Digital Stories at the Boy's and Girl's Club

     At the BGC on Monday, Rachel and I met with a student and talked with her about the digital story project she has been assigned. In order to do so, we first made small talk and gauged her interest about the project. Later, we talked about the different components of the project....the interview and how she might conduct herself (and choosing a person for the interview), then writing a script, then recording her voice, then choosing pictures to go alone with her voice, then putting the two together, etc, etc. The list of what she had to do confused me, which is not surprising at all because I was confused the majority of the time I was either working on or thinking about the digital story I completed for the class. Essentially, I thought there were simply too many things to do for the students at the BGC, as I mentioned in class today. I think the purpose for the assignment is great. It seems to me that the people behind this work are attempting to emphasize the importance of local history and generational wisdom to help students gain a special or renewed perspective on their communities. However, I have to question if the structure of the project is fitting. I think the idea of an interview and even turning this interview into written or scripted form is also appropriate. During my consultation, I wondered if the students would have benefited from vaguer directions. For example, what if students were told to interview someone in their family, then present the information they found in a creative way? I think this might allow for students to gain the understanding that founds the purpose of this assignment better than a highly structured complicated project. Nevertheless, I think our role at the BGC remains effective, as we can offer mentoring on at least parts of the assignments, while students can benefit from our advice and direction.