Susanna and Leah’s lesson on digital story telling was very interesting. I already had a bit of experience with powerpoint, but I learned a few things about how to utilize the program to make image-based slide shows/presentations. I found photo story really interesting and could definitely see myself using this program in the future. I was most fascinated with the “create music” option and all the different things you had to choose from…especially “mood” (ranging from happy to romantic, to yearning, to sad!)…and I got a kick out of the fact that sometimes, depending on the music genre selected, the only thing that changed when a different mood was selected was the key the music was in! …in my opinion, there’s a lot more to a piece’s mood than it’s key! :-p

As for national standards, I definitely think that digital storytelling encourages student creativity and innovation, as well as an awareness of their responsibilities as digital citizens (in thinking of the creative commons license and all media chosen for the final product). Also, digital story telling can build skills in important programs such as powerpoint.

For teachers, digital storytelling can definitely help facilitate student learning and creativity – and get students excited about incorporating technology into their learning. Having students create a digital story can also be a successful means of assessing student understanding/learning.

I could definitely see digital storytelling being of good use in an elementary music classroom, but definitely not a secondary level instrumental ensemble. Perhaps I could create a digital story explaining important parts of music history relevant to the music being learned at the time…or maybe I could present this project as a way for students to earn extra credit by creating such a story themselves.