TOWARDS DIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR CHILDREN
THE EVOLUTION OF STORYTELLING FROM THE MIDDLE AGES
- Middle Ages - Oral Tradition
- 1400-1500's - Instruction
- 1600's - Enjoyable Learning
- 1700's - Introduction of Adventure
- 1800's - Storytelling that Delights
- 1900's - Too Much, Too Fast
- 1970's - Multimedia Mix
1990'S: A DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
- A Digital Environment
- Digital Books
- The Multimedia Mix Grows
- Arthur–from Print to Digital
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1990's--A Digital Environment
The next major change in the narrative world came with the development of computers. In just over 50 years, from the time Dr. Vennevar Bush envisioned "instruments...which...will give man access to and command over the inherited knowledge of the ages" (Atlantic Monthly, July 1945), the computer has taken a prominent place on scientists' desk, engineers' drawing tables, businessmen's laps, kids' bureaus, kitchen counters, and, along with the telephone, has become an extension of man's voice.
The prevalence of computers in homes and the affinity children have for the computer encouraged software developers to target this group with a wide range of software products, many of them narrative-based.
Hypertext is the basis of maneuvering within the digital environment and with its development a new type of narrative was born. Originally designed to organize information and instruction on the computer, hypertext's capabilities to develop stories which included exploration and discovery as part of their experience has great potential for creative storytelling.
When children use a computer, they have before them, combined, all of the storytelling media of the past rolled into one. This makes a rich and dense experience. The digital environment can read them a story; have them read along; can reinforce the understanding of words with the use of color and sound; can reinforce the storyline with use of illustrations; can provide a strong experience of the story through the interaction with the characters and scenes in the story. It is part oral tradition, part print tradition, part video tradition, all integrated to create a fascinating whole.
Digital Books...
A great many books have been uploaded onto the computer as pure text. You can find many programs such as Great Literature from the Personal Library Series which contain the complete text of 500 of the world's great books. This is the most basic use of the digital environment for narrative.
...Expanded
Software publishers, an enterprising group, saw their next marketing opportunity. Using existing stories they developed enjoyable digital books such as Mud Puddle and Cinderella (Discis), which were designed to encourage children to learn to read by using more enjoyable interactive situations. (Some would say these merely distracted from the original purpose.) These software programs present books on screen so that they look like books. Children can click on a mouse and interact with the text in the story. The computer will read the story if asked to, or, children may read it themselves. Pages can be turned with a click of a mouse. The program will explain or pronounce unfamiliar words and in some cases identify objects in the pictures. Highlighted words can be clicked for more information or a repetition of the information already given. Music and sound effects accompany the story to make it more experiential. Children learn by repetition or rote and by visualizing words. A short parent's guide is often included to provide parents with ideas for how to help their children interact with the program and to provide follow-up activities. The digital environment is particularly adaptable to instruction and information and, with the notion of software development, a new knowledge industry came into being. This was similar to the boost book publishing received when enjoyable learning was advocated by Locke. (Today the impetus for learning materials seems more financial than philosophical.)
Digital books such as Mercer Mayer's Just Grandma and Me take greater advantage of the capabilities of the digital environment. Children can choose to have the story read to them or they may choose to "play". This option allows them to interact with objects on each page after it has been read to them. Each click on an object brings to life a short animation. These types of stories teach listening and reading skills by highlighting words, phrases, and sentences as they are read; they provide fun interactivity through "click on the image and make something happen" situations; and they teach the ability to maneuver through a linear story by having the children click on arrows or doorways which lead them either forward or backward in the story. These stories are more experiential than the simpler text-oriented ones. The self-directed way in which children learn in this environment coincides with Rouseau's philosophy that a child should be self-directed in acquiring knowledge of the world and which influenced narrative from the mid-1700's to the mid 1800's.
The Multi-Media Mix Grows
As the media evolved, children were targeted with an everexpanding multi-media mix. This coincided with a development which had been growing since the 1970's. Distinctive characters had always been an important part of children's narrative. In the 1980' and 1990's there was more emphasis than ever before on the development of loveable characters such as Arthur. These stories are market driven, and demonstrate an unfortunate trend in children's narrative. Unfortunate because, as Ruth Hill Viguers says in A Critical History of Children's Literature, "The trend to encourage authors to meet specific needs has sometimes discouraged the authors writing out of his own deep incentives" (Meig 397).
However unfortunate the trend for storytelling, it was ideal for the continuing expansion of that hybrid of the publishing fieldÐthe knowledge industry. Publishers had learned from their multi-media experience that true to the spirit of the changing nature of narrative, new mediums offer new opportunities. So they joined forces with software developers, producers, writers, animators and others. Arthur (and other stories) were not only in print now, but they had teacher's guides, television series, videos, an internet site, grade specific educational CD's, dolls, games and more to offer children.
Arthur: from Print to Digital
Arthur, an aardvark, was developed by Marc Brown in 1976. Arthur's stories are day to day events and situations which children may encounter in their own lives and each story usually has a lesson to be learned. Arthur was so popular in print he became a TV character.
Because of the success of the print series, a teacher's guide was developed to assist teachers with learning activities they might undertake with their students. These activities included: learning about the author and how he developed the storyline and illustrations; analyzing stories according to elements such as character, plot, setting, problems, solution; creating character-sketch webs which showed a character's connections to facts, people and places within the story; extending the stories to the children themselves by making noses, glasses and acting out scenes; and writing new Arthur stories. Together these activities created an effective environment for children to learn about creative storytelling with the initiation, guidance and assistance of a teacher.
Unlike Mercer Mayer's Critter books the Arthur books were not uploaded to the computer. Instead, Arthur and his friends were given their own digital life. An internet site was developed for them. The site opens with a graphic showing all of the Arthur characters. Children can click on each character and a list of activities associated with that character comes up. They can write a postcard, color a picture, learn more about the character, read a poem, play a game. They can also read stories written by children for Arthur's story exchange. These stories are in traditional print format and children can click from page to page. The notable aspect of the internet site is that it is for self-directed use by children.
The educational CD's developed using Arthur and his friends are also self-directed activities, but these activities are more school oriented. They include reading comprehension, measurement, addition and subtraction, geography, telling time, creating cards, making stories, writing, solving problems and something called creativity, which is art activities. There are many similar education packages based on other characters such as Pooh, Madeline, The Cat in the Hat.
It is interesting to note that a guide for teachers was provided for the print stories but a self directed activity for children was provided on the computer. This is a strong indication of the direction the evolution of the new medium is taking. Children are encouraged and given the opportunity to direct their own learning. While children may not pick up a math book, they will play a math computer game.
Also interesting is that while the print activities in the teacher's guide are directed to learning about an author's role or learning about the writing of the story and how to go about writing similar stories, the computer activities in the Arthur CDs teaches everything from geography to math. This is a positive step for learning, but not necessarily a positive step for storytelling. The diversity of the program has succeeded in distracting writers from the purpose of narrative, that is, to tell a story.
