Chapter One Confessions about a Digital Storytelling Teacher: Twenty Revelations About Digital Storytelling in Education.


"We are, above all, story-telling creatures who use stories to do many essential things, like teach each other practical skills, build communities, entertain ourselves, make peace with the world, and cultivate a sense of personal identity.  Technologies will come and go, but stories are forever," (Ohler, 2008).  I completely agree with the quote that we as people and most importantly educators are story telling creatures and our ability to tell those stories effectively helps us reach our students.  In addition, the last in the quotation above from chapter one about how technologies will come and go but stories are forever, I think sums up what we are trying to do in education by using technology which is to capture that story.  Furthermore, the idea that students are already comfortable with many of the social networking tools of  Web 2.0 softwares and education and educators needs to incorporate those tools into the classroom in order to get our students to think critically.  Ohler's last revaluation of the chapter states, "The idea that technology is making teachers obsolete is 180 degrees wrong.  More than ever, students need teachers who can help them sort through choices, apply technology wisely, and tell their stories clearly and with humanity.  More than ever, students living in the overwhelming and often distracting world of technical possibility need the clear voice of a teacher who can help guide them through the learning process."  I could't agree more with the premise of the quote about how we as teachers need to help students understand how to use technology to think critically, synthesize information, communicate effectively and navigate through the world we live in now.