THEN: Journal feature From "ownership" to dialogic addressivity: Defining successful digital storytelling projects Printer-friendly version Renée Hayes (University of Delaware) Eugene Matusov (University of Delaware) This article explores the definition of successful digital storytelling projects through the examination of three projects created by children at a community center, under the guidance of adults. We propose a definition of success based on the notion of "addressivity" rather than "ownership." Digital Storytelling: Children as Authors While digital storytelling has been with us since the early 1990s, there is no universally agreed-upon definition of the genre, much less a consensus on what constitutes a successful digital storytelling project with children. The Digital Storytelling Association calls digital storytelling "the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling" (Digital Storytelling Association, 2002), a simple definition that emphasizes the continuity of the storytelling genre. Other definitions emphasize new, media-specific possibilities, such as engaging reluctant writers (Banaszewski, 2002; Show and tell , no date), introducing teachers to new technological possibilities (Brinkley, Leneway, Webb, & Harbaugh, n.d.), or even teaching participants to use specific software (Chamisa Mesa High School, n.d.). Some consider digital storytelling to be a "political movement…to change the distribution of power and resources" (Lambert, 2000) because people can directly publish their stories on the Internet without any mediating agency. On the other hand, large corporations have discovered the mass marketing potential of digital stories, such as Coke's digital compilation of personal stories devoted to the sentimental value of Coca Cola in their lives ("The power of digital storytelling," 2000). In our work, we found ourselves overseeing projects where children created digital stories under the guidance of adults. With such a disparity of definitions and their implicit goals, how do we define success in such projects? In our specific case we had an additional question, since the authoring of digital stories was also a means to foster relationships between children and adults: How can the act of collaborative digital story authorship help to develop mutual curiosity and relationship-building among the participants? Context: The Community Center-University Partnership ("La Red Mágica") The University of Delaware has been working in partnership with the Latin American Community Center (LACC) in Wilmington, DE since 1997, when Eugene (second author) arrived at the University of Delaware. The partnership, called "La Red Mágica" ("The Magic Web" in Spanish), is loosely based on a worldwide network of similar programs called "The Fifth Dimension" (Cole, 1996). In La Red Mágica, elementary education majors who are enrolled in a mandatory course entitled "Cultural Diversity, Schooling, and the Teacher (EDUC 258), spend two evenings a week for 10 weeks at the LACC with the children. However, this is not a traditional teaching practicum, and students are advised to engage with children in child-initiated activities or to invite the children in the students' activities on a volunteer basis rather than help them with school mandatory homework (Matusov & Hayes, 2002; Matusov et al., 2003). Students are required to complete a final project with the children over the course of the semester. Students have a great deal of latitude in choosing their topics, and perhaps because they are often surprised at the level of computer experience and interest they find among these low-income Latino children, many of the projects take the form of digital storytelling. http://thenjournal.org/feature/75/ (1 of 14)10/3/2005 1:21:51 PM Main Login or join Current issue Section 16 Purchase Submit People About Contact Search this site Search