Research+Paper

Research Paper

Tierney Carbba --> Sal D'Angelo: A. Fix the transition from my second paragraph to my third to make my paper flow better. B. Fix the transition from my third paragraph to my forth to make my paper flow better. C. strengthen paragraph six's topic sentence to relate it more to thesis. D. correct general grammar mistakes pointed out on marked paper

Maggie Olson --> Sal D'Angelo: A. Reword some topic sentences to make the history of the paper more in tune with thesis. B. put my own personal thought into quote heavy parts of my paper. C. fix multiple puncuation mistakes as maked in hard copy of paper. D. correct general grammar mistakes pointed out on marked paper

Kara --> Sal D'Angelo: A. connect topic sentences indecated to these with more precision. B. Make some transitions between paragraphs more smooth. C. Reword unclear sentences indecated in hard copy. D. correct general grammar mistakes pointed out on marked paper.



I will publish the organized time line of page completion deadlines for page numbers: two, four, six and eight on this page. Additionally, when I complete the content (typed pages) of my paper, it (they) will be uploaded to this Wiki page for publication. My up-to-date annotated bibliography is supposed to be posted on my Bibliography page.

This is the format I am supposed to publish on my Wiki page for my completion dates:

A minimum of 2 total pages due: day of week, Wednesday, March 10, 2010

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 4 pages total) due: day of week, Tuesday, March 15, 2010

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 6 pages total) due: day of week, Thursday, March 18, 2010

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 8 pages total) due: day of week, Friday, March 19, 2010

Below is where I am supposed to upload the content of my paper.

Digital Video Storytelling Paper A minimum of 2 total pages due: day of week, Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The world today is witness to exponential leaps in technology and as a result huge strides are being made in the field of education to incorporate technology into modern curriculum. Stories are and remain the main stay of passing information and have evolved with technology from verbal recounts to digital videos. In the United States today the children and young adults that partake in school are digital learners, using media and technology to acquire vast amounts of information. To shed light on this, kids today are always multiprocessing, or doing several things simultaneously like listening to music, talking on the cell phone, and using the computer, all at the same time and as a result of our new digital age they are able to develop complex intertwined cognitive skills. It is important for students in American high school to learn how to tell stories digitally because it can develop student analytical abilities and creativity by having them ask questions, express opinions, construct narratives, and write for an intended audience. First, Americans experienced a revolutionary change in communication during the 20th century. With the development of the motion pictures, radio, television, and the Internet communication moved away from being a person to person thing, to a person to masses thing. Today we recognize this revolution the birth of mass communication and the modern age. The first major improvement in communication to be commercialized was the motion picture. In order to “create a motion picture, a long role of unexposed film is loaded into a movie camera and the film is advanced, then stopped and exposed, then advanced again at high speed, creating a film with a long sequence of still images on it” (communication revolution). Then “the movie is shown by running the developed film through a projector using an advance, stop and show, advance again sequence that matches the camera's sequence, with rapid sequencing providing the appearance of motion” (communication revolution). At the time this was being perfected, the early 1900’s, the industry which got its start in Paris was moving to America. In continuation, this shift in industry was done after WWI and stayed in Menlo Park, New Jersey for awhile. A well known American named Thomas Edison had a laboratory in Menlo Park and had completed some of the first movies such as // The Great Train Robbery // (American Film 1) //. Films such as this we short and only lasted a few minutes, but regardless of their time the success of these movies “ // signaled film's future as a powerful medium of storytelling” (American Film 1). It became clear after WWI that the films were becoming more of visual representation of stories than magic tricks as longer films with plots and character development began to rise in popularity (American Film 1). However it was “the unprecedented commercial success of D. W. Griffith's three-hour drama [|//Birth of a Nation//] (1915) [that] established the feature film as the standard for the medium and the United States as the international center of the industry” (American Film 1). The roots of the modern entertainment industry were planted for better or worse here

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 4 pages total) due: day of week, Tuesday, March 15, 2010

