Introduction
Digital storytelling is considered as a computer based technique of narrating stories. It is mostly concerned with a particular point of view as well as focusing on a particular topic of explanation. This computer based program contains a mixture of automated image, audio narration, music and video clips as well as texts. This helps to equip the learner with enough knowledge and make him have a clear understanding of the true picture of the story explanation. These automated stories have a varied amount of time but an educational story typically takes around two to ten minutes. A digital story starts with a script where the story teller develops a medium to deliver the ideas, as well as emotions in the script. These ideas and emotions can be expressed in form music, audio effects, animations or videos, personal images and other electronic elements. The storyteller edits the digital story to form a presentation to view by learners. The intent of this paper is to establish how the digital storytelling can help preschool students to learn to recite alphabets.
A preschool learner can use digital storytelling program to learn how to recite alphabets through a well established program that makes him have interest in learning. The program helps to transform students writing into a visual masterpiece with a voice as well as emotional characteristics, which helps them to improve on their critical thinking skills. A preschool student's cognitive ability is determined by different factors surrounding the individual as well as the learning subject. These factors are such as teachers, technology used in learning, objectives, activities, assessments as well as, information resources available. This makes learning to seem easy to particular students and difficult to the other set of students. From this different cognitive capability of different students, then the relationship between cognition exploration as well as learning motivation with the technology used exists . An essential element in preschool student is literacy development, to provide him with reading skills at the elementary school.
The basic things that a preschool student should learns is alphabets and must be in full understanding of them as well as reciting them to advance in other levels. There are many developed measures and techniques of literacy development but teachers always find it hard to implement these techniques due to minimal time to research and develop them. Literacy development differs at different ages of student, that is, literacy development of a three year old student is different from that of six year old student. Preschool programs such as digital storytelling strive to achieve this through varieties of activities such as songs, stories and games .
A preschool student should be able to diferenciate the capital and lower case alphabets. The digital storytelling program can be used to teach these types of cases by designing a pragram to make them distint and make learning fun. This creates interest of learning to students, making understanding easier. A research by the National Institute of Health revealed that 95 percent of learning students can upgrade their learning skills through understanding of sound letter relationship. This suggests that, by digital storytelling, use of sounds when learning will raise a preschool student's understanding capability to a desirable level. Games creation during learning and using the preschool student natural energy will help him to have essential skills with less resistance to reading. Use of games, animated alphabets, sounds and music in the program, makes it simple for understanding to a preschool student and makes him to have the urge of reciting them. The program will form part of oral tradition, print tradition, television tradition, which are all integrated together to result to a fascinating whole.
Improving student learning interest from an early age allows them to be informed. It makes them convey ideas to others, as well as preparing them for a successful career in their lifetime. This is why strong learning techniques should be applied to a preschool student since it determines his future progress.
Digital storytelling is a learning program or technology of sharing personal experiences. It makes learning easier for understanding by the learner as well as making him motivated. The formulation of these multimedia programs helps in the exploration of necessary information providing a tool to disseminate the information. This is helping in development as well as growth of video sharing and social networking sites that enrich the students with information. This shows that technology is playing a great role in enriching the methods of information dissemination as well as tools of teaching especially to a preschool student.
In conclusion, digital storytelling is an important tool not only to help preschool students but also the larger society in the dissemination of information and making learning simple. Through use of animated alphabets can help a preschool student to have motives of knowing alphabets. This shows that, the choice of a technology can affect learning positively or negatively. Negative effects of technology lead to low cognitive ability thus minimal exploration of information required. This makes learning to seem difficult to the student. This is an indication that technology affects cognition power and exploration capability of the student. Also, technology helps the student to have a strong understanding of the basics such as alphabets by a preschool student through the use of digital storytelling program. From thesis statement, it is established that digital storytelling helps the learners such as preschool students to learn easily and makes learning simple. Thus, technology makes cognition ability improve as well as helping learners to explore required information.
Works Cited
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