DigitalStory.ca

Fathers and Sons

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 07:59:00 -0500

I hope to add to the CDS collection of Fathers and Sons digital stories this weekend. After a year of assisting others with their stories, I'm turning the tables and starting the year off by attending Joe Lambert's standard session in NYC.

Original 55

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Sun, 3 Nov 2013 08:08:00 -0500

Digital Storytelling Teachers Group at ECOO 2010
Creative Commons Photo Credit: Andrew Forgrave

As I prepare for my latest digital storytelling session at the end of the month with teachers at a school-based professional learning group, I've been looking back to the many sessions and resources collected over the years.

In 2009 I was alerted via a blog post by my friend and fellow digital storytelling influencer Gareth Morlais about a book that was ground-breaking at the time. Story Circle: Digital Storytelling Around the World. The book claimed "the world's first comprehensive account of personal digital storytelling in several countries".

Imagine my surprise when I saw listed on page 41 my very first large-scale school project. A project that took a group of 4 or 5 digital storytelling teacher facilitators to 8 different schools over a period of 6 months to introduce digital storytelling to student writers' groups. This was back in 2005 and 2006. There is an explanation in the book on page 45 that only 55 digital storytelling projects were completed in elementary schools at the time of writing. Our target group was grade 4, 5 and 6 students.

Fast forward eight years and although the names and the faces of participants have changed the storytelling has not. You see, the particular brand of storytelling I help people with is personal storytelling. You know the ones, where you tell the story from something in your life. It could be a memory of someone close to you, a first meeting, a special place. Participants often arrive at the session with a completely different story in mind. As participants open up and start talking about their stories, folks often adjust their story or completely switch to something more personal. Oh, there is often safety in telling a story that is not too personal. I started that way. But the stories that go straight to the heart are the ones that move us and sometimes make us cry.

So I look forward to the end of the month because I never know what type of stories I'll have the honour of listening to. I do know that I'm always moved by personal stories. And always have been.

Fish Stories

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 07:11:00 -0400

Creative Commons 2.0 Flickr Photo by: CaliforniaDFG

We've all heard our share of fish stories. Recently I had the pleasure of listening on two separate occasions to two different fish stories told by two different men in their '80s.

The first was on the plane back from Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. I had the pleasure of sitting next to an octogenarian whose adventures made me tired just listening. He'd flown an hour and a half north of Vancouver to fish with his sons and grandsons for Chinook Salmon. The way he described the fishing outings was detailed and he was quite proud that his fishing gang brought in the most fish for the week. The thing I noticed most was he was quite content and happy in his retirement at 80 years young. He said, "I don't do shuffleboard or any other of the retirement crowd things, I just do what I want and go where I want, when I want."

The second conversation was just this past Saturday at our local landfill. I was adding to the pile when a smiling gentlemen walked up to me and after the requisite jokes about the dump and landfills in general, we started to "talk story". I had mentioned I'd spoken with someone about salmon fishing and he said, well I have a story for you. He told the story of being flown by float plane to a remote fishing camp with guys from work on the west coast near Alaska. By the time the story was at its mid-point he was using his hands and body to describe the 132 pound halibut he'd caught. He'd been fishing for Chinook salmon in the morning and the guide took him up-river to fish for halibut in the afternoon. As he told the story I could visualize the situations he was describing. At the end of the story he said that while he shared his catch with his fellow fishermen, he didn't get to have any because his freezer had a power outage and he lost the entire portion of his catch! He smiled at the end of the story and said, "Oh well, at least my fishing buddies got to have theirs."

It donned on me this morning that both of these stories would make terrific digital stories. Lasting memories for the grandchildren to enjoy perhaps and illustrated by photos and voice.

Choosing Your Story - Turning Points

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 06:25:00 -0400

It can be difficult choosing a topic for your very first digital story.

It helps to see a few examples ahead of time to get the feel for how a digital story is structured. But still, it can be difficult. Especially if you have several stories to tell.

Narrowing down a topic that lends itself well to the digital storytelling format can be a challenge. It helps to choose an event or a particular situation and write about it.

