iPads in the Classroom: A Digital Storytelling Project

An Introduction to Gender Studies course (18 students) is participating in a project piloting iPads in the classroom. Students use iPads and various apps to create digital stories illustrating core concepts learned in the course each week. Narratives range from personal stories related to course content, dramatizations of theoretical principals related to gender, and other illustrations that exemplify and apply course concepts. Students share their digital stories with the class each week. Use of iPads for digital storytelling is intended to broaden students' conceptual fluency with course material. At the semester's end, students will provide subjective evaluations of their learning based on this aim.

Learning Objectives:
*Use an iPad for digital storytelling in the classroom
*Understand what digital storytelling is and how it can be used to assess student learning
*Understand which materials (applications) are available for digital storytelling as well as the affordances and disadvantages of those used in the *Gender Studies course
*Gain student and instructor perspectives on the effectiveness of iPads for digital storytelling and understand how it can aid in assessing the appropriateness of these materials and methods for learning in similar courses