A GENRE THEORY PERSPECTIVE ON DIGITAL ... - ETD

Among the pedagogues, most celebrate digital storytelling as a useful pedagogical tool
that supports the fulfillment of existing literacy curriculum goals. An overarching argument
echoes what Leander (2009) proposes-- that new literacy skills and traditional writing skills are
mutually dependent and can cross-fertilize each other, leading to the development of both. Kulla-
Abott and Polman (2008), for example, stress that strong writing skills can contribute to success
in digital storytelling because traditional writing instructions equip an individual with skills
proven to be useful for digital storytelling, such as a strong personal voice and the abilities to
provide supporting evidence, to write good paragraphs, to move content across genres, and to
take advantage of collaborative writing.
In comparison to celebratory reports on the positive alignment, discussions of clashes and
conflicts between digital storytelling and traditional literacy instruction are scanty. Ranker
(2007), for one, problematizes the tension between in- and after-school literacies as they play out
in a digital storytelling program. Unlike previous studies, the digital storytelling program in
Ranker’s studies is ancillary to the core curriculum. Based on detailed examinations of two
students’ making of a documentary, Ranker discusses how established curriculum structures are
often in conflict with the processes of digital storytelling. For example, traditional literacy
practices often interferes by imposing its linear structure upon the inherently recursive structures
of digital storytelling. In this case, the essay genre predominates the broad structure of the boy’s
production process, leading them to approach the project in linear, staged processes similar to
essay writing: moving from books (researching the subject), to writings (taking notes and
creating a draft), to images (finding corresponding images), and then videos (creating a coherent
multimodal presentation). Kulla-Abott (Kulla-Abbott, 2006; Kulla-Abbott & Polman, 2008) also
discusses how a curriculum aimed at persuasive writing about a scientific issue can suppress,
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