We tried an exercise this week called "Turning Points" -- a variation of Joe Lambert's exercise he talks about in his book. For 5 minutes or so, participants write about turning points in their lives.

Many stories this week took shape as personal narratives that included a specific turing point. I have to admit, this is the part of the story I listen for. As much as I like the build up to a turning point because it provides the viewer with valuable background, it is the turning point and the story after that where you find out the details of the rest of the story that pleases me most.

Twice in my session this week I was pleasantly surprised by how authors crafted their turning point and shaped their story. One completely took me off guard as it was not the way I thought the story might go. I think this is what makes the stories very listenable. Just when you think the story is going in a particular direction, wham, it changes and you are "let in" on the rest of the story.

I'm also in awe and have great respect for participant storytellers who let their audience in on very personal stories. We talked this week about stories that may be 'not too personal'. I know the feeling. We try and write what we are comfortable writing but there is always a story to tell that may be just too personal for public consumption.

Life is story with many turning points. I'll never tire of hearing stories. Now, if I could just muster up the gumption to write my next digital story.

Digital Storytelling on iPad

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Fri, 31 May 2013 22:43:00 -0400

It shouldn't make a difference but it does.

I had been providing digital storytelling workshops for several years to teachers and students before I treated myself to my first Centre for Digital Storytelling workshop in Denver three years ago this summer. I remember starting with the story circle, writing my narrative and then we were all given white MacBooks and had an hour or two instruction on a particular video editing software. We were all using the same technology to assist us in telling our stories.

But what if you don't know what to expect technology-wise when invited to facilitate a session for a particular group? You can have the most engaging session where stories are told that would make you cry, but the technology can make or break a session for some participants. Imagine getting your story out and then not being able to follow through because the technology is a barrier.

Could a mobile device be the answer? After all it is a device that most people are familiar with in the form of a phone. Joe Lambert has started using iPhones in his DS sessions. And in a couple of weeks the session I'll be guiding will have all participants using iPads and iMovie. Will it be the answer? Perhaps. At least we'll have a set of common problems to solve.

Most of the sessions I conduct are for first time digital storytelling participants. I find they are amazed at the power of story. In fact the sessions are quite transformative for many. With the help of iPad at my next session I hope all will be successful.

After all, the technology shouldn't make a difference, but it does.

Digital Storytelling - Pixie for iPad

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:52:00 -0400

I'm always experimenting with new applications that will give me the opportunity to provide the participants in my digital storytelling sessions a chance to stitch together their stories.

Tech4Learning's new iPad app., Pixie, may just be my next good find.

If you are a reader of this blog you know that I favour personal narratives. There is nothing more satisfying than guiding students and adults through the process of creating their own digital stories.

With Pixie for iPad the task of stitching a story together is very easy.

1. Importing Images

Pixie for iPad allows access to your camera roll. Right away, if you are taking photographs or have access to scanned images, you're in business. As well, since all your images are available to you through your camera roll, the process of importing them into your story is a snap.

2. Stickers for Photographs

It took a little searching in the stickers panel of the app. but I was able to find photographs. Depending on the story you are telling these photos may come in handy if your participants have difficulty finding suitable photos for their stories. Also, I'll have to check with the folks at Tech4Learning about copyright.

3. Voice Recording

If you click on the Options panel, you are able to record your voice on a slide by slide basis. I'm impressed with the recording quality. I did have a little trouble with a scratchy sound coming through if I was handling the iPad. But I solved this by placing the iPad flat on the table in front of me and I was able to record a clean track. I'm not sure yet whether voice can be recorded over multiple slides. I'll keep trying to see if I can do this. Oh, and there was a gym class going on two doors over and the sounds of children playing did not come through in my voiceover recording.

4. Transitions and Timing

This is something that may be a challenge for some. You can set the timing for each slide by the second and there is a short list of transitions. I picked fade as the less 'transition distraction' is the way to go, so as not to distract from the story.

