Choosing a Digital Storytelling topic

Digital storytelling is a medium that can be used in almost any classroom, on any subject. Students can create digital stories about themselves, or they can focus on a topic that is more class-related. The website techteachers.com by Meg Ormiston contains a long list of Ideas for Digital Storytelling Across the Curriculum. Some of these ideas include:

• Creating a digital story from the perspective of either Lewis or Clark (social studies)
• Creating a digital story about the “fading small farmer” (science)
• Creating a digital story that “compare[s] and contrast[s] fairy tales from various regions (language arts)
• Creating a digital story that “explain[s] to others a concept like adding fractions using real life examples” (math)

That website contains many more great ideas for other subjects as well.

The University of Houston also has a great website about digital storytelling. One page gives examples of digital stories broken into three categories: “Digital Stories as Personal Narratives,” “Digital Stories that Examine Historical Events,” and “Stories that Inform or Instruct.” Although these stories were created by professors and college students, these examples can still be a valuable resource for teachers.