Digital storytelling originated in Berkeley, California at the Center for Digital Storytelling in the early 1990s. Influenced by popular education, third world cinema, and the community documentary movement, digital storytelling values the power of story as a tool for self-discovery and reflection, community building and education, organizing, and advocacy. Digital stories are based on their creators’ personal experiences and told through their own perspectives. Participants’ voices are recorded and integrated with photographs, letters, home videos, and other artifacts. These pieces can be viewed on VHS, CD-rom, or uploaded onto the internet. Digital stories are useful both as a process and a product: as process they build skills in reflection and critical thinking, in oral, written, and visual storytelling, and in multimedia production; as products stories can be used for outreach purposes, organizing, fundraising, education and documentation.

In Fall 2002 Deborah Pacini taught a Freshmen Seminar called Growing Up Latino, in which four students created digital stories based on their changing perceptions of personal identity once they arrived at Tufts.

Deborah Pacini has also developed an interest in exploring ways to use digital storytelling and other forms of multi-media in conducting and disseminating community based research. In Spring 2003 she incorporated a Digital Storytelling Lab into her Urban Borderlands course. Eight students created digital stories based on their research on the Latino community in Cambridge.

To the right are examples of students' work. For viewing, please click here to download the free QuickTime player.