To continue, change was fast approaching the industry for by 1920 the one man team’s which had controlled the development of movie making had given way to teams of specialists that were now in control. Another notable change was the relocation of the industry from New Jersey to Southern California and in particular Hollywood. While this was happening, several film studios, like Warner Bros, came to dominate the industry, in the production and distribution of movies (American Film 1). These studios were able to do this by creating a “vertically integrated system in which a handful of businessmen dominated all aspects of the film industry, from movie production to theater management” (American Film 1). As this became the standard for Hollywood it became known as the studio system and would not see meaningful change until the 1950’s.  Next, besides becoming a profitable industry cinema became a leisure activity for all the social classes of America. As the sophistication of filmmaking continued a golden age of silent films during the 1920s rose. Actors morphed into internationally renowned celebrities, and the American films they stared in became shown all over the world. As Hollywood continued to emerge as the center of global film industry, it slowly drew artists from Broadway and Europe. Seven Years after the “golden age of film making” began; the Warner Bros Company ended it by in 1927 by releasing the musical //The Jazz Singer// (American Film 2) //.// // The “talking pictures” success // welcomed new generations of stars from varieties of new film genres, such as musicals, which took advantage of the new sound technology. Additionally, the advent of these "talkies" damaged the fame of foreign films in the American market.  By the 1930’s, the “structures and formulae of modern commercial motion pictures had been established” (American Film 2). The standard for commercial films had now become feature-length linear narratives known as “talkies”. These films would fit into one of several genres which included, “romantic comedies, westerns, gangster films, and musicals” (American Film 2). Next, with the advent of World War II the United States government assigned Hollywood the job of producing propaganda films to increase morale for the war effort. These and other feature films embraced patriotic themes that appealed to war-time audiences. Continually, after the war motion pictures saw a boom in attendance, larger than ever before. This success was not all good news however because by 1948 the federal government ruled that the studio system was in fact “an illegal monopoly” (American Film 2). The Hollywood movie industry was forced to dissociate itself from the studio system and move into ownership of movie theater chains. As if the loss of the studio system wasn’t enough in the 1950’s the advent of television caused audiences to decline rapidly. Consequently, the major audiences did not return to the theaters until the late 1960s and early 1970s when a new generation of filmmakers began making movies that revived, revised, and breathed new life into classic genres which brought audiences back into the theaters. Some of these films were “ //Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid// (1969), //The Godfather// (1972), and //The Exorcist// (1973)” (American Film 2). The late 1970’s saw the rise of the two most commercially successful filmmakers of all time, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas. Spielberg hit it big with //Jaws// (1975) and George Lucas with //Star Wars// (1977) (American Film 2). These films also set a precedent for sophisticated special effects and production costs which made filmmaking expenses higher than ever before.

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 6 pages total) due: day of week, Thursday, March 18, 2010

Furthermore, the industry once again changed by the 1980’s when the digital era truly began for the movies. This transition was largely due to the Industrial Light and Magic Company, headed by George Lucas; they led the way in visual effects and made the Star Wars Saga realistic for modern audiences (Ascher 2). The 80’s also saw the “advent of video cassette players, which threatened to send audiences back home to their televisions [but] actually increased the profitability of the studios by attracting new audiences and encouraging many people to see films multiple times” (American Film 2). Video’s success was clear because by the end of the 80’s “the industry was making more money from video than from theater screenings” (American Film 3). It would seem that ever since the introduction of digital storytelling into the world seen the only consistent pattern for the industry is never ending change. In the 1990’s the movie industry saw a growth in independent film industry. This non-major studio associated companies “relied on lean production methods to make films that usually enjoyed limited releases” (American Film 3). What this did for the industry was open it up to ideas and digital stories that were not made to support the largest viewer base or turn the largest profit. So, after a century of film making cinema has developed into, roughly, what it is now, but it is still changing. Accordingly, age old phrases like, "seeing is believing" and "pictures don't lie” are being proven false because of new software programs like Photoshop which can remove entire people of features from existing images (Ascher 2). It is these new innovations that are changing Digital editing and Digital Video Storytelling and creating “new filmmaking styles and techniques, such as the use of very short shots, graphics that fly around the screen and objects that seamlessly transform (morph) into other objects” (Ascher 2). It is these new digital tools, styles and techniques that make most TV commercials today possible (Ascher 2). It is becoming more and more, true that this digital era is “transforming how motion pictures are made, distributed, and seen” (Ascher 2). As digital video storytelling became more accessable to the general public its uses increased. As fast as digital video took off the World Wide Web took off even faster. At first it was unclear how the World Wide Web would fall into the realm of Digital Video Storytelling but in 1999 it was made obvious. The creators of //The Blair Witch Project// used the internet to create virtual debate over if the premise or parts of the film were true (Ascher 2). The film itself was low-budget, and shot with “small format video cameras” and is “credited as the first movie to exploit the Internet's marketing power” its total net gross worldwide was $248 million (Ascher 2). The success of this cheaply made film open the door for Digital Storytelling’s application in education. As the technology continues to rapidly improve the learning methods of common United States students are changed radically. One such example is the prevalence of the World Wide Web in the past few years. The Webs, “nature, rewards comparing multiple sources of information that are individually incomplete and collectively inconsistent”, this is exactly what modern students do (Dede 1). What this means that modern students are learning based on “seeking, sieving, and synthesizing, rather than on assimilating a single "validated" source of knowledge as from books, television, or a professor lecturing” (Dede 1). This gap between modern education techniques and the modern student learner is why digital storytelling has a role in today’s education.

