CEDU 531--Week 1: How Might I Use Digital Storytelling in Class?

When I first reviewed our course description, I was not sure how an 8th and 9th grade business education teacher could utilize digital storytelling in our Business Venture and Financial Life Skills classes at Menomonee Falls North Junior High. However, after reading Chapters 1 and 2 of DigiTales, I now have some ideas that will strongly engage my students.

In Business Venture, an introductory business course, I might include digital storytelling in the following areas:

• Entrepreneur Profile: Rather than writing a profile of a famous entrepreneur (Kimora Lee Simmons, Ray Kroc, Bill Gates, Debbi Fields, etc.) in Word or creating a PowerPoint presentation about their life, my students could create a digital story that covers the entrepreneur's cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, childhood, education, previous business/career experiences, company, ideas, products, and/or inventions. In addition, my students could tell stories of their subject's previous business failures and successes. Finally, students could evaluate the importance of their entrepreneur and discuss what, if any, problems their businessperson solved in society and if we are better off because of them.


• Local Business Field Trip: Upon their return from our walking field trip to a nearby entrepreneur's business, my students could tell the story of that person's role in management, marketing, human resources, and finance/accounting. Telling the story of the start of the entrepreneur's career and business would also be an authentic assessment of student learning.

In Financial Life Skills, storytelling could be used in the following units:

• Budget Project: Students would interview their parents or guardians and uncover the story of how they analyze their monthly income and expenses. A greater understanding of the complexities of personal finance and a sense of empathy for their caregivers would be results.
• Consumerism: Instead of writing fictitious customer complaint letters, students could use digital multimedia stories to tell about real complaint situations that they or their families have encountered. In lieu of an actual occurrence, students could also create scenarios, as suggested by our author, Bernajean Porter, on page 19 of her book. These scenarios would envision appropriate and effective complaints, leading to positive consumer results.
• Identity Theft/Phishing: After learning how to avoid identity theft and phishing attempts, my students could create stories that describe how consumers are adversely affected by these negative events. Students would reinforce avoidance techniques and also understand the consequences suffered by identity theft and phishing victims.

Now that I have brainstormed these ideas, I look forward to trying some out with my students in order to increase the relevancy of their learning. I also believe this storytelling increases the LOTi level as students share their creations with their peers, families, and local businesspeople.