Digital Storytelling

Yesterday while attending the MITC Conference at Lake of the Ozarks I enjoyed listening to Dr. Ohler’s keynote as well as attending his session on New Media Narrative in the Classroom.

Dr. Ohler’s has an extensive collection of digital storytelling resources on his website. Here’s a few of my takeaways:

• Make sure the quality of the story doesn’t get lost in the production. Story Maps are a good start, but using a Visual Portrait of the Story is even better. See also Ken Adams’ Story Spine.
• Music will override images when setting the mood for the story. It is the adjectives and adverbs of the digital story. Choose it carefully.
• The sound quality is greatly improved if a wireless collar microphone is used when capturing video from a distance.
• Creative Commons has added more tabs to it’s search page, including Google Images, which high school students seem to favor.
• Stories should be 2-5 minutes in length.

We currently have several high school teachers working on digital storytelling projects with their students. For their projects, the students are using Creative Commons licensed media, that is media that is not copyright protected, but that is licensed with permission for use. I’ve been bookmarking the Fusion: Finding Copyright Free Media on the students’ stations, as well as modeling locating, downloading, and crediting sources.  The students are creating their own media as well using digital cameras, headsets, and Flip video cameras. We’ve required a  contract signed by both students and parents when checking out any equipment to take home.

We are using Photostory for projects involving just images. This tool is free, easy to use, and automatically adds animation to turn the collection of images, text, narration, and music into a video. The built-in music selection is a big time saver. Most students seems to be able to find an option that work well with their presentations. The recording of narration is easy using the new headsets that we checked out from the library, but can be a bit intimidating for students the first time. For projects involving video, we are using Windows Movie Maker, another free tool. You can see the Fusion: Digital Storytelling webpage for handouts, examples, links to software downloads, templates, etc.

The students have created project folders to store all their media, the project file, a document crediting sources, and the production file. When it’s showtime, the teacher can access a student’s documents folder, open the project folder, and then open the production file to play the story in Windows Media Player. This single file can then be uploaded to a video sharing site, such as Vimeo, and then linked to embedded on a class website.

The story below was created by one of Mrs. Hession’s Child Development students. This class did a great job on their first storytelling project. I appreciate Mrs. Hession’s willingness to take a risk, try something new.

Recently Answered Questions 10-13-09

How can I safe guard my privacy on Facebook?

How can I use a copy machine to scan a document and email it to someone?

SISK12: How can I print an individual student progress report that lists all the assignment with scores, as well as the current grade?

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My students completed digital storytelling projects with Windows Movie Maker projects on one computer and then logged in on another to show the movie, but it didn’t work. When we try to play the video, it can’t find any of their media.

First, students need to develop the practice of creating a project folder in which they copy all the source files to be used in the project. They should also save their project file in this folder. Once the project is started, you can not move or rename the source files. The concept of a project folder applies to PowerPoint slideshows and Photostory projects as well.

When using flash drives, if a different drive letter is assigned to the flash drive when plugged into a different computer, WMM may not be able to find the source files. This situation can also occur when a teacher logs in to accesses the student’s folder. The path to that student’s folder is different with a teacher log in, as opposed to when the student logs in. You can usually repair the missing file situation by right clicking on each of the missing files and choosing Browse for Missing File.

It is apparent from your question that the students did not complete the movie maker process, did not produce the movie by completing the 3rd step, “Save to my computer.” Had they done so, this single generated file could have been accessed and played with Window Media Player, regardless of where any source files were stored.

I would like to make an overhead or scan a piece of paper so that I could use it in class.  It is silly to make a copy for each child when I only want to use it for 3 or 4 minutes.  I have a hard copy and I know I could use a document camera, but I want to make it so I could come back to it later on in the week for a minute or two…how could I do this?

You can take a picture of it with the document camera. It will store the image on the camera itself. You will be able to pull the image back up to display in the future. Or….you can scan it on the copy machines in the main office, choosing to email it to yourself. This will arrive as a pdf file. You can then store this on your station and display at any time.

My student has a video on her cell phone that she would like to use in a school project. How can we get the video from the phone to a school station?

Many video sharing sites provide an email address to be used to upload videos. If the student has the ability to send emails from his/her phone, he/she could email this video. Vimeo, for example, provides free accounts and is not blocked by the filter. You could set up a class Vimeo account and share the upload email address with your students.  From the Vimeo site you will be able to download the student’s video onto a station.

My students are attempting to sign up for a Google Docs account, but it is requiring a mobile phone number for verification. Is there another way?

Recently Google Docs added this mobile phone number verification to combat spammers. At this time, the help forums offer not suggestions, but do contain complaints from many teachers. We are currently investigating the possibility of using Google Apps for Educators, which may resolve this issue.

Beyond Words

This evening I participated in a web seminar on Digital Storytelling featuring Jason Ohler hosted by Steve Dembo of Discovery Education Network. Here are my notes from the presentation.

Today’s students often have to show what they know all in the same way, on a test. Kids are banging on a different door. They want to show what they know with an ipod, mashup, game, video, etc. Let kids come through their own door to show what they know. We see cell phones as communication devices. Kids see it as something to create with.

Literacy means consuming and producing the  media forms of the day, whatever they are. Students need to be able to create whatever media they consume.

• Web 1.0: Read
• Web 2.0: Read Write
• Web 2. 1: Read Write Paint
• Web 3.0: Read Write Paint Think

9 Dig Lit Action Guidelines

1. Shift from text-centrism to new media collage
2. Value writing more than ever! (videos need scripts)
3. Adopt art as 4th, next R
4. Follow DAOW of literacy: Digital Art Oral Written
5. Attitude is the aptitude (tools are always evolving so your attitude and ability to learn new things is what determines intelligence)
6. Practice private and social literacy (learning in isolation isn’t king)
7. Develop literacy about digital tools
8. Fluency, not just literacy
9. Harness both report and story…embrace story! (shift the information container, stories are engaging)

Teachers need to be the guide on the side, not the technician magician. Take advantage of the student talent in the room. We must create learning communities for the students, leave them to do the clicking, and provide assessment and feedback. Use a story map when composing instead of a storyboard. View some example stories on his website.

His website has lots of resources that I look forward to exploring in more depth, as I prepare for my Digital Storytelling workshop in March.

Image Credit: Princess Storytelling with Aurora – Sleeping Beauty by Armadillo444 Licensed CC Attribution NonCommercial