Kosheutova, N. V.

Osina, P. M.

Electronic archive of Tomsk Polytechnic University

153Foreign language like no other discipline is intended to develop acompetent specialist, who not only has certain knowledge, skills and abil-ities, but also applies them practically; is able to go beyond the frames ofhis/her profession; has certain creative potential for self-development.A foreign  language  needs  to  be  taught  as  a  specialty  language  atthe technical universities because students are to take part in internationalsymposia and conferences; participate in international grants and scholar-ships; apply for writing diploma thesis abroad. They also need to useelectronic data resource in a foreign language and to be, as a result, com-petitive and in demand at the labor market.References1. Afanasyev Y.N. «Humanitarian nature of education. The unity of educationalmodels: materials for discussion». Mocow, RGTU, 2003.2. Kashina E.G «Traditions and innovations in foreign language teaching meth-ods in Russia. Samara’s State University, 2005.3. Kunanbaeva S.S. Development concept of foreign language education. –Alma Ata: Abylay hana Kazakh University of International Relations andWorld Languages, 2006.Scientific supervisor Y.P. Azhel, senior lecturer of TPUOsina P.M., Kosheutova N.V.National Research Tomsk Polytechnic UniversityDIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR ENGLISH LEARNINGNowadays it is impossible to imagine our life without differentelectronic gadgets such as PDAs, mobile phones, tablet PCs and otherdevices that we permanently use. These devices became not only a part ofour everyday life but also became a part of the learning and teachingprocess. This penetration of digital technology causes the development ofnew methods and ways to make learning more interactive and creative.With the emergence of mobile technologies, teaching methods havechanged. Many methods of teaching foreign languages actively use vari-ous information technologies. Language learning often began to use vari-ous online resources, games and tests on a computer, computer presenta-tions. However, the most interesting, creative and unusual method is digi-tal storytelling.Digital storytelling is a compelling activity for the language class-room. Easy to use for both writing and speaking practice, digital storytel-ling can be a good way to motivate students to use the language both in-side and outside the classroom. Many teachers report high motivation154levels, and not only for their students! In this practical work, we willbriefly outline what digital storytelling is and give some tips on how toget started.Digital storytelling at its most basic core is the practice of usingcomputer-based tools to tell stories. There are a wealth of other termsused to describe this practice, such as digital documentaries, computer-based narratives, digital essays, electronic memoirs, interactive storytel-ling,  etc.;  but  in  general,  they  all  revolve  around the  idea  of  combiningthe art of telling stories with a variety of multimedia, including graphics,audio, video, and Web publishing.The same as a traditional storytelling, most digital stories focus ona  specific  topic  and contain  a  particular  point  of  view.  However,  as  thename implies, digital stories usually contain some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips, and/or music.Digital stories can vary in length, but most of the stories used in educa-tion typically last between 2 and 10 minutes. The topics used in digitalstorytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historicalevents, from exploring life in one’s own community to the search for lifein other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between.This means your students can combine two or more of the follow-ing, produced by themselves or by others:? Text? Audio? Music? Video? Photos? Screenshots, for example from computer games and websites? Other images? And other digital mediaThey can produce a video with voice-over, a website, an audiointerview, or simply a written text with an added ‘twist’ such as ascrolling text or changing colours to reflect different moods. Studentscould write an autobiography, or a narrative, and could use any genre thatyou set.In reality, digital storytelling is not a new practice. One of thefield’s most noted pioneers is Joe Lambert, the co-founder of the Centerfor Digital Storytelling (CDS), a nonprofit, community arts organizationin  Berkeley,  California.  The  CDS  has  been  assisting  young  people  andadults in the creation and sharing of personal narratives through thecombination of thoughtful writing and digital media tools since the early1990's.155Why digital storytelling? As engineering students we can say thatlearning a foreign language is not easy. Moreover, there are quite a fewreasons for this: lack of understanding of grammar, repetitive tasks,disinterest and laziness. Digital storytelling is exactly what might makestudents be interested. They can develop different projects in a foreignlanguage individually or in groups. Students will be able to learnsomething  new  on  the  subject  of  the  project  and  in  the  process  tomemorize foreign words and their pronunciation.Also, this method is useful for teachers. By asking students tocollect information from different sources teachers have opportunities toget them to reflect on and explain why they made their selections,encouraging them to become more critically aware of the learningprocess  and their  own choices  therein.  