Teens' digital story

Amanda and Nick’s final project as high school seniors in the Chicago area this past spring was a digital storytelling assignment. They were asked to “tell a story in digital video about “what it meant to be an American and to tell the world about that. Move beyond the rhetoric, the politicians and the media. Speak as a kid. What do you have to say to the world?” writes their teacher and Instructional Technology Coordinator David Jakes. He also writes that he was blown away by what they came up with (you can play the piece right in his blog post at TechLearning.com): “So this is the kind of work kids can do. Given the opportunity, and with some guidance and hard work, they rise to the occasion. And when we hear about kids not caring, not wanting to do quality work, just look at this story, because it’s good. Very good. And when kids are characterized as lazy, and only concerned about their cell phone, mp3 player, or text messaging, just look at this story. This isn’t self-absorbed, it’s not spontaneous, it’s thoughtful and reflective. It’s what an 18 year old should be capable of, it’s what we should be teaching kids to do.”