Collaborating Across Classrooms: Empowering Writers and Future Teachers through Digital Biographies for Women’s History Month

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: From Deficits to Assets: Designing Inclusive and Collaborative Educational Practices

Abstract

This study describes a mutually beneficial community partnership between a university-level social studies methods course for preservice teachers and a third-grade, focused on the composition of digital biographies for Women’s History Month. The project offered preservice teachers practical experience in research and digital storytelling instruction while enabling elementary students to research influential women and learn a new genre. The partnership highlights pedagogical benefits of digital storytelling and addresses barriers to implementation, additionally, highlighting the beneficial value of partnerships between universities and neighboring schools, as well as the importance of real world application of classroom learning for pre-service teachers. This paper details the design, outcomes, and implications of the collaboration and offers recommendations for future use in teacher education and K–12 classrooms.

Author

• Jessica Tobin Nagle, Saint Joseph's University