5. Background Music

Still reading? Good. This feature is a beauty. There are about 20 to 25 sound tracks to choose from! I selected 'Gentle Guitar' and had a soothing guitar playing in the background while my voice told the story. Lovely! While I could not find a way to adjust the duration of the background music, just not having to find music is great. Pick the mood you need to set and you're off.

6. Exporting Video

Pixie for iPad has a number of options to export your story. The Export Video option provides three ways to export: Camera Roll, App., or Email. Camera Roll is likely the best bet, although I haven't tried it yet, I will when I get finished the sample you see above. In a school, it may be difficult to get video from the Camera Roll from an individual device but we have solved this by using a cloud service.

I'll be using Pixie for iPad and other solutions for the months of May and June this school year. I find the end of the year is a perfect time for students to write digital stories. They have an entire school year to look back on and their writing skills have matured.

Writing About Moments

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:20:00 -0500

I had a special experience with the lower school teachers at Collegiate School on Friday this week.

It was one of those workshops where barriers come down, trust and honesty are evident and when 30 minutes after the session ends, 80% of the participants are still enjoying the showcase and celebration of their stories.

They wrote about relationships and places, triumphs and natural disasters. But mostly they wrote about moments in their lives. There's a deep sense of feeling and knowing as the listener is transported into a particular moment.

There is something special about hearing a person's digital story spoken aloud for the first time in a group setting. Applause, tears, heads nodding knowingly and sometimes silence, a 'knowing silence' - - that time when the only thing to do is sit there and soak in what you have just heard. And then realize you just had the privilege of being in that moment with the writer.

Thank you Collegiate teachers for writing about your moments and sharing them with me.

Animation Storytelling

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Sat, 8 Dec 2012 02:56:00 -0500

I'm conducting a month long blitz on using various forms of animation with my dozen or so classes.

Part of my teaching assignment is to introduce new ways to "show what you know". And from my days 5 years ago taking photographs with a tripod and using Windows Movie Maker to try to animate the photos we have come a long way since then. I continue to find this type of storytelling interesting, innovative and a very good way to motivate students.

I have collected a number of resources along the way and tried to find ways to bring animation closer to the students. In the photo above, you'll see my 6 year old Mac Mini, a 5 year old school owned Canon Mini DV camera and a school owned monitor. I used this set-up this week as a demonstration animation station. I have it on a metal cart on wheels which allows me to move from classroom to classroom.

National Film Board - Canada (NFB) Resources

StopMo - Great site. 18 minute segmented step-by-step process for animation. Includes a detailed series of lesson plans which can be adapted to different grade levels.

Software

We're very fortunate to have an agreement with Tech4Learning to have Frames animation software installed on each academic image among publicly funded schools in Ontario.

Mobile Animation Apps. for iOS

For iPhone and iPod Touch I have had success with (free) LEGO® Super Heroes Movie Maker
And just last week a student in grade 8 showed me a terrific app. for iPhone and iPod Touch called iMotion HD. Unlike the LEGO® app., which saves to the Camera Roll, iMotion HD does not save unless you purchase the full version for $1.99. We also use the animation instructional videos included with NFB's free (in Canada) PixStop Animation App. for iOS. Three short tutorial films are included with the app. and are very good: "Three Principles of Animation", "Flipbook" , and "Storyboarding".

Steps in the Process

I encouraged students to keep a few things in mind when creating their animations:

a) Create a 3 panel storyboard which shows: beginning, middle, and end.
b) Write next to your sketch the Action Sequence in each panel.
b) Select no more than 3 characters to be the 'talent' in the animation.
c) Tell your story in 10 seconds or less.
d) Decide ahead of time whether you'll be creating your animation as a Pixilation with classmates, with toy characters, or with clay.

Note: There are other animation options but these are three good ones with which to start.

Teacher Created Resources:

York Region teacher Dan Grant uses animation in his junior classroom and penned an article a while back for ETFO's Voice magazine on Stop Motion in the classroom. The best collection of templates and instructional videos around is by teacher Kevin Hodgson. His animation website is terrific.

