In summer and fall 2008, Polina Vinogradova incorporated digital stories into the curriculum of the English Language Institute. This approach was utilized in English Language Institute courses focusing on culture and intercultural communication by Polina and two other instructors, Heather Linville and Tsisana Palmer. Later, in 2009, the project expanded and students in ELC-A 504/054 (taught by Polina Vinogradov and Tsisana Palmer) produced digital ethnographies using main principles and techniques of digital storytelling. The students worked in groups and explored cultural communities of their choice. Focusing on either a particular aspect of culture or a theme within a cultural community the students developed and conducted interviews, analyzed the information they collected, and produced digital stories based on the interview answers and their understanding of the subject. The goal of this project was not only to introduce the students to a multimodal form of self-expression, but also for the students to explore different perceptions of culture outside of class and experience cross-cultural communication while working on digital stories with their classmates.
