AN INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL STORYTELLINGJeremy Anderson

Courtney McKenna

Tracy Van Oss

What are digital stories?

Multimedia narratives

Audio: music, sound effects, narration

Visual: videos, images, text

Typically 3-10 minutes in length

Why assess with digital stories?• Engender active learning• Increase Reflection• Engage emotions• Encourage service learning• Repackage text-based skills• Improve digital literacy

DIGITAL STORIESAnd the Learning Paradigm

Written Communication

Script with a purpose

OralCommunication

Narrate with purpose & emotion

Critical Thinking & Reasoning

Synthesize media into a cohesive product

Visual Literacy

Select images to serve a purpose and to tell a story

DIGITAL STORIESExamples and samples

Digital Stories as Reflective Pieces

Courtney McKenna, QUSS instructor

• Weekly blogs – using blog tool in Blackboard• Reflect on class discussion• Triangulate topics from other courses• Comment on current events• Identify what was most important to the student each week

• Digital Story:• Synthesis of blogs to show personal or intellectual transformation

throughout the semester• Camtasia Relay – or other software familiar to student

Reflection – Student Example• https://capture.quinnipiac.edu/recordings/lagoldstein/QU101/QU101_-

_Flash_(Large)_-_20111207_05.26.18PM.html

Lessons Learned• Student feedback

• Enjoyed going back to review blogs• Helped put the semester into perspective• “Not another paper!”

• Lessons learned• Need to push students to not be so literal with the “recap”• May require the inclusion of outside materials

• Other courses• Events

• In class showcase?

Digital Story & Photovoice for Service Learning

Tracy Van Oss, DHSc, OTR/L

Digital storytelling was final project for a service learning course incorporating photos with narration:• Youth Day Fair at the Yale Bowl• North Haven Fire Department Bike Safety Day• International Walk To School Day • St. Andrews Children Fair• Halloween Safety at Keefe Center

Service Learning – Student Example

YouTube

Photovoice as Service Learning• Photovoice was a grant funded project to capture images

and narration from the child’s perspective to assess a need for change of the environment in Hamden, CT.

“I saw a crack in the sidewalk and someone might trip”

Other potential uses• History: archival footage/images• Current events: interviews, documentary images• Personal narratives• Case studies

Digital Stories as Personal Narratives

All the Truly Important Things…Eric Zheng (pseudonym); part of “Taking Root: Our Stories, Our Community”

YouTube

Digital Stories as Current Events

YouTubeEvolution of Education: The PresentKatelyn Stoll, Bridget Figmic, Bree Gooley, Katie Thompson; students ED 311

Birth of a Nation as Racial PropagandaMary Corrado, student; QU 201

Digital Stories as History

Wordless Sound in Antebellum African-American SongBrian Noell, instructor; QUSS

YouTube

WORKFLOW & TOOLSFor digital story projects

What is the workflow?

Write script &

storyboard

Record narration

Select images, music,

videos, text

Combine narration and other

media

Tools for creating/collecting media

Record narration• QuickTime, iMovie, Sound Recorder

Find…• Images

• Flickr Commons & Creative Commons

• Videos• Flip Video Cameras, YouTube, Vimeo

• Music• Jamendo, ccMixter

• Sound effects• Freesound, SoundBible

Mac

Windows

Tools for finalizing/combining media• Edit images

• iPhoto, Live Photo Gallery

• Edit/record video• iMovie, Live Movie Maker• Camtasia Relay

• Share product• Publish to YouTube• Share Camtasia link

Mac

Windows

Tips, tricks, & suggestions• Provide support for tools• Make sure hardware is accessible• Choose a good microphone• Encourage process writing

• Have check-in assignments

• Smaller groups (3-4 students)• Plan a showcase

Resources for faculty & students• AT’s Multimedia support page• Instructional Technologists

• Jeremy, Monica, Gary, Christina

• Technology Center – Flip Cams, tripods, etc.• The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling

• University of Houston