AbstractMost FL educators have enjoyed the opportunity to include the arts in their everyday
teaching. Many have also reaped the benefits of working with technology
in their teaching, most notably in the form of computer-assisted language learning
platforms (CALL) and the vast opportunities offered by the Internet
and new
social media. The project presented in this chapter combines the creative use of
technology and the inclusion of—or concentration on—(original) works of visual
art in an advanced German culture course. Following principles for guiding
digital storytelling projects, students created digital video-animations for
original works of art in German (with subtitles). These videos were then uploaded
to iPads and made available to visitors of a class-curated exhibition of Weimar
German
art at the school’s museum. Projects allowed students to explore both
images creatively, as products and perspectives of the target culture and language,
all while engaging learners in complex cultural comparisons. By creating their
creative curatorial
materials, students thus reached far beyond their classroom and beyond the German-speaking community on campus. They also sharpened
their skills in digital technology in the process. Finally, the students’ technological
abilities and limitations also provided a different lens through which to read
art and provided opportunities for discussions about the use(fulness) of technology
and digital literacy in the 21st-century FL curriculum.
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