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 8 pages total) due: day of week, Friday, March 19, 2010

What Digital Storytelling really is from an educational context is simply “the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories” (The Educational Uses 1). In a country like the United States where “many teenagers now do their homework by simultaneously skimming the textbook, listening to a MP3 music player, receiving and sending email, using a Web browser, and conversing with classmates via instant messaging”, skills such as multitasking are encouraged by digital media (Dede 1). The introduction of digital storytelling into the field of education could fit in many ways, “from introducing new material, to helping students learn to conduct research, synthesize large amounts of content and gain expertise in the use of digital communication and authoring tools” (Educational Goals 1). It is in these ways that digital storytelling can help “students organize these ideas as they learn to create stories for an audience, and present their ideas and knowledge in an individual and meaningful way” (Educational Goals 1). By using tools and conforming to the way modern students learn Digital Storytelling has the potential to bridge the gap between the “old” and the “new”. Teachers have long taught classes through the use of stories. History is the story of the past. English classes study books which are stories that convey specific values to specific audiences. Even traditional storytelling is the basis of modern education. As with conventional storytelling, digital stories focus on specific topics and contain particular points of view (The Educational Uses 1). Where Digital stories differ is in the way they are presented. As implied by its title, digital storytelling is more often than not presented in “some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music” (The Educational Uses 1). While digital stories vary in length they are usually no less than two minutes and no more than ten minutes (The Educational Uses 1). In this timeframe topics “from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one's own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between” are explored (The Educational Uses 1). It is in fact in the use of this new tool in educations arsenal that determines “whether multitasking results in a superficial, easily distracted style of gaining information or a sophisticated form of synthesizing new insights” (The Educational Uses 1). Digital Storytelling would be the second of the two opinions. It is being found that the continued exposure to virtual environments is nurturing more modern learning techniques and styles (The Educational Uses 2). These new methods include “fluency in multiple media, valuing each for the types of communication, activities, experiences, and expressions it empowers [and] learning based on collectively seeking, sieving, and synthesizing experiences” (The Educational Uses 2). New methods also include “active learning based on experience (real and simulated) that includes frequent opportunities for reflection by communities of practice [and] expression through nonlinear associational webs of representations rather than linear stories” which would be like generating a digital story as opposed to creating a research paper to show understanding of a topic (The Educational Uses 2). The consequences of these techniques are that students of the United States are falling behind students from other counties in fields such as problem solving, math and science (The Educational Uses 2). Sadly, “A study conducted in 2004 found that U.S. students … did not measure up to the international average in mathematics literacy and problem-solving skills” (The Educational Uses 2). With this in consideration new instructional methods such as Digital Storytelling could engage student’s interests through the use of media, which would build on strengths from student’s leisure activities outside of classrooms (The Educational Uses 2). So by teaching the necessary in new and interesting ways, students’ can find new interest in old fields of knowledge. One question that may be asked is: Can technology solve the problems of technology? The answer is yes. In 1990, West Virginia, ranked 33rd on national achievement tests so “it launched a statewide effort to use technology to improve its struggling schools … computers were gradually integrated into classes, beginning with the earliest grades, while the teachers received extensive training over seven years” (Zuckerman 2). As a result, “West Virginia jumped to 11th from 33rd on national achievement tests” proving that new technology can improve performance in the classroom (Zuckerman 2). To conclude, it is important for students in American high school to learn how to tell stories digitally because it can develop student analytical abilities and creativity by having them ask questions, express opinions, construct narratives, and write for an intended audience. In the United States today the children and young adults that partake in school are digital learners, using media and technology to acquire vast amounts of information. It is because of this that new methods of teaching, such as digital storytelling, need to be incorporated into school curriculums. Experience with digital media is important for the modern day entertainment industry and for generating interest in old topics of study. If history can teach the United States anything it would be that change is the only constant thing. So, while we do not know what changes the future holds for education, it is important to change with the changing times and right know Digital Storytelling seems to be a good path to follow.

