page to a single book. Children can also write and read aloud poems that they have written.

DomoAnimate is a tool which creates professional looking cartoons by animating characters with added music, sound effects, backgrounds and objects. You can make your characters talk by writing in the speech bubbles.

Children can animate fairy tales, write another ending for a story and animate it, or they can write a story for an animation that they have watched in class.

There is no doubt that technology can enhance the stories that we tell, allowing children to use the language that they are learning in a meaningful and exciting context. There are many more web tools available that foster the creativity and imagination in our children through digital storytelling, and all of these tools help to make their stories even more gripping and exciting.

Do you have any recommendations for digital storytelling tools? Join in the discussion here. http://www.cambridgeenglishteacher.org/discussions/thread/612