BLOG POST #4

In my first year at UVIC, I took a third-year history course that focused on the Second World War. During our first class, the professor began by narrating the political and social environment in Britain, Germany, France, and even the United States. He told a story about a young Hitler and gave a timeline of how his ideology was cultivated and accepted by people in Germany due to the hostile public view regarding the treaty. The professor highlighted Hitler’s rise to fame before the war and the downfall of his regime at the end of the war. The storytelling technique used by the professor made the historical figures and timeline come alive, allowing me and other students to engage emotionally and intellectually with the content. As the story progressed, the professor introduced the historical context and political climate of the time, connecting broader societal issues. Overall, using storytelling as a teaching tool can make learning experiences more impactful by creating an emotional connection with the subject matter and helping students retain information in a more meaningful way. Some of the storytelling techniques used included establishing a clear protagonist and antagonist, building tension and conflict, using descriptive language to paint a vivid picture, and incorporating themes that resonate with the audience.

My most recent experience using an AI application was with an AI graphic design tool. My sister and I had seen a TikTok about an AI photo app that could take a picture of you in different eras. All we had to do was upload five pictures of ourselves into the program and wait a few minutes, and it would generate different pictures. I found it very fun to see myself in a different timeline from the one I currently live in. I have tried using Dall-E, to try and create a few pictures. I used storytelling techniques such as using descriptive language to get an depiction closest to the images in my head.