Final

The world today is witness to exponential leaps in technology, and as a result huge strides are being made in the field of education to incorporate technology into modern curriculum. Stories are and remain the mainstay of passing information. They have evolved with technology from verbal recounts to digital videos. In the United States today, the children and young adults that partake in school are digital learners, meaning they use media and technology to acquire vast amounts of information. To cast light on this, kids today are always multiprocessing, or doing several tasks simultaneously such as listening to music while typing a paper, or talking on a cell phone while using the computer. So, as a result of our new digital age students are able to develop complex intertwined cognitive skills. When studying history it is important to get the full picture of how events play out. With regard to the film industry over the past century, technology has allowed digital storytelling to move from the hands of companies to everyday people. From its humble beginnings to what digital storytelling is now, it is important for students in American high schools to learn how to tell stories through digital technology because it can help develop their analytical abilities and creativity by having them ask questions, express opinions, construct narratives, and write for an intended audience. Americans experienced a revolutionary change in communication during the 20th century. With the development of motion pictures, radio, television, and the Internet, communication moved away from being an individual to individual thing, to an individual to masses thing. Today we recognize this revolution as the birth of mass communication and the modern age. The first major improvement in communication to be commercialized was the motion picture (“Communication Revolution”). In order to “create a motion picture, a long role of unexposed film is loaded into a movie camera [where] the film is advanced, then stopped and exposed, then advanced again at high speed, creating a film with a long sequence of still images on it” (“Communication Revolution”). Afterwards “the movie is shown by running the developed film through a projector using an advance, stop and show, advance again sequence that matches the camera's sequence, with rapid sequencing providing the appearance of motion” (“Communication Revolution”). At the time when this system was being perfected, the early 1900’s, the industry which got its start in Paris was moving to America. This shift in industry was done after World War I and stayed in Menlo Park, New Jersey for awhile. A well known American named Thomas Edison had a laboratory in Menlo Park, where he had completed some of the first movies such as // The Great Train Robbery // <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">(“American Film” 1) //. These films were short and only lasted a few minutes, but regardless of their time the success of these movies “ // <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">signaled film's future as a powerful medium of storytelling” (“American Film” 1). After WWI it became clear that the films were becoming more like visual representation of stories, rather than magic tricks (American Film 1). These films grew longer with plots and character development began to rise in popularity (American Film 1). However it was “the unprecedented commercial success of D. W. Griffith's three-hour drama [|//Birth of a Nation//] <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> (1915) [that] established the feature film as the standard for the medium and the United States as the international center of the industry” (“American Film” 1). So, for better or worse the roots of the modern entertainment industry were planted but change was in store for the 1920s. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This change really began when the one man teams which had controlled the development of movie making had given way to teams of specialists that were now in control. Another notable change was the relocation of the industry from New Jersey to Southern California, Hollywood in particular. While this was happening, several film studios, such as Warner Bros, came to dominate the industry, in the production and distribution of movies (“American Film” 1). These studios were able to do this by creating a “vertically integrated system in which a handful of businessmen dominated all aspects of the film industry, from movie production to theater management” (“American Film” 1). As this became the standard for Hollywood it became known as the studio system and would not see meaningful change until the 1950’s. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Besides becoming a profitable industry, cinema became a leisure activity for all the social classes of America. As the sophistication of filmmaking continued, a golden age of silent films rose in the 1920s. Actors morphed into internationally renowned celebrities, and the American films they stared in became shown all over the world. While Hollywood continued to emerge as the center of global film industry, it slowly drew artists from Broadway and Europe. Seven Years after the “golden age of [silent] filmmaking” began; the Warner Bros Company brought it to an end in 1927 by releasing the musical //The Jazz Singer// (“American Film” 2) //.//// The “talking pictures” success // welcomed new generations of stars from varieties of new film genres, such as musicals, which took advantage of the new sound technology. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The advent of these "talkies" sparked another change for the industry in damaging the fame of foreign films in the American market. