PROJECTS

In 2023, ACLS received funding from the NSW Department of Education’s Community Languages Schools Program to deliver a project aimed at building the capacity of community language school teachers to engage their students through digital storytelling. Armed with 21 new iPads and with the support of DigitalStorytellers.com, fourteen teachers from six community language schools in the Illawarra and Greater Sydney completed training in how to make a  digital story,  from brainstorming ideas to storyboarding a narrative, and from filming to editing the final story. Equipped with this knowledge and the project-based learning principles of creativity, collaboration, and student-centred learning, the teachers then supported their students to create their own digital stories. Under the theme of "My Language My Culture", students chose a topic that explored their experiences of belonging to multiple cultures in Australia. All students had varying levels of community language proficiency and so were encouraged to use as much of their community language as they could to tell their stories. The stories that emerged are as diverse as the community languages and cultures they represent. We hope you enjoy them!