Personal Responses to Covid-19: A Digital Storytelling Workshop Using the Smithsonian Learning Lab

Co-facilitators Dr. Antonia Liguori (Loughborough University, UK) and Dr. Philippa Rappoport (Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access) will demonstrate a variety of techniques to incorporate personal experiences in the exploration and use of museum resources. They will share how the Smithsonian Learning Lab and Digital Storytelling (DS) can be used together to access digital resources, build learning experiences, and cultivate collaboration and community over distance.

This workshop complements the “Living Through History” Global Competency DCPS Cornerstone.  The workshop also serves as an introduction to an opportunity for follow-on training and classroom activities to connect internationally with classrooms and showcase students’ digital stories about climate change, biodiversity, and sustainability at the UN Climate Change conference in Fall 2021. (For more information, please write to learning@si.edu or saedstorytelling@lboro.ac.uk.)

The following Learning Lab Collection will guide participants through the process:

https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/LiJy0nIMc45RSTF9#r/37726

In this collection you will find:

  • a short icebreaker activity using exhibition images to start shifting from a cognitive appreciation of art to a personal connection to museum objects;
  • some examples of annotated objects that demonstrate the functionality of the Learning Lab;
  • some examples of digital stories made by students and also other educators during previous Digital Storytelling workshops;
  • a description of the Digital Storytelling process;
  • workshop participants’ reflections; 
  • supplemental resources.