Lessons from Pine Point in Digital Storytelling: EDUC 5333 Blog 2
This week, in our Digital Storytelling class, we looked at digital stories others have created. I watched all of the examples provided, but the one that really drew me in was Pine Point by the National Film Board-Canada (found here!). It drew me in right away with the animation, the music, and the visual representations of the words. The whole story had a nostalgic feel but then made you wonder about the people who had been there. How does an entire town fall into nothingness? The music, transitions, graphics, and videos compelled the audience to continue and helped us reflect on our own past. I loved how it was telling a story, but it was also subtly interactive. At first, it is mostly just clicking to continue, but as the story continues, it becomes more immersive, allowing the audience to go more in-depth or stay surface-level.
Pine Point has a target audience that would be most appropriate for middle school students and older. This is because younger students likely won’t connect as much since they don’t have a long history to look back on or the nostalgia it brings. With that in mind, the educational value found in the story is offering students a look at recent history, encouraging them to think critically on how places change over time, but also how memories shape how we view history. It also provides them the opportunity to have empathy by looking at how people were affected by their hometown dissolving. In terms of technology, Pine Point shows how technology was in the past (specifically pictures), and that even back then, it helped preserve some of history. In addition, the students can see an example of how many things can blend to tell a story digitally.
In terms of ISTE standards, let’s first look at Student standards.
- Empowered Learner (ISTE 1): Students can be asked to reflect on their own history and how they can use technology to tell their story, similar to how Pine Point told theirs.
- Knowledge Constructor (ISTE 3): Students can see how in Pine Point the author gathered information about the the town, its history, and who lived there. They can use this as an example of how to gather the information and construct a story of their own.
- Creative Communicator (ISTE 6): The Pine Point project uses many digital tools, and students can design their own interactive stories using a format similar to Pine Point.
- Global Collaborator (ISTE 7): Pine Point allows students to think about the history of a small town outside of their own community. It points out that this was a mining town, and when that economy was no longer viable, the town shriveled. This will bring up a good conversation about how there is a connection between economies and people, and then they can use that information to tell their own digital stories.
Now, here are how I believe the Educator Standards fit:
- Learner (ISTE 1): Teachers can use Pine Point format to learn how to use multimedia in storytelling.
- Leader (ISTE 2): If teachers incorporate Pine Point as an example in their classroom, they can use it as an example of digital storytelling. They can then create their own digital story to share with their students, and then have the students create their own.
- Collaborator (ISTE 4): Pine Point collaborates extensively with community members, and teachers can collaborate with each other to make this a cross-curricular project.
- Designer (ISTE 5): This standard would be covered by any of the digital stories if a teacher is going to then have her students create their own. These will be learner-driven by nature.
- Facilitator (ISTE 6): This standard would also be covered by any of the digital stories if a teacher assigns the students to complete their own. They will have to be working directly with technology and using it to make a digital story. The teacher will need to support the students in this.
As for a connection to my content area or grade level, I am not currently teaching students. However, my job is to help educators in my district use our intervention curriculums to get maximum growth from students. With Pine Point, I could use it to help educators see the connection between a student's background and how it might affect their learning outcomes. I would make this connection by having my teachers watch Pine Point, and then explaining that although the town seemed to dissolve, the history of what happened there was still with the residents on into adulthood. It is the same with our students, whether that is a good history, or a traumatic history.
Pine Point has connections to both Ohler’s and Lambert’s guidance for story creation. For Ohler, it has a story mapping with a beginning, middle, and end. It also has emotions at its core, tying the town's people to nostalgia and loss. In Lambert’s guidance, he discusses the 6 main steps of storytelling, and Pine Point hits them all, but specifically finding the moment (realizing the town was gone), seeing the story (blending words, video clips and stories), and personal voice (using the personal stories of the former townspeople). Pine Point is really a blend of several personal stories with a historical documentary. Below is a simple story map of Pine Point:
Liz, I really enjoyed your take on Pine Point! You nailed it when describing how the music, visuals, and gradual interactivity pull the audience in, making us reflect on the people and the loss of the town. I also agree with your point about how middle school and older students would connect best with the nostalgic themes.
ReplyDeleteYour connection to the ISTE standards was insightful, especially how students can become Knowledge Constructors by learning to gather and organize information like Pine Point’s creators did. The idea of using Pine Point to help teachers understand the impact of students’ backgrounds on learning is a powerful one, and I love how you tied that in with your role.
I’m excited to see how you’ll apply these elements to your own digital storytelling project—it sounds like you’ve taken a lot of inspiration from Pine Point! Looking forward to seeing where your project goes!
Hi Liz, I did not watch Pine Point, but after reading how it affected you I plan to watch it and hope to have the same reaction. The ISTE standards that you believe fit with this story seem to fit perfectly with the Pine Point story based off of how you explained the story. I look forward to seeing how this story will affect how you develope your own story. Great work!
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