USING INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARIES TO PRESERVE AND SHARE TRADITIONAL ORAL STORIES

Oral storytelling in the United Arab Emirates serves as a foundation for family and community experiences by transcending generations. In addition, the UAE has clearly stated that the country endeavors to promote technological innovation as well as highlight its positive and rich culture . To this end, our intention is to encourage students to share traditional stories virtually to document oral stories through the medium of an interactive documentary.

Interactive documentaries combines the tools afforded by web 2.0 and constructivist principles. Documentaries have been a source of learning throughout modern history. Educators used documentaries to teach topics such as the holocaust, science, geography, politics, medicine. Due to the omnipresence of the Internet, the organization, development and design of documentaries are changing. They are becoming interactive with greater participation from the community. This impacts learning both through the classroom and through more informal learning opportunities.

Learners can use these sites for collaboration, sharing and instant retrieval of information. Interactive tools such as social media sites offer a great opportunity for learning. No longer are learners required to wait to receive hard copies of materials and artifacts from libraries and other sources. They can download and/or upload artifacts instantly and with ease. This co-presentation, will take a look at how incorporating interactive documentaries will inspire students to document oral stories online. Presenters will explore platforms and tools needed to develop interactive documentaries. They will also describe the future of the project as well as the how the project will be used for research. Therefore, presenters will leave this project with a better understanding of how to incorporate interactive documentaries into their practice using often free and readily available resources.