Update: This week we started storyboarding and creating backgrounds. A trip to No-Frills was necessary. Came back with about 40 cardboard boxes!

NFB - Digital Storytelling

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Fri, 7 Dec 2012 14:59:00 -0500

I was encouraged to read that NFB Montreal opened a new digital playground this week offering animation workshops and digital storytelling sessions for students.

Also offered are professional development workshop opportunities for teachers.

National Day of Listening - Friday November 27th

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:38:00 -0500

As an antidote to Black Friday, which follows the American Thanksgiving, Storycorps.org is suggesting that Friday November 27th, 2009 be a "National Day of Listening".

Here are a couple of guides if you decide this event would be a worthwhile part of your life:

1. Educator's Guide
2. Community Guide

And here is a more kids friendly guide on how to record stories.

Story Prompts - Going Deeper

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:36:00 -0500

One the most satisfying segments at yesterday's full day digital storytelling session, was during our initial sharing time.

Joe Lambert calls it a writing prompt. He has had success with it so I thought I'd try it. What happened was just short of amazing. 7 people shared personal, heartfelt moments in their lives.

You see, digital storytelling is all about going deeper. When we engage in a story circle with thoughts and moments from our lives that are decisive. When we talk about our major achievements, our setbacks, meeting a special person, the birth of a child, or the end of a relationship. These decisive moments make for deeper discussion and writing.

So that's what happened yesterday. The group spent about 30 minutes or so talking and sharing personal moments in their lives. There was something about the stories and the listening going on. Deeper, thoughtful, heartfelt. Real digital storytelling.

The participants then spent about 90 minutes crafting their narratives. This was difficult. Pacing, economy, depth, they're not easy to do in such a sort time span. But there they were: meaningful stories, ready for the storyboard and voiceover process.

I don't think I'll ever tire of full day digital storytelling sessions because they are about people's stories. How could anyone tire of hearing life stories? So many stories to tell. So many stories to hear.

The next session can't come soon enough.

Delicious and Twitter - digitalstoryca

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Sun, 8 Nov 2009 09:34:00 -0500

Digitalstory.ca is now using the social networking sites Delicious and Twitter.

I've used Delicious tagging to assist in finding a resource you may be looking for.

Hopefully, your search time will be minimized. I've tagged with the following headings: Books, Exemplars, Guides, Readings, Rubrics, Storyboards and Websites.

Digital Storytelling - Bibliography

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:19:00 -0400

Here's a short list of books about story and digital storytelling.

This list contains books I have read. I'm sure there are many more. Also, the books here are mostly about writing personal, compelling, nonfiction narratives.

I've added suggested chapters beneath each title which, in my humble opinion, are the gems of each book.

One book I'd like to add is Joe Lambert's book. The third edition is almost ready to be published. I'll update this list when it arrives. If you have any book title suggestions please let me know in the comments.

1. Hartley and McWilliam. Story Circle, Digital Storytelling Around the World. West Sussex, U.K. Blackwell, 2009.

Suggested: Chapter 18, page 252. Digital Storytelling in Education, An Emerging Institutional Technology? by Patrick Lowenthal

2. Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind, Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. New York, Penguin Group, 2005

Suggested: Chapter 5, page 98. Story

3. Porter, Bernajean. DigiTales, The Art of Telling Digital Stories. Colorado, 2004.

Suggested: Chapter 5, page 107. Stepping Through Making a Digital Story

4. Field, Billy. Make a Movie That Tells a Story. Alabama, 2000.

Suggested: Chapter 2, page 5. Story & Screenplay

5. Sheridan, Sherri. Developing Digital Short Films. Pearson, 2004

Suggested: Part 1, page 18. Digital Storytelling, Beginning the Story Concept Process

6. Ohler, Jason. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. Corwin, 2008.

Suggested: Chapter 8, page 107. Transformation Formations. How We, and the Characters in Our Stories, Change

7. McClean, Shilo T. Digital Storytelling. The Power of Visual Effects in Film. MIT Press, 2007.

Suggested: Chapter 2, page 15. Once upon a Time: Story and Storycraft

Digital Storytelling - 2nd and 3rd Grade

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:35:00 -0400

Last week I conducted a digital storytelling afternoon session with three teachers.

