AN INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL STORYTELLINGJeremy Anderson
Courtney McKenna
Tracy Van Oss
What are digital stories?
Multimedia narratives
Audio: music, sound effects, narration
Visual: videos, images, text
Typically 3-10 minutes in length
Why assess with digital stories?• Engender active learning• Increase Reflection• Engage emotions• Encourage service learning• Repackage text-based skills• Improve digital literacy
DIGITAL STORIESAnd the Learning Paradigm
Written Communication
Script with a purpose
OralCommunication
Narrate with purpose & emotion
Critical Thinking & Reasoning
Synthesize media into a cohesive product
Visual Literacy
Select images to serve a purpose and to tell a story
DIGITAL STORIESExamples and samples
Digital Stories as Reflective Pieces
Courtney McKenna, QUSS instructor
• Weekly blogs – using blog tool in Blackboard• Reflect on class discussion• Triangulate topics from other courses• Comment on current events• Identify what was most important to the student each week
• Digital Story:• Synthesis of blogs to show personal or intellectual transformation
throughout the semester• Camtasia Relay – or other software familiar to student
Reflection – Student Example• https://capture.quinnipiac.edu/recordings/lagoldstein/QU101/QU101_-
_Flash_(Large)_-_20111207_05.26.18PM.html
Lessons Learned• Student feedback
• Enjoyed going back to review blogs• Helped put the semester into perspective• “Not another paper!”
• Lessons learned• Need to push students to not be so literal with the “recap”• May require the inclusion of outside materials
• Other courses• Events
• In class showcase?
Digital Story & Photovoice for Service Learning
Tracy Van Oss, DHSc, OTR/L
Digital storytelling was final project for a service learning course incorporating photos with narration:• Youth Day Fair at the Yale Bowl• North Haven Fire Department Bike Safety Day• International Walk To School Day • St. Andrews Children Fair• Halloween Safety at Keefe Center
Photovoice as Service Learning• Photovoice was a grant funded project to capture images
and narration from the child’s perspective to assess a need for change of the environment in Hamden, CT.
“I saw a crack in the sidewalk and someone might trip”
Other potential uses• History: archival footage/images• Current events: interviews, documentary images• Personal narratives• Case studies
Digital Stories as Personal Narratives
All the Truly Important Things…Eric Zheng (pseudonym); part of “Taking Root: Our Stories, Our Community”
YouTube
Digital Stories as Current Events
YouTubeEvolution of Education: The PresentKatelyn Stoll, Bridget Figmic, Bree Gooley, Katie Thompson; students ED 311
Birth of a Nation as Racial PropagandaMary Corrado, student; QU 201
Digital Stories as History
Wordless Sound in Antebellum African-American SongBrian Noell, instructor; QUSS
YouTube
WORKFLOW & TOOLSFor digital story projects
What is the workflow?
Write script &
storyboard
Record narration
Select images, music,
videos, text
Combine narration and other
media
Tools for creating/collecting media
Record narration• QuickTime, iMovie, Sound Recorder
Find…• Images
• Flickr Commons & Creative Commons
• Videos• Flip Video Cameras, YouTube, Vimeo
• Music• Jamendo, ccMixter
• Sound effects• Freesound, SoundBible
Mac
Windows
Tools for finalizing/combining media• Edit images
• iPhoto, Live Photo Gallery
• Edit/record video• iMovie, Live Movie Maker• Camtasia Relay
• Share product• Publish to YouTube• Share Camtasia link
Mac
Windows
Tips, tricks, & suggestions• Provide support for tools• Make sure hardware is accessible• Choose a good microphone• Encourage process writing
• Have check-in assignments
• Smaller groups (3-4 students)• Plan a showcase
Resources for faculty & students• AT’s Multimedia support page• Instructional Technologists
• Jeremy, Monica, Gary, Christina
• Technology Center – Flip Cams, tripods, etc.• The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
• University of Houston