This piece of work developed as part of a Strategic Project funded by the Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning, entitled Teaching the Digital Humanities at Warwick. Part of that project involved thinking about how to incorporate digital literacies and digital technologies into Arts Faculty teaching at Warwick – both for my own teaching (then in History, now in Global Sustainable Development), and for the University more widely. Where we are now on this at Warwick varies hugely discipline-by-discipline and, indeed, academic-by-academic. CIM and CCPS do some excellent work at a post-graduate level. Those lucky enough to be taught by Christian Smith in English or Clare Rowan in Classics pick up vital and specific literacies which are connected closely to their disciplines of study. But for the majority of students, their digital literacy remains unaddressed within the curriculum. One of the most common reasons given for this, discussions in the build up to my work with IATL identified, is assessment. While the old 50:50 exam/essay rule has lapsed, many do not feel comfortable assessing digital projects. So my work towards PGA TEL, I envisioned, would interrogate digital storytelling as one way in which to tie digital literacies into the academic curriculum.

A digital story, following practice elsewhere, is a short (ideally 3-5 minute) video involving static or moving images over which a person narrates. I selected a piece of software with a low learning curve (WeVideo) to enable students to produce these with minimal training, and assisted academics in Classics (Clare Rowan) and Hispanic Studies (Alison Ribeiro de Menezes) in implementing digital stories in their teaching as well as utilising something similar myself as part of Making History, a core module for first-year History students.

In sub-pages you will find five clear recommendations aimed at individual academics, those with curriculum responsibilities, and the academy as a whole; followed by a discussion of the rationale of my work in this area in the context of wider literature surrounding digital literacy; a brief examination of some common issues which I and colleagues encountered, along with pointers to relevant literature; and finally a reflective piece.

Currently this page should be accessible to all staff members, while the pages below are private (and will remain so at the very least until I've had feedback from LDC).