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> By the 1930’s, the “structures and formulae of modern commercial motion pictures had been established” (“American Film” 2). The standard for commercial films had now become feature-length linear narratives known as “talkies”. These films would fit into one of several genres which included, “romantic comedies, westerns, gangster films, and musicals” (“American Film” 2). Along with the advent of World War II, the United States government assigned Hollywood the job of producing propaganda films to increase morale for the war effort. These and other feature films embraced patriotic themes that appealed to war-time audiences. After the war, motion pictures saw a boom in attendance, one larger than ever before. However this success was not all good news because by 1948 the federal government ruled that the studio system was in fact “an illegal monopoly” (“American Film” 2). The Hollywood movie industry was forced to dissociate itself from the studio system and move into ownership of movie theater chains. As if the loss of the studio system was not enough in the 1950’s the advent of television caused audiences to decline rapidly. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Resulting from this decline, major audiences did not return to the theaters until the late 1960s and early 1970s when a new generation of filmmakers began making movies. Movies that revived, revised, and breathed new life into classic genres which brought audiences back into the theaters. Some of these films included “ //Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid// (1969), //The Godfather// (1972), and //The Exorcist// (1973)” (“American Film” 2). The late 1970’s saw the rise of the two most commercially successful filmmakers of all time, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas. Spielberg hit it big with //Jaws// (1975) and George Lucas with //Star Wars// (1977) (“American Film” 2). These films also set a precedent for sophisticated special effects and production costs, making filmmaking expenses higher than ever before. Reacting to higher expenses, the industry once again changed by the 1980’s. For the movies this is where the digital era truly began. This transition was largely due to the Industrial Light and Magic Company, headed by George Lucas (Steven 2). This company led the way in visual effects and made the Star Wars Saga realistic for modern audiences (Steven 2). The 80’s also saw the <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">“advent of video cassette players, which threatened to send audiences back home to their televisions [but] actually increased the profitability of the studios by attracting new audiences and encouraging many people to see films multiple times” (“American Film” 2). Video’s success was clear because by the end of the 80’s “the industry was making more money from video than from theater screenings” (“American Film” 3). It would seem that ever since the introduction of digital storytelling into the world, the only consistent pattern for the industry has been never ending change. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In the 1990’s the movie industry saw a growth in independent film industry. These non-major studio associated companies “relied on lean production methods to make films that usually enjoyed limited releases” (“American Film” 3). What this did for the industry, was open it up to ideas and digital stories that were not made to support the largest viewer base or turn the largest profit. So, after a century of filmmaking cinema has developed into roughly what it is now, however it is still changing. These modern changes are making age old phrases like, <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">"seeing is believing" and "pictures don't lie” false because of new software programs like Photoshop which can remove entire people of features from existing images (Steven 2). It is these new innovations that are changing Digital editing and Digital Video Storytelling and creating “new filmmaking styles and techniques, such as the use of very short shots, graphics that fly around the screen and objects that seamlessly transform (morph) into other objects” (Steven 2). Most TV commercials today are only possible because of these new digital tools, styles and techniques (Steven 2). The truth is that this digital era is “transforming how motion pictures are made, distributed, and seen” (Steven 2). As digital video storytelling becomes more accessible to the general public its uses increase. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As fast as digital video took off; the World Wide Web took off even faster. At first it was unclear how the World Wide Web would fall into the realm of Digital Video Storytelling but in 1999 it was made obvious. The creators of //The Blair Witch Project// used the internet to create a virtual debate over whether or not the premise or parts of the film were true (Steven 2). The film itself was low-budget, and shot with “small format video cameras” and was “credited as the first movie to exploit the Internet's marketing power” its total net gross worldwide was $248 million (Steven 2). The success of this cheaply made film opened the door for Digital Storytelling’s application in education. As the technology continues to rapidly improve the learning methods of common United States students have and are changing radically. One such example is the prevalence of the World Wide Web in the past few years. The Webs, “nature, rewards comparing multiple sources of information that are individually incomplete and collectively inconsistent”, this is exactly what modern students do (Dede 1). This means that modern students are learning based on “seeking, sieving, and synthesizing, rather than on assimilating a single "validated" source of knowledge as from books, television, or a professor lecturing” (Dede 1). This gap between modern education techniques and the modern student learner is why digital storytelling has a role in today’s education. