This action research project was created as part of the requirement for my Education Media Design Technology masters, through Full Sail University, Winter Park, Fl.
The purpose of my action research was to find out if digital storytelling could increase engagement among my alternative high school students. In my experience, I had noticed a decrease in student engagement within grades 9-12, especially among at-risk students. For my Action Research Project, I wanted to explore the use of digital storytelling with Comic Life, Photo Story, Movie Maker, and Microsoft Publisher as a means to increase student engagement among students ages 16-20 within Alternative education settings. (As the project advanced, I narrowed the tools to iMovie, Audacity, Garage Band, and Internet resources).
I began by asking I wonder what would happen if I used digital storytelling in my world history class. I work in a very small school with alternative high school students. Some had been in Special Ed and just dropped out at some point. There were bright kids who found the traditional high school too boring. A few had gotten themselves into trouble at the high school and were no longer welcome there. Some were teen moms. Many came from lower income homes and had families that have suffered divorce, poverty, neglect, and abuse (including substance abuse). The group chemistry is different every year, but these general characteristics are pretty descriptive of the population we work with. I hoped to demonstrate whether digital storytelling is an effective tool for increasing student engagement, as well as share my findings with other high school teachers who might be considering using digital storytelling in content area classrooms.
