I was looking for a way to attract high school students to storytelling in a format that uses technology and yet still has the basic elements of more traditional styles. In my search I found the following blog post on digital storytelling. Here you will find a good explanation of what this approach to writing is, how these stories are made, what the advantages are of using this form of storytelling and some ideas for doing digital storytelling. I think there are many kids in this age group that would enjoy this form of writing/storytelling.
*What is Digital Storytelling?
Digital Storytelling is a term that has varied meanings. It began as a way for people to tell their personal stories and family histories. They combine relatively simple texts with images and sometimes videos that the author has often created along with the texts. Their purpose was initially to inform, as therapy, as creative expression, as part of local histories, and so on.They are usually short, taking just 2-5 minutes to view, read and listen to. They are real stories told in your words and usually using your own voice. But as the idea has been embraced it has been adapted to suit varied purposes and creators. The common elements are:
Essentially, digital stories are short movies produced on inexpensive and readily available equipment:
Once completed the digital stories can be uploaded to websites, blogs, burned onto DVDs and shared with others, projected onto a television screen, or viewed on your computer, viewed in a school hall by large audiences, presented on a Smart Board for the class to share, or given to parents and other interested audiences.
What are the advantages of Digital Storytelling?
There are many good things about digital storytelling that relate to the creators and the community of interest in which they are shared. Creators are able to:
Use word, image and sound to communicate powerful and effective stories.
Publish their digital stories to wider audiences that can have access anywhere around the world.
Extend their network of relationships as they share their work with others and cooperate with others on joint projects.
Learn to comprehend and use images as well as words to communicate.
Learn new things whether one are the creator, collaborator or the audience for the digital stories.
Nine Simple Ideas for Digital Storytelling
You might try one of the following ideas for digital storytelling:
a) Have students choose a person and simply tell their story in 10 pictures and with 10 associate text segments. This can be a famous person, or someone known to them.
b) Interview someone about something and take photos to support the story.
c) Have the students choose three people to talk about the same incident or experience, for example, a recent climatic event like a storm or fire, a sporting event, or the childhood memories of play for a sibling or fellow student, their mother or father and a grandparent.
d) Create a series of drawings, pictures or collages and use these as the visuals for a story that they tell in spoken and/or written word.
e) Do a web search and capture images that relate to a significant event (e.g. an environmental disaster or an historical event) then retell the event in words and images.
f) Have children collect a sample of photographs that sample their life span and tell their own story.
g) Retell a well-known picture book with a twist in the plot, a change in characters, a shift in time or setting and their own illustrations to support their text.
h) Use modeling clay, play dough or even Lego or other construction toys to create a series of characters to support a story - use and manipulate the 3D models and photograph them or video them to help tell the story.
i) Create a group or class digital story that is based on a common narrative storyline that is then told using story boards that different children make. These are photographed or used with video technology to present the story in image, word & sound.
j) As well the above story-based ideas some teachers have been using the same concept of the storyboard for science, social science, history, in fact any school subject, as a tool for learning and communication.
* This is taken from an online blog – http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/search/label/writing
*What is Digital Storytelling?
Digital Storytelling is a term that has varied meanings. It began as a way for people to tell their personal stories and family histories. They combine relatively simple texts with images and sometimes videos that the author has often created along with the texts. Their purpose was initially to inform, as therapy, as creative expression, as part of local histories, and so on.They are usually short, taking just 2-5 minutes to view, read and listen to. They are real stories told in your words and usually using your own voice. But as the idea has been embraced it has been adapted to suit varied purposes and creators. The common elements are:
- They are authentic creations
- They use images in association with print and sound
- They are published digitally
- It is a form of storytelling
- Still photos
- Scanned images and documents
- Short videos
- Music
- Sound effects
Essentially, digital stories are short movies produced on inexpensive and readily available equipment:
- Home computer
- Computer video programs like iMovie (Macintosh) or MovieMaker (Windows)
- Digital recorder
- Hand held video camera or phone with built-in video
- Digital camera
- Digital scanner
Once completed the digital stories can be uploaded to websites, blogs, burned onto DVDs and shared with others, projected onto a television screen, or viewed on your computer, viewed in a school hall by large audiences, presented on a Smart Board for the class to share, or given to parents and other interested audiences.
What are the advantages of Digital Storytelling?
There are many good things about digital storytelling that relate to the creators and the community of interest in which they are shared. Creators are able to:
Use word, image and sound to communicate powerful and effective stories.
Publish their digital stories to wider audiences that can have access anywhere around the world.
Extend their network of relationships as they share their work with others and cooperate with others on joint projects.
Learn to comprehend and use images as well as words to communicate.
Learn new things whether one are the creator, collaborator or the audience for the digital stories.
Nine Simple Ideas for Digital Storytelling
You might try one of the following ideas for digital storytelling:
a) Have students choose a person and simply tell their story in 10 pictures and with 10 associate text segments. This can be a famous person, or someone known to them.
b) Interview someone about something and take photos to support the story.
c) Have the students choose three people to talk about the same incident or experience, for example, a recent climatic event like a storm or fire, a sporting event, or the childhood memories of play for a sibling or fellow student, their mother or father and a grandparent.
d) Create a series of drawings, pictures or collages and use these as the visuals for a story that they tell in spoken and/or written word.
e) Do a web search and capture images that relate to a significant event (e.g. an environmental disaster or an historical event) then retell the event in words and images.
f) Have children collect a sample of photographs that sample their life span and tell their own story.
g) Retell a well-known picture book with a twist in the plot, a change in characters, a shift in time or setting and their own illustrations to support their text.
h) Use modeling clay, play dough or even Lego or other construction toys to create a series of characters to support a story - use and manipulate the 3D models and photograph them or video them to help tell the story.
i) Create a group or class digital story that is based on a common narrative storyline that is then told using story boards that different children make. These are photographed or used with video technology to present the story in image, word & sound.
j) As well the above story-based ideas some teachers have been using the same concept of the storyboard for science, social science, history, in fact any school subject, as a tool for learning and communication.
* This is taken from an online blog – http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com/search/label/writing