Also,  in  groups  where  there  is  ahigh anxiety about writing (perhaps with younger learners or beginners),starting with the materials that students collect rather than expectingstudents to start writing straight away can certainly lower the affectivebarrier. Finally yet importantly, digital storytelling is an activity thatvalues students for the activities they are engaged outside the school. Itshows that their skills are important and can be used in school, thusbridging the gap that often exists. Digital storytelling can be, in our ownexperience, a fun, rewarding and motivating activity for students andteachers alike.However,  to  create  a  digital  story  is  not  enough to  have  a  desireand a basic knowledge of the language. You will need a camera or amobile phone, a computer and a software that helps you create a video.Creating a digital story could be as simple as usinga presentation tool such as Apple Keynote or Microsoft PowerPoint, or ascomplex as a full video project with Apple iMovie or MicrosoftMovieMaker. However, there is also a variety of web-based tools thatenable students to create a unique user experience as they tell theirstories.PhotoStory3 - A free download for Windows computers, thisprogram provides an easy way to edit videos. More information can befound on Microsoft homepage.Animoto - This intuitive and powerful web-based applicationprovides basic but impressive multimedia features. Animoto offers musicand professional-looking special effects to add to your photos and text.Students  can  sign  up  for  a  free  account  and  access  Animoto  from  anyMac or PC with an Internet access.ComicLife - With this program, students can easily tell theirstories through their own comics. This program works on all platforms156and  is  relatively  inexpensive.  For  a  quick  project,  a  30  day  free  trialversion is available.StoryBird - Another free, web-based application, StoryBird allowsstudents to read, write, and collaborate on digital picture books.Thousands of illustrations have been contributed to this onlinecommunity, and all authors can integrate them into their written pieces.Completed stories can be printed as books and shared via the Internet.Digital Vaults - This new tool from the National Archives allowsstudents to create their own accounts and then build a story using digitalresources directly from the National Archives. They can search throughhistorical collections and even build their own collections of resources.Each image contains historical information that can be added as captions.The movie making tool includes soundtrack options as well as basicediting functions. With a free login account, students can save their work,and completed projects can be emailed or shared via a hyperlink.VoiceThread is a great Web-based digital storytelling programthat enables users to upload pictures or documents, record accompanyingaudio (or video) commentary, and invite others to record commentary aswell. It’s simple combination of visual and recorded media is perfect forcreating multimedia presentations in a relatively short time frame usingsimple tools. With VoiceThread teachers and students can create virtualtours, reports on books they've read, comment on historically significantphotographs, debate a topic, and more. Its uniqueness lies in the ease inwhich audio commentary can be added to images and documents and theability to add multiple commentaries to a single artifact.In conclusion, I want to say that to learn and understand a foreignlanguage  is  not  easy.  Maybe  that  is  why  there  are  so  many  differentmethods of teaching the language. Digital storytelling is one of them. Inour opinion, this method is creative and effective for language learning.References1. Digitalstorytelling [Site]. URL: http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu (date ofaccess: 10.04.2014).2. Language teaching methodologies // A guide to learning English. URL:http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/method.htm (date of access: 10.04.2014).3. Methodologies in Foreign Language Teaching // Conceptual-Structeral Ap-proach to Languague Learning. 1999. URL:http://www.linguatics.com/methods.htm (date of access: 12.04.2014).4. Digital Storytelling and Diasporic Identities in Higher Education. URL:http://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/CELT/article/view/3360/2810.(date of access: 14.04.2014).

Digital storytelling for English learning

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Electronic archive of Tomsk Polytechnic University