Stories of Service-Learning: Guidelines for Increasing Student Engagement with Digital Storytelling

Abstract

Visual and media literacy skills are becoming increasingly important for successful communication. To support the acquisition of these skills, the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries collaborated with the Department of Communication Studies to provide support for two sections of an Intercultural Communication class in the creation of digital stories. As part of their course requirements, students completed service hours in the community and then incorporated narrative, images, video, and music into digital stories that could be shared with their community partners. Working through the library's Dynamic Media Lab, a librarian and a media specialist taught students about image creation and use, ethical use of materials, and video editing. Through this project, a number of guidelines were developed for the successful implementation of digital media projects. These guidelines focused on using content ethically, teaching students with different skill levels, managing a significant time commitment, controlling for project quality, and collaborating with campus entities. Through collaboration with teaching faculty and other campus and community partners, libraries can use digital stories to increase student engagement in the learning process and to teach a variety of digital media skills.