My Digital Story

My Digital Story (no revisions made)


I would like to thank you all for the positive remarks and the kinds words about the quality of my video. Thank you again!



Summary: 
This is a story of both the greatest thing in my life and the worst thing in my life combined. It's they story of how my family thrived and then dissipated. I know that there are a lot of people (children and adults) that go through similar experiences; all of which are different in their own way but all similar. This is mine.




Describe how your digital story might be used to do at least one of the following things:

1. Raise awareness- Divorce is all around us. People sometimes push it under the rug like its not a big deal. But it IS a big deal. Your life completely changes and sometimes it's just not an easy thing to "get over". I think that by bring this story to light I can connect people who feel the same or have had similar experiences and show them that they are not alone and that it is OK for adults to feel sad about their childhood family and home being ruined.

2. Build self-esteem- I like to think that if I can get through something like this, other people can, too. I hope that someone struggling like I did might see this as a little hope and make them feel like they will be alright in the end.

3. Create an alternative to a stereotype typically portrayed in mainstream media- I feel like in the media, divorce isn't properly shown. There is more to it than just a room at moms and a room at dads and twice as many presents! On TV divorced parents get along and sometimes both parents remarry and all the parents and the kids are just one big happy family. This is no always the case, and I'd like to see a little more true representation in the media.

4. Provide support for others- Again, I hope that anyone who sees this and is feeling alone or sad just knows that there are more people out there dealing with this than you may know.




Explain how digital storytelling can help individuals develop critical media literacy:

I think that by making our own digital stories, we have a better sense of critical media literacy. In order to make my story, I had to download and learn to navigate Windows Movie Maker, a program that I'd never heard of and definitely hadn't worked with. I gained new skills from this. I also feel that by watching other peoples videos, we are able to sharpen our viewing and responding skills. We now can watch with a purpose, and think about sights/sounds in a new way. Now I am able to take apart different types or media and think about with the images and sounds represent. I am able to provide positive reinforcement and give critiques based on a rubric. Basically, by being involved in digital storytelling, I think that people gain a deeper understanding of both what is actually being said and shown, and what is hiding between the lines.