“Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights. Tell your story now digitally.” - Leslie Rule, Center for Digital Storytelling
We're just learning to create these "digital stories" here on the mountain.. Elaine sent me another great link that explores Photo Story-- a program for Windows that students can use to combine text, image, sound and even video to tell whatever story they'd like. It's a fun, interactive tool and I'm enjoying exploring this medium myself!
Be sure to check out the post comments-- as there are some really interesting thoughts, stories, and insights being shared there!
What do you think about digital storytelling???
I think digital storytelling is a medium with rich potential. I've seen my colleagues use them to great success, especially with students who are typically less motivated. Case in point: my co-worker Gary had his Foundations seniors create digital stories, and they really got into them: they would even come in during their spare periods to work on editing/fine tuning them (a big deal in my book). The finished products are entertaining, and give kids, who are natural storytellers, a chance to shine as well as hone skills such as voice, narrative, and writing with a sense of audience. I am planning to use digital storytelling with my freshman Foundations class next year.
ReplyDeleteDigital storytelling is a wonderful medium for students to express themseles creatively. It is motivating and interesting--both to create and view. I believe that any form of media teachers can use to motivate students and encourage them to delve deeper into the content is beneficial. My only concern would be when this media is used superficially without increasing student understanding. Any technological medium should be used purposefully and students should have guidelines that allow them to explore the content being studied. When the right structure is put in place, kids can express themselves meeting academic objectives.
ReplyDeleteOne example of how media is used by youth to engage others is the Invisible Children campaign. Basically, in 2003 three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story and stumbled across war-torn northern Uganda and the night travelers. After returning to the United States, they created the documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut." The film was originally shown to friends and family, but has now been seen by millions of people. There was an overwhelming repsonse of "How can I help?" which was answered by the creation of the non-profit Invisible Children Inc. Over the last six years this organization has grown enormously. What started off as three young men traveling around Africa with a couple of cameras turned into a worldwide campaign.
ReplyDeleteDigital storytelling seems to be a very postmodern concept, in the way I've been taught about post-modernism, at least. The combination of different media and photos and clips from a variety of time periods to tell one story pulls cultures and history together in a way that formal storytelling--through basic written narrative--cannot as easily do. It seems that digital storytelling is everywhere now, so it would be a medium that students would feel very comfortable creating. The cable channel that Al Gore created (I can't remember it's name since I don't subscribe to cable anymore) uses a lot of digital storytelling. There would be ample models that teachers could use to formally teach the concept.
ReplyDeleteAwesome way to leave your mark! Just imagine what a legacy this is creating, the many different perspectives of our widely varied lives...this is one way future generations will be left with our stories. It's pretty wild, if you think about it... We decipher glyphs and symbols, our future civilizations will be unearthing *primitive* "digital stories"!
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