Dear LMU Faculty, 

In this second edition of the Instructional Technology team's newsletter series, we focus on digital storytelling and the many ways you can use it effectively in teaching: 

Relevant Research 
Narrative is a proven way to enhance learning and boost student engagement. Two recent studies, "Effectiveness of Digital Storytelling in Teaching Economics" (2023) and "Digital Storytelling, Student Engagement and Deep Learning in Geography" (2021) indicate that combining narrative with technology can capture emotion and critical reflection in more complex ways than traditional learning taxonomies capture. 

Immersive experiences can offer students intuitive opportunities to enhance learning, as they make users participate directly with elements of action, setting, and character. This video highlights the stories of two of LMU's instructors who integrate virtual reality in their teaching and research. The Immersive Learning Service is available to faculty who want to engage their students with various forms of experience-driven media, including extended reality, 3D modeling, 360 video, and spatial computing. 

Producing podcasts can help students develop communication skills and increase their digital literacy, while expanding their understanding of complex topics. This video explores how Professor Corrina Laughin and Professor Charles Opong used podcasting to excite and educate their students using narrative audio. The Creative Services Studio is available for faculty to record lecture highlights and other instructional media. 

Combining interactive maps, embedded content, multimedia, and narrative in a compelling and understandable way is an effective approach for teaching and learning. ArcGIS StoryMaps, which is supported by the Instructional Technology team, is designed to help faculty and students create interactive presentations of scholarly work. In this video, Yu Li (Modern Languages and Literatures) and Paloma Giottonini (Urban Studies) discuss how their students used ArcGIS StoryMaps to collaborate on research projects that used interactive storytelling. 

You can foster deeper learning by having students engage regularly in reflection. Brightspace's Discussions tool is a perfect platform for this practice. Invite students to draw connections between course concepts and their own experiences. Peer-based reflection and feedback can help them evolve their stories and trace their understanding over time. 

Visit the Knowledge Base to learn how to create a discussion in Brightspace. 

Lessons stick when they're associated with stories, so requiring students to journal regularly about their learning path or challenges they’re facing over the course of a project can be effective. WordPress, which is available via LMU Build, is a real-world blogging platform that gives students control of their own storytelling (and can be made private). 

Visit the Knowledge Base to learn how to get started with LMU Build and WordPress. 

If you want to give your instructional videos differentiated options that let students choose their own adventure through real-world scenarios, you can use H5P's Scenario Branching feature. H5P, which is now integrated with Brightspace, helps you create learning dilemmas that promote critical thinking. 

Learn more about interactive learning tools. 

Brightspace captures each student's activity in your course as data, so as they work through quizzes, discussions, and assignments, its analysis tools such as Class Progress can help you find the story behind their learning. Gain insights about what's working and where support is needed, to guide students toward success. 

Learn more about learning analytics tools.

This hands-on workshop is your chance to explore the tools and techniques described above, plus ways you can use technology to incorporate digital storytelling into your teaching and research. You’ll leave inspired and ready to reach students in new ways. 

Topics include: 

Date: Tuesday, Nov. 18 
Time: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 
Location: University Hall 2342, ITS Training Room 

Refreshments will be provided. Register here.

310.338.7777
servicedesk@lmu.edu

213.736.1097
servicedesk@lls.edu

Produced by LMU Information Technology Services

This communication was approved by LMU Internal Communications.

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