Digital Storytelling
What is Digital Storytelling?
 Combining the art of telling stories with some
mixture of digital graphics, text, recorded audio
narration, video and music to present information
on a specific topic.
 Revolve around a theme and often contain a
particular viewpoint; stories are typically just a few
minutes long. (Robin, n.d.)
Types of digital stories
 Personal narratives
 Examination of Historical Themes and Events
 Stories that Inform or Instruct (Robin, n.d.)
Types of Digital Stories -1
• Personal Narratives :
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•
•
•
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Character Stories – explore how we love, who we are inspired by, and the importance of
finding meaning in our relationships.
Memorial Stories – deal with memories of people who are no longer with us. These
stories are often difficult but are emotionally powerful and can help with the grieving
process.
Stories about Events in Our Lives
– Adventure Stories – revolve around places we visit and adventures we have in our
travels.
– Accomplishment Stories – deal with achieving goals and understanding defining
moments in our lives.
Stories about Places in Our Lives – examine the important places in our lives: our homes,
our towns, and our experiences that connect us to our communities.
Stories about What We Do – allow us to talk about our jobs, professions and careers in
terms of how we value and find meaning in the work we do.
Other Personal Stories
– Recovery Stories – deal with how we overcome great obstacles and challenges in our
lives.
– Love Stories – provide us with an opportunity to share some of the most meaningful
parts of our lives with the people we most cherish.
– Discovery Stories – let us reflect on what we have learned and illustrate our journeys
of discovery. (Lambert, 2007)
Types of Digital Stories -2
 Examination of Historical Themes and Events
 Based
on Material Students Explore
 Facilitates
 Needs
Research and Organizational Skills
to Go Beyond the Digitized “MTV Video” or
the “Encyclopedia Entry” (Robin, n.d.)
Types of Digital Stories -3
 Stories that Inform or Instruct

Can be Argued that All Digital Stories Inform (or Instruct)

But the Distinction is that Digital Stories Can Be Created that
Deliver Instructional Content on Many Different Topics,
Including: Math, Science, Language Arts, Medicine, etc.
(Robin, n.d.)
Why digital stories?
An Effective Tool for Teachers
 Stories Created by Teachers Can Serve:
 As
a Lesson Hook
 As a Way to Integrate Multimedia into the
Curriculum
 As a Way to Make Difficult Content More
Understandable
 To Facilitate Classroom Discussion (Robin,
n.d.)
 …?
An Effective Learning Tool
for Students
 Research Skills
 Writing Skills
 Organization Skills
 Technology Skills
 Presentation Skills
 Interview Skills
 Interpersonal Skills
 Problem-Solving Skills
 Assessment Skills (Robin, n.d.)
Student Literacies
 Digital Literacy
 Technology Literacy
 Visual Literacy
 Information Literacy (Robin, n.d.)
Examples
 Personal Narratives


Almost Paradise
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/movie_personal_reflection_01.html
The Computer and I
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/movie_personal_reflection_03.html
 Examples of Historical Digital Stories


The Gettysburg Address
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/movie_social_studies_04.html
The Holocaust
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/movie_social_studies_06.html
 Examples of Stories that Inform or Instruct

To Kill a Mockingbird
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/movie_language_01.html

The Pythagorean Theorum
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/movie_mathematics_02.html
What makes a good digital story?
Seven Elements of Effective Digital Storytelling
 a point of view
 a dramatic question
 emotional content
 economy
 pacing
 the gift of your voice (narration)
 an accompanying soundtrack (Lambert, 2007)
Developing a Digital Story
Process
• Writing
o
o
Script
Storyboard
• Preparing
o
Gather materials (images, audio, video)
• Constructing
o
o
o
Assemble materials in Movie Maker
Record narration from script
Save in a shareable format
Process: Writing
 Script
Your story idea
 Gets turned into the narration that you will record to go
with your images

 Storyboard
Adding in visual aspect (images)
 In narrative order

Seven Elements of Effective Digital Storytelling
 a point of view
 a dramatic question
 emotional content
 economy
 pacing
 the gift of your voice
 an accompanying soundtrack (Lambert, 2007)
What it boils down to…
 Writing an effective narrative (does it have a
beginning, middle, end?)
 Communicating it effectively via images and sound
(narrative, music)
 …consider your audience’s perspective
Scripting Brainstorming Exercise
 Story Prompt: What is an important moment in the
history of your relationship to technology?
 Task: You have 10 minutes to fill out the front and
back of this index card. Pretend that your index card
is a postcard. Choose a person that you think this
story is for, and write them a postcard about the
story. Start with “Dear ________.”
Process: Preparing
 Finding Images
o Google
o Picsearch
o AltaVista
o Fotolia (free clip art)
 Finding Audio
o AltaVista
Process: Preparing:
About Copyright and Fair Use
 Copyright: Must have written permission from author
 Fair Use: Provides loose guidelines for when material
may be used without written permission from copyright
holder



Time (up to 2 years)
Permissible amounts
Distribution (don’t put on the web!)
 Code of Best Practices for Fair Use (video from The
Center for Social Media)
Types of media and permissible amounts
 Motion media:
 Up to 10 percent of the total or three minutes, whichever is less.
 Text material:
 Up to 10 percent of the total or 1,000 words, whichever is less.
 An entire poem of less than 250 words may be used, but no more than
three poems by one poet or five poems by different authors in an
anthology. For poems exceeding 250 words, 250 words should be used
but no more than three excerpts from one poet or five excerpts from
different poets in the same work
 Music, lyrics, and music video:
 up to 10 percent of the work but no more than 30 seconds of the music
or lyrics from an individual musical work.
(http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.shtml#whatis)
Types of media and permissible amounts
 Illustrations or photographs:
 no more than five images from one artist or photographer.
 no more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, from a collection.
 Numerical data sets:
 up to 10 percent or 2,500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less, from a
copyrighted database or data table.
 Copying of a multimedia project:
 no more than two copies may be made of a project.
(http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.shtml#whatis)
 Bottom Line: Be Careful! And Credit Your Sources.
Process: Constructing
 Create project folder and images sub-folder
 Lay down narration track
 Import images into project
 Add images to video track and adjust pacing
 Add transitions, title and credits (& effects, if time
permits)
 Rendering your movie - save as .wmv file
 (Add sound, if time)
Seven Elements of Effective Digital Storytelling
 a point of view
 a dramatic question
 emotional content
 economy
 pacing
 the gift of your voice
 an accompanying soundtrack (Lambert, 2007)