Exploring Diversity in Education with Digital Storytelling

Since Fall 2012, Professor Soo Hong has been exploring the ways in which substituting major paper assignments with digital storytelling and mixed-media projects could enrich her EDUC 117 students’ learning experiences and encourage them to express what they were learning creatively.

Education 117, Diversity in Education, seeks to introduce students to the complex issues surrounding racial, ethnic, religious, gender and sexuality diversity in education, particularly in urban public K-12 school settings. 

During the semester, students used iPads to film their fieldwork, record interviews and post several mixed-media assignments to Mediathread. Using this web-based tool they organized and annotated their clips and received peer critique. As a final project, students were asked to form a cohesive story illustrating their reflections and perspectives on their personal experiences, interviews, fieldwork, research, and in-class discussions.

Support for students was provided both in and out of class by LTS staff.

Based on the success of this project, Soo has continued to include digital storytelling in her EDUC 117 syllabus.

Faculty Member: Soo Hong
LTS Contact: Rebecca Darling
Keywords: Digital Storytelling, Interview, MediaThread, iPad, iMovie