Royer, R. & Richards, P. (November, 2008). Learning connections: digital storytelling. Learning and Leading With Technology. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/store/my-virtual-products

In Learning connections Digital Storytelling the two authors stress that there are sixteen strategies that have been adopted by the National Reading Panel and five pillars by R. L. Allington to effectively teach reading and literacy. Digital story telling is a mix of almost all of these strategies because it comprises self read material, visuals and active listening as their are parts read to you. It may also allow you to read along with the story depending upon the computer software. The authors are educational technology professor and a professor of a university Reading Specialist Program. Both have come to geather to make this argument that digital story telling can also offer differentiated instruction to students that struggle with reading and can be an excellent tool for teachers as long as they manipulate their specific content standard goals.

So what of this new strategy and the use of digital storytelling to execute it? Digital story telling is usually made by companies that design these programs with students in mind. This is a form of assistive technology that can be used on a wider scale, not just for students in special education. These are also national standards and strategies that are covered in the California Language Arts Framework for teaching literacy. It should definitely allow teachers to reach multiple students in ways that they could not before. Digital storytelling can work if there is a way to add and keep track of students learning and literacy goals as well as what the student has to work on.

This is definitely a technology that i would like to use in my classroom with students who really need help with reading. Students with special needs and English learners would benefit from this resource and so would teachers. I I would like to learn which programs could be purchased or used in schools to make this possible.