A Historia de Fabio

My general impression on the digital story A Historia de Fabio by Fabio Luis Reis is that it effectively uses media to support an already well developed story. I like how he uses the video to illustrate the transition in his life, and the still images selected, for the most part, contribute to enhance his story. The word Hope, at the beginning of the story, sets its tone and is coherently followed by developmental stages that correspond to change, difficulties, help and connection, and sense of purpose. The length of the narration is also appropriate, as it economically integrates all important details of his story without being too long or limited.

Use in education

A bilingual story can be a more productive way to work with language learners who are not very comfortable in recording audio in their second language. After all, by writing the subtitle, students are still learning and practicing language in a very interesting and creative way.
In terms of the message, I also believe that it is important for students to explore their own culture in a new way, that is, having in mind a global audience that is not familiar with their specific context. I see this as empowerment, as giving students the tools to reflect upon their reality and make it available for others to see, instead of only focusing on the culture of the target language, which is the common practice in language classrooms. Another approach would be a cross-cultural comparison that can help students to make sense of, and validate, both their own and target cultures.
Furthermore, one thing that I find particularly interesting about this story is the personal experience that shapes the opinion on a controversial subject. The MST is highly criticized and negatively depicted by media in Brazil. However, Fabio, for being part of the movement, can attest to its positive aspects, counteracting all the negative attitude towards the MST. Such endeavor, in a classroom, goes beyond the sphere of language learning to deal with empowerment. In my opinion, it is extremely important to show students, who may be part of minorities, how technology can be used to divulge and maintain their culture or organization, and this story can exemplify how to do it.
Evidently, similarly to other digital stories, it also provides language input to students, supported by audio, images, videos as cues to meaning construction, since language learners need different aids for comprehension.

Assessment

I would assess this digital story according to several criteria: purpose and coherence, quality and meaning of images and videos, quality of audio, economy, development, pacing and language usage. Therefore, assessment includes evaluation of both digital media usage and writing aspects. Regarding the story per se, the author sets the tone of the story with the introduction "Hope" followed by the developmental stages: change, difficulty, help and human connection, and sense of purpose, which have to do with purpose, coherence, pacing and economy. Language usage is another important aspect, especially if we consider using digital storytelling in language classrooms; however, depending on the level of students, a teacher may want to consider how effectively the message is delivered, rather than how many errors it was found. In terms of media usage, how images and videos communicate symbolism or metaphors is a component to be assessed, along with their quality and audio quality.


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