The Digital Welcome Course at the Phyrtual Innovation Gym continues not only to accrue competences and tools, but is also turning into a true storytelling workshop. The last article published on the project website reflects teh experience of Coach Federica Pellegrini, who held the session on digital storytelling with the stop-motion technique.
When acceptance becomes inclusion, learning is the most precious opportunity. This is exactly what happened to the young men and women participating in Project Digital Welcome during the Digital Storytelling course. We are using the stop-motion animation technique to help students tell their stories – either biographical or fiction – by stepping beyond the limits imposed by words, which often reveal prejudice and cultural barriers.
By sharing techniques and stories, the students were able to exchange anecdotes and experiences … “When I was young, I used to play,” … “This is how we do it in my country” …
In the meantime, in between stories, Federica introduced the students to the world of spontaneous narration, freed from the barriers of grammar and words, stories that could contain any type of content.
Participants were able to free their imagination and slowly personify with the audience, learning to structure their stories into true messages through moving images and music.
During the lesson, Federica’s priority was to make them feel welcome with a smile and a desire to listen to their experiences, some of which were transformed into videos. Some students described specific biographical events, others ventured into providing advice or providing an experience from their lives. This produced moments of emotional tension, difficult memories rose to the surface, as did funny and ironic moments, too.
The most astounding video, which drew everyone in, was created by C. It’s a story about a European citizen who travels uninvited to Africa and returns to Europe with many of its riches, almost without asking for permission. Subsequently, a young African comes to Europe, but instead of being welcomed he finds barriers everywhere and difficulties in obtaining a residence permit.
And this is the very basis for Project Welcome, which aims to create and promote reception and inclusion of migrants and provide them with opportunities to study and learn just like their Italian peers.
Innovation and inclusion are fundamental to face the challenge of integration. And this is exactly what Project Digital Welcome aims to do through the use of innovative methodologies that provide opportunities and promote inclusion.
"They may never use stop-motion animation again, with the exception of a few enthusiasts, perhaps, who may turn it into a profession, but they will all be able to use technology to create bridges between people, places and cultures,” concludes Federica.