The session came about as a result of school learning team meetings back in June where "a sequence of photos that tells a story" was identified as the writing topic. You'll see the description of the writing task in this framework listed under the Media/Graphical heading. The category is Electronic.

Here are the steps we followed during our afternoon session.

1. I provided a laptop and a headset [microphone equipped] for each of the three teachers.

2. We worked in a teacher work area which minimized the sound distractions when recording the narratives.

3. We started with the written narrative. The group wrote mentor texts at the beginning of the session. They used personal photos as the visual to spur the writing. Three separate paragraphs were written with the following headings:

a) Infant/Baby

b) Pre School

c) School Age

The personal narratives described what may have been happening in the photo at the time it was taken, the other people in the photos and a number of different personal reflections.

4. After the narratives were written we printed hard copies. I've found that having the printed copy in your hand is a good way to go. The reader can read the story to get comfortable with the text before recording.

5. Once the teachers were comfortable reading the text we recorded each narrative using Audacity software and "Exported to .wav" to save the file. I like using Audacity to record the narrative. Audacity gives a clean and clear voice file. As well, we can use audacity to edit out any other sounds during the recording, like when the bell rings or when announcements are read on the P.A. system. With this voice file we can then import it later into the "movie making" program.

6. After we recorded our voice files, we headed over to the library where there was a computer and a scanner hooked up. We then scanned the three photos which had been brought to the session. I like to scan directly into Adobe Photoshop 7.0 because then you can edit and resize or crop the photo so it is not too big. One rule of thumb I use is adjust the photo to 640 x 480 as this is the size Windows Movie Maker likes.

7. With our voice files and photos ready we placed them in the correct folders to get started. This is important as Windows Movie Maker works best with the component parts or raw materials (the audio files and digital still files) in the right place. Here is the path for best results:

i. Photos: My Documents > My Pictures

ii. Audio Voice Narratives: My Documents> My Music

For some reason when you use Movie Maker to import these files, the default folder is always in My Documents.

8. We then opened Windows Movie Maker and saved the project. Again, the "save default" is My Videos. So you'll need to navigate to the correct folder to save if it doesn't point to My Videos when you click Save Project.

9. In Movie Maker we imported the digital still images and the voice files then dragged all the component parts down to the timeline.

10. The most interesting part of the process is matching the voice narrative with the images on the screen. This can be challenging. The trick is to adjust the amount of time the image stays on the screen. Movie Maker has a numbered timeline to make this easier.

11. We added a title at the beginning of the story and a few "fade" transitions along the way, and our digital stories were complete. Note: It is a good idea to do this along the way because when you add the transitions and titles at the end of the process it alters the voice/image sequence.

12. The final step is to "Save as Movie" During this process all the digital artifacts, voice, images, transitions and titles are rendered into one .wmv file which can then be played in Windows Media Player.

Next steps: Now that the teachers have the hang of it, we'll be conducting computer lab sessions with the students next week to give them the opportunity to create their own digital stories.

I'm looking forward to the next step in the process, working with teachers and students.

Photo Credit: Torres21 ; Creative Commons

Minds on Media - Digital Storytelling Day

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:30:00 -0400

Mark your calendars Ontario Teachers.

Wednesday November 11th, 2009

As a part of this fall's 3 day Educational Computing Organization of Ontario conference, a special day of Digital Storytelling and Multimedia Presentations has been arranged by Peter Skillen.

This BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) workshop will offer "a variety of learning centres focusing on planning, production, post-production, and exhibition of final media works to audiences - local or global"

The day will be in bricolage format. The several disciplines will include explorations of Podcasting, Comic Life, Inspiration, Youth Voices and of course Digital Storytelling with an emphasis on boys writing, offered by yours truly.

Here's the flyer for more information. Minds on Media Day

Why not join us for the day and we'll learn together!

