Blog # 10 -- Digital Storytelling; what makes a good multimodal text good?

This blog was written in response to an e-learning assignment scheduled for Week # 7 of the Digital Literacy Module.

I chose the digital story "Bruises" as told by (Ms) Olga Vigi; website http://www.storycenter.org/stories/index.php?cat=3 refers.

Sypnosis of the Story

From a very young age, Olga and her Nicaraguan parents immigrated to Toronto, Canada to seek a better life. To eke out a living, her lowly-educated parents had no choice but to leave Olga in a "foster" home for coloured kids which is not exactly an ideal environment for kids to grow up in. As expected, Olga grew up to be a "delinquent" kid at school, constantly getting into trouble with the School Authority and even the local police.

All her teachers called her a "pink arse kid" (pardon the vulgarity but as used in the digital story) except for Mrs Robinson, who saw her as a "person deprived of much needed care and concern from a very young age."

Soon, Olga was expelled from her School, mixed with bad company, got herself pregnant and became a single parent.

Ironically (and happily for her, too) her daughter became her God-sent Angel and her raison d'etre (main purpose for her life/existence) and transformed her life altogether. Armed with a renewed vigour for life and an abundance of self-discipline, she enrolled for night classes, got a place in collge and finally graduated with a degree in Social Science.

Olga went with her daughter (her Angel) back to her old school to look for Mrs Robinson who could only beam with pride, her tears flowing ceaselessly.

Olga is now working with the Toronto Immigration Authority, assisting newcomer youth and their families to settle in.

What's so good about this digital story?

In the short span of 2 mins 47 secs, using a powerful and engaging storyline, Olga was able to use her personal anecdotes to speak her own story and appeal to educators/teachers to see their troubled students as "victims of their unfavourable growing-up environments" just like Mrs Robinson did and not to quickly classify them as bad or lazy students.

There was a lot of meaning-making in the selection of photos/images used in the story eg:

1. A long row of coloured lockers to represent the composition of coloured children in her school.

2. The long flight of stairs in her School which looked so "soulless" when she was a student but was later transformed to a "soulful" experience when she went back with her daughter to visit Mrs Robinson. Her bright red dress and the warmth of the sun's rays suggested optimism for the future, that of Olga and her daughter.

3. Towards the end of the story, her acknowledgement texts will no doubt tug at the heartstrings of all viewers alike eg:

a. To my parents whom I thought didn't care but actually, didn't know how.

b. To Mrs Robinson, the only teacher who saw me as a person.

c. To my darling daughter, my reason for living, and

d. To all those students who fell through the cracks.

After viewing the story, one couldn't help concluding that indeed, against all odds, Olga has grown up to be a matured adult, discerning and able to count "critical thinking skill" as one of her assets.

How I would improve on this story

By incorporating some music pieces, featuring children's laughter in syn with the photos showing Olga and her daughter happily playing together. I might even include a taped version of "I love you, Mummy" for special effects.

Here, I am attempting to increase the amount of "human element " in this story.