Human Connections in a Digital World

I redesigned my course’s final project of ethnographic assignment by shifting from a traditional academic paper to a digital storytelling format using the Adobe webpage. In the past semesters, I have noticed students were increasingly using AI generated narration in final projects, I chose not to restrict AI use but to refocus the assignment for deeper student engagement. The redesigned format encourages students to take creative ownership of their work through customized webpage layouts, integrated external links, blog elements, and original photos or videos. As a result, the final narrations have become more personalized and reflective of students’ authentic perspectives. I have noticed that the assignment redesign has improved the overall storytelling quality in the students’ submissions and strengthened their connection to the ethnographic process.