Digital Stories - Marco Style

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Mon, 3 Aug 2009 08:27:00 -0400

Once again Marco Torres and his Alas Media crew has introduced teachers to the use of storytelling, visuals and personal narrative during a two day pre-conference session at Building Learning Communites 2009 in Boston last month.

What I like about Marco's brand of digital storytelling is how he has his participants select one of their passions as their topic and then write about it -- or visually display the passion with music and no words in some cases.

This is not an easy task to accomplish in two days. Not only do participants need to "bring along" raw materials [or search for them], but they need to write a narrative that makes sense, match it with music, then stitch it all together in short order.

Notice how the topic titles are usually one word titles which give a hint to the viewer about what the story will be about. Then, it is up to the author to tell the story. Empty, Afraid, Family, Passion, Drama, and Baseball are just a few of the titles. Simple and clear.

I'd really like to be in the classrooms of these 13 teachers this school year to be a part of the excitement as they share their new-found digital storytelling skills with their students. Wouldn't you?

View the latest batch. Best viewed in Safari or Firefox.

Search and Rescue - A Digital Speech

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:47:00 -0400

Our local Canadian Forces Base Anniversary Celebration was this past weekend.

This story is one of about 8 stories from a group of students I worked with this year in a 4th and 5th grade class. I was contacted by a teacher who thought that adding original digital stills and voiceover narration to the speeches her students were writing would add to the experience. Boy, did it ever!

I had the parents of these students tell me what an exciting time their children had creating their "digital speeches".

In this story, the student describes a scene in the Arctic. He didn't have to search creative commons for the photos. His dad was the pilot of the plane and provided the photos from one of his search and rescue missions.

As the student and I were finishing the story, his dad happened to stop by the school. We showed him the story. A very powerful and engaging 2 minutes of listening and watching followed. The look on the dad's face told it all.

Patrick Lowenthal's research on Digital Storytelling in the classroom, on page 252, Chapter 18 of "Story Circle, Digital Storytellling Around the world" supports this "digital speeches" project. Here is what he found:

Amplify Students' Voice

"Perhaps one of the greatest benefits is digital storytelling's ability to reach the many "unheard and unseen students" in our classrooms (Bull and Kajder 2004). Storytelling gives students voice (Burk 2000). However, digital storytelling can give students voice "in ways that are not possible without the technology" (Hofer and Swan 2006: 680) because it can amplify a students voice. Further, it can help give voice to struggling readers and writers. (Bull and Kajder 2004)

Digital Storytelling at NECC 2009

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Sat, 4 Jul 2009 07:42:00 -0400

Digital Storytelling networking was a focus for me at NECC 2009 this year in Washington D.C.

During a delightful lunch with Bernajean [that's me in the middle] in the Second Life gathering spot, we talked about how folks are looking to write and experience stories which go deeper or higher. I mentioned that in a recent ETFO ICT mini-conference the DST sessions were the ones that were filled to capacity and had wait lists. Could it be that during these challenging economic times, people are longing to tell their story?

At Bernajean's poster session I bumped into Stevie Kline, a Technology Integrator and Teacher Trainer in Pennsylvania. She told me [with tears flowing] how attending Bernajean's digital storytelling camp in Colorado had changed her life and how creating a digital story about her father, was such a moving experience.

I also had a chance to speak with Jon Orech, a digital storyteller from Illinois. Jon talked about how he got started in DST and that he was fortunate to have a session with Joe Lambert at Berkeley. Jon talked about the first three characteristics of Joe Lambert's method; Point of View, Dramatic Question and Emotional Content and gave masterful explanations of how to skillfully get students and adults to write using these concepts.

I attended the DST "Birds of a Feather"session and was able to get first hand glimpse of the Video Nation, Frontline PBS connection to DST. This is a collection of stories on how technology has changed the lives of our youth. Rachel Dretzin was at the session and explained the PBS involvement and that they will be collecting stories along the way and producing a PBS Special in January of 2010 which will be a follow-up to the popular Growing Up On-line special.