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">What Digital Storytelling really is from an educational context is simply “the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories” (“The Educational Uses” 1). In a country like the United States where “many teenagers now do their homework by simultaneously skimming the textbook, listening to a MP3 music player, receiving and sending email, using a Web browser, and conversing with classmates via instant messaging”, skills such as multitasking are encouraged by digital media (Dede 1). The introduction of digital storytelling into the field of education could fit in many different ways, “from introducing new material, to helping students learn to conduct research, synthesize large amounts of content and gain expertise in the use of digital communication and authoring tools” (“Educational Goals” 1). It is in these ways that digital storytelling can help “students organize these ideas as they learn to create stories for an audience, and present their ideas and knowledge in an individual and meaningful way” (“Educational Goals” 1). By using tools and conforming to the way modern students learn digital storytelling has the potential to bridge the gap between the “old” and the “new”. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Teachers have long taught classes through the use of stories. History is the story of the past. English classes study books, stories that convey specific values to specific audiences. Even traditional storytelling is the basis of modern education. Along with conventional storytelling, digital stories focus on specific topics and contain particular points of view (“The Educational Uses” 1). How Digital stories differ is in the way they are presented. As implied by its title, digital storytelling is more often than not presented in “some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music” (“The Educational Uses” 1). While digital stories in education may vary in length, they are usually no less than two minutes and no more than ten minutes (“The Educational Uses” 1). In this timeframe, topics “from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one's own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between” are explored (“The Educational Uses” 1). It is in the use of this new tool in educations arsenal that determines “whether multitasking results in a superficial, easily distracted style of gaining information or a sophisticated form of synthesizing new insights” (“The Educational Uses” 1). Digital Storytelling would be the second of these two opinions. It is being found that the continued exposure to virtual environments is nurturing more modern learning techniques and styles (“The Educational Uses” 2). These new methods include “fluency in multiple media, valuing each for the types of communication, activities, experiences, and expressions it empowers [and] learning based on collectively seeking, sieving, and synthesizing experiences” (“The Educational Uses” 2). New methods also include “active learning based on experience (real and simulated) that includes frequent opportunities for reflection by communities of practice [and] expression through nonlinear associational webs of representations rather than linear stories” which would be similar to generating a digital story as opposed to creating a research paper in order to demonstrate the understanding of a topic (“The Educational Uses” 2). The consequences of these techniques are that students of the United States are falling behind students from other counties in fields such as problem solving, math and science (“The Educational Uses” 2). Sadly, “A study conducted in 2004 found that U.S. students … did not measure up to the international average in mathematics literacy and problem-solving skills” (“The Educational Uses” 2). With this in consideration, new instructional methods such as Digital Storytelling could engage student’s interests through the use of media, helping to build on strengths from students’ leisure activities outside of classrooms (“The Educational Uses” 2). So by teaching the necessary material in new and interesting ways, students’ can find new interest in old fields of knowledge. One question that may be asked is: Can technology solve the problems of technology? The answer to this question is yes. In 1990, West Virginia, ranked 33rd on national achievement tests so that year “it launched a statewide effort to use technology to improve its struggling schools … computers were gradually integrated into classes, beginning with the earliest grades, while the teachers received extensive training over seven years” (Zuckerman 2). As a result, “West Virginia jumped to 11th from 33rd on national achievement tests” proving that new technology can improve performance in the classroom (Zuckerman 2). <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">It is important for students in American high schools to become educated in telling stories digitally because it can develop the students’ analytical abilities and creativity by having them ask questions, express opinions, construct narratives, and write for an intended audience. In the past century the video storytelling industry has evolved to a point where it can be used to help in the process of education. In the United States today the children and young adults that partake in school are digital learners, using media and technology to acquire vast amounts of information. It is because of this, that new methods of teaching, such as digital storytelling, need to be incorporated into school curriculums. Experience with digital media is important for the modern day entertainment industry along with generating interest in old topics of study. If history can teach the people of the United States anything, it would be that change is the only constant thing. So, while we, the people, do not know what changes the future holds for education, it is important to change with the changing times and right now Digital Storytelling seems to be a good course to take.