“Stories are the large and small instruments of meaning, of explanation, that we store in our memories.”

Joe Lambert / Roger Schank

“Tell me a factand I’ll learn.Tell me a truth and I’ll believe.Tell me a story and I’ll remember forever.”

Saying

Storytelling in the Age of the Internet

NERCOMP 2007

Gail Matthews-DeNataleAssociate Director

Lesley WeimanTechnical Training Consultant

Jamie TraynorProduction Specialist

Academic Technology, Simmons College

Storytelling in the Age of the Internet

AdditionalPerspectives

Rachel FranchiSophomore

Vaughn RogersSophomore

Ellen GoodmanSSW Field Education Faculty

Presentation Overview

1. What are digital stories?

2. Writing and digital storytelling

3. Value for higher education

4. Designing assignments

5. Tips and recommendations for support

Part I

What are digital stories?

A Tale of Two Types of Digital Stories• Story Maps (a mash-up)

http://at.simmons.edu/boston_story_map/2005.html (first year, first semester, short first assignment)

http://at.simmons.edu/mcc101/worldmap.html(culminating experience, end of semester)

• Digital Stories (short iMovie productions)

Faculty-Produced Story(faculty institute)

Storytelling + Digital Media + Internet

Faculty-Produced Digital Story

Reflection on an Unresolved Life ExperienceVIEW ELLEN GOODMAN VIDEO

Part II

What’s the similarity and difference between writing and digital storytelling?

Storytelling in the Age of the Internet

“Digital stories” are manifestations (evidence) of student thought

But the same can be said of writing. What’s so special about digital storytelling?

Digital Storytelling and Writing

Flow, Senses, Represent Internal/ExternalVIEW VIDEO CLIP #1

Story-Making • Experience, Reflect

(personal)

• Early Tellings (for family/friends)

• Interim Tellings (for wider circle)

• Personal Repertoire (for community-at-large)

• Collective Repertoire (enters collective wisdom)

Writing/Publishing• Experience, Free Writing

(personal)

• Topic Idea (run by teacher/peers)

• Drafts One, Two, etc., (feedback from teacher, peers)

• Publication (range of venues)

• Enters Knowledge Base (cited)

Parallels in the “Composition” Process

Part III

What’s the value of (digital) storytelling for higher education?

Challenging Questions for Educators

How can we help students increase the amount of time they devote to reflection and critical thinking?

How can we help students articulate what they are learning?

How can we help students remember and care about learning?

The Value of Digital Storytelling

Memorable, Reflective, Transformative …VIEW VIDEO CLIP #2

•Combines visual, aural, and kinesthetic learning

•Iterative production process encourages revisiting, reflecting on meaning

•Increases literacy/fluency across media

•Connects prior life experiences, course, and other co-curricular learning

•Can be shared beyond academia

The Value of Digital Story-Making

Story-Making Learning Cycle

Reflection& Analysis

Share withOthers

Experience

Deeper PersonalUnderstanding

FutureStories

Part IV

What's involved in designing digital storytelling assignments?

Story-Making vs. Digital Story-Making

Story-Making

• Experience, reflect

• Early Tellings

• Interim Tellings

• Personal Repertoire

• Collective Repertoire

Digital Story-Making

• Experience, reflect

• Select, share idea, preliminary feedback

• Collect images/sounds, develop script/storyboard

• Create, screen for peers, reflect on experience

• DVD / Internet

• View and Analyze Others’ Stories(move from passive consumer to thoughtful critic)

• Select/Reflect on the Experience to “Tell” (peer feedback)

• Collect Materials to Tell the Story (photos, video, audio)

• Develop Script and Storyboard (reflect, pare down, “sneakernet” feedback)

• Software Training

• Produce Story

• Screen and Reflect on the Experience

Design Assignment to Scaffold Process

A Word on the Value of Rubrics

Storyboard/Script FeedbackCriteria

Outstanding Satisfactory Poor Why?

Has A Point (of View)- purpose- stance

Engaging- interesting- surprising- thought-provoking

Quality Script/Voice- well spoken- good pacing- music, if any, furthers message

Use of Images/Video- w. voice, adds new dimension- visual flow

Wise Economy/Detail- pacing- pare away AND- dig deeper

Part V

What are the “lessons learned,” our tips and recommendations for support?

Digital Story-making Entails

•2/4 planning

•1/4 software training

•1/4 hands-on production

The Importance of Planning

• Value/interest may need to be proven

• Long-term commitment to awareness-building through faculty lunches, workshops, institutes, conversations

• Faculty don’t usually understand the time commitment (for themselves and for students) until they’ve had the experience

Awareness and Capacity-Building

• Policies and guidelines

• Road-tested handouts, workshops, and resource modules

• External drives and digital cameras

• Staffed “project lab” sessions

• Be prepared for “one offs”

• Strategies - teams, optional assignment

Infrastructure and Support

Final Thoughts

Using ALL of Our BrainsVIEW VIDEO CLIP #3

“Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts. ”

Salman Rushdie

Final Words