All in all, a very rewarding experience on the digital storytelling front at NECC 2009. Now, time to reflect on all the great DST learning before my next session.

Story or Storytelling?

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:09:00 -0400

Bernajean Porter tweeted a link yesterday to an article she wrote about digital storytelling. Here's why this is not just another article to read. Let me explain.

WebQuests and Digital Storytelling have been two of my interests for many years.

Americans Bernie Dodge and Tom March, from San Diego State, created the WebQuest method in 1995 and Dana Atchley has been credited for starting the Digital Storytelling movement back in 1993 which was later adapted and refined by Joe Lambert in the late '90s.

Why these two examples?

Well, as many of us who work with teachers and students do as early adopters, we try the latest method with the hopes of engaging and motivating teachers and students to go deeper in their daily school work and have a meaningful learning experience. But do we really get it? [read me]

I remember my first WebQuest attempt back in 1999 being no more than an electronic scavenger hunt. Bernie Dodge's method requires higher order thinking and transformation of knowledge. I remember my first digital story was really just a retell of a story about my Grandfather. Bernajean talks about living in your story and lessons learned.

So what do Bernie Dodge and Bernajean Porter have in common?

Well, they articulate in various ways, through websites, podcasts, articles and books, just what it takes to create a WebQuest or Digital Story. They talk about what is required to go deeper. These two methods of communication require a deeper understanding that, for me, didn't happen right away. After all, I was trying to make sense of it from books, podcasts, articles and the exemplars offered having not sat in on a session by Bernajean or Bernie.

Bernajean explains the elements of digital storytelling very well in the article above. For me, this is good timing as I prepare another resource for the provincial level. For many of us who will be attending NECC in D.C. this is also good timing before our "Birds of a Feather" meetup with Bernajean next Tuesday.

So, if you want to "go deeper" when you create a digital story, I suggest you read Bernajean's article or better yet, listen as she explains the process . Bernajean explains the difference between stories and storytelling.

If you are like me, you'll need it repeated over and over again to get it just right.

Digital Storytelling - Gr. 7 to 9 History

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:49:00 -0400

"..they had students produce a series of digital images to visually communicate meaning and provide a narration for the video.."

Source: M.D. Roblyer, 4th edition, 2006, page 298.

Many of us have either read an edition of M.D. Roblyer's Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching, or purchased our own copy.

Back in May of 2000 the 2nd edition of this book was my very first Amazon.com purchase. Back then, there were no mentions of digital storytelling.

I am happy to note that digital storytelling, and some various morphs of the original craft, is mentioned on the following pages of the 4th edition:

Pages 297 - 298: Producing series of digital images.
Pages 253 and 354: As a top 10 strategy for technology in social studies.
Pages 358 - 359: As a strategy during the study of history.

On page 358 of the 4th edition digital storytelling is defined as:

"..the process of using images and audio to tell the stories of lives, events, or eras. With this technique, students use personal narrative to explore community-based history, politics, economics, and geography. These projects offer students the opportunity to make their own lives a part of their scholarly research."

This quote is listed as part of a technology integration idea for the study of Anne Frank in 7th to 9th grade history.

The possibilities are many!

Story Circle - Digital Storytelling Around the World

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:10:00 -0400

Update: I was very surprised to find my very first digital storytelling project listed in this book on page 40. It is the one run in 2006 in Belleville, Ontario.

Gareth Morlais talked about this book on his blog a while back and after trying to find the least expensive price, it has arrived today. I think this may be the book I've been waiting for.

As I've mentioned before, I got hooked on digital storytelling back in 2004 when I discovered the Scott County digital stories. Just a year later during the winter of 2004-2005, I brought digital storytelling to our school district after putting together a digital storytelling proposal which ended up to be a digital storytelling writers' workshop, day long session in 8 different locations for enrichment writers. In all we taught about 128 children how to tell a compelling digital story about their lives.

Fast forward to 2009 and Story Circle, Digital Storytelling Around the World, edited by J. Hartley and K. McWilliam has been published.

After having read the 5 page list of contributors, which reads like a Who's Who of digital storytellers, I really can't wait to get started reading this one. Here are the names of two contributors from the list.

Joe Lambert Co-Founder and Executive Director, Center for Digtial Storytelling.
Daniel Meadows, Creative Director, Capture Wales 2001 to 2006.

Usually I flick to the chapter I think will interest me most - - not this time. For me this will be a cover-to-cover read. That way I can prolong the fun!

So, if you decide to check this book out of your local library or purchase it, I'd like the opportunity to have a conversation with you about anything from the book. We could start here in the comments section or create a wiki or a book-blog.

There are a couple of good quotes on the back cover, but I won't spoil your fun and write them here just in case you decide to read this one!

Note: Go ahead and use any of the ideas from my digital storytelling proposal if you wish.

CBC Digital Archives - Primary Sources

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 20:51:00 -0400

"The most powerful way to immerse students in critical thinking using digital video is to engage them in student authorship - - that is, creating video. As students compose a documentary using historical artifacts, they learn the content, develop their research and primary-source analysis skills, and even come to understand the interpretive nature of historical accounts."

Quote by T.C. Hammond and J. Lee

With the 65 anniversary of D Day just a couple of days away - "The sun was just coming up over the Normandy coast at about 5 a.m. on June 6, 1944 – D-Day." there is no better way to introduce our students to this event than by using our historical archives.

The CBC Digital Archives has 13 television clips and 14 radio clips on the topic. Primary sources at hand for our young people. Why not have our students create a special video using materials from the archives.

Developing Digital Short Films

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 08:35:00 -0400

One of my favourite reference guides in my digital storytelling library is a book by Sherri Sheridan: Developing Digital Short Films.

The book is divided into 4 parts with part 1 devoted to Digital Storytelling. This section is packed with ideas, quotes, graphics, charts, notes, and suggestions.

Here are a couple of quotes from page 18:

The first and primary goal of a filmmaker is to evoke a series of strong emotional responses from the audience throughout the entire story.
You engage the audience when you tell the truth emotionally based on your own experiences and original insights about life in your film.

On page 27 there are some well written questions on "Being a Filmmaker".
"It's a great responsibility to be a filmmaker....

1. How do you want people to feel when they see your film?
2. What emotional responses are you trying to evoke?
3. What are the new themes for the 21st century that you are passionate about developing in your own stories?"

Page 36 speaks to how people often choose films based on what type of emotional ride or world they are craving to experience. The author calls this segment: "Story Flavors: 37 Varieties" - - Many topics are defined including historical, personal, societal, biographical.

So, I recommend this book to you. Perhaps your local library has a copy. Well worth reading.

Telling Stories with Video

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Tue, 2 Jun 2009 11:19:00 -0400

I was very encouraged to see the June/July 2009 Learning & Leading with Technology magazine's Learning Connections segment.

This month's segment devotes a full 10 pages to using video in the classroom. Here's the link to my favourite of the lot.

Telling Stories with Video

by Carl A. Young and Sara Kajder

Professors Young and Kajder write about how important video is as a part of students' multimodal learning. Here's a quote from the article.

"integrating visual images with written text, as done in most digital stories and multimodal compositions, enhances and accelerates comprehension. Meaning here is more layered, interactive and complex. Text and pictures often convey more meaning when juxtaposed. This effect is further intensified with digital video, where motion, design, and interactivity are added to the mix."

Presenters on the Road

digitalstoryca@gmail.com (Kent Manning) — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:44:00 -0400

Digital Storytelling Workshops - E.T.F.O. Provincial

I've been accepted as an E.T.F.O. Presenter on the Road for the 2009-2010 school year. What this means is that if your school or district would like to conduct a digital storytelling workshop then all you would need to do is download and complete this workshop request form.

My original proposal was to conduct day long workshops. During my conversation yesterday with E.T.F.O. provincial, there was some interest in after school sessions.

Hope to see you at one of the sessions!

E.T.F.O. = Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario