Digital Storytelling Inquiry
I tell a story, and therefore I exist. ~Shekhar Kapur
Storytelling is always something that has intrigued me. I loved listening to stories as a child, and I loved writing stories (though I never thought they were all that good). I know that stories have been told since the beginning of mankind, through cave paintings, oral culture, drama, music, text, images, and so many other mediums, stories have been told. In the digital age, there is no reason why storytelling and story writing cannot be created using technology. I know this is not a completely new concept, but I am interested in how it works, how practical it is, where it can be used, and the implications it has on my teaching as an English Language Arts teacher (and potentially a Computer Science/Multimedia teacher as well).
What is Digital Storytelling?
Well.. what is storytelling? Simple... the telling of a story!
What is digital? This one made me think a little actually. I think that is an important thing to note though. Instead of Googling a way to describe "digital", I went through my own vocabulary and came up with some words that include the world digital. The most relevant word/concept that came up was "The Digital Divide", which we talked about largely in my high school World Issues class. In this case, digital refers to information and communication technologies.
So, putting these two together then, a definition can be formed.
Digital Storytelling - Telling a story through information and communication technologies
What is digital? This one made me think a little actually. I think that is an important thing to note though. Instead of Googling a way to describe "digital", I went through my own vocabulary and came up with some words that include the world digital. The most relevant word/concept that came up was "The Digital Divide", which we talked about largely in my high school World Issues class. In this case, digital refers to information and communication technologies.
So, putting these two together then, a definition can be formed.
Digital Storytelling - Telling a story through information and communication technologies
How it works...
Through making my own digital story, I was able to figure out a little bit more about how digital storytelling works. What I came to realize is the process is quite similar to writing a story with pen and paper. There needs to be a plot line or a decided upon order of events, there needs to be characters, a topic, and/or a central idea, and there needs to be a degree of creativity or personal touches from the author to make it truly fantastic. There needs to be story map or plan before starting. If the story is going to contain a verbal story (so not just a musical background), the script should be written before the images or video are added. Through an editing process the audio, video, and images are all incorporated together to create a digital piece (likely something resembling a short movie). What I also like is that digital storytelling becomes it extremely relevant to the 21st century storyteller.
The next question would logically be.... but really...how?!? What kind of technologies can help me do this?!?
I personally really enjoy Windows Movie Maker and have made most of my digital stories though that platform, and iMovie works well for it too. Both of these products are easy to catch onto (which means they won't be a huge hurdle for our students to learn either!), and work well to integrate video, images, and audio.
For audio, Garageband and Audacity are both great for voice recording and adding background music. I also was thinking about the possibilities of using produced music with words as a background. Would this mean that music videos are digital stories in a sense then too? I guess so!
The kinds of digital stories that can be created are nearly endless. Think of all the different kinds of stories you have read. Biographies, novels, short stories, poems, epics, histories, etc. There is no reason that these stories can not be told in a digital format as well.
The next question would logically be.... but really...how?!? What kind of technologies can help me do this?!?
I personally really enjoy Windows Movie Maker and have made most of my digital stories though that platform, and iMovie works well for it too. Both of these products are easy to catch onto (which means they won't be a huge hurdle for our students to learn either!), and work well to integrate video, images, and audio.
For audio, Garageband and Audacity are both great for voice recording and adding background music. I also was thinking about the possibilities of using produced music with words as a background. Would this mean that music videos are digital stories in a sense then too? I guess so!
The kinds of digital stories that can be created are nearly endless. Think of all the different kinds of stories you have read. Biographies, novels, short stories, poems, epics, histories, etc. There is no reason that these stories can not be told in a digital format as well.
How practical is it?
In creating my own digital stories, I paid very close attention to time and frustration levels, as well as my engagement level and enjoyment level. When presenting my digital stories to my class, I looked closely at how attentive students were while listening to my digital story. I would have liked to look at comprehension and enjoyment level, but I did not have the opportunity to collect formal data on this.
~Time and Frustration Level~
I limited myself to 4 hours maximum on creating my digital stories. If I think about how much time students should take on creating a 3-5 page story with process work, drafts, editing (self and peer), and creating a polished final copy, it would probably be exceed 4 class periods. Give this, I would not be afraid of using the technology in my classroom to create digital stories since I think every step that is taken in writing a story is also used in the process of creating a digital story. In terms of frustration with the technology, yes there will be some. But won't there also be lost paper copies, processes that take longer that expected, and frustration that come along with the creative portions of making a story. I actually found my creativity to flourish slightly more with the use of technology because I found I could express myself with more than words.
~ Engagement and Enjoyment ~
As I mentioned in my blog post about this topic, students want to create, not just consume the digital medias. This includes music videos (which can be seen through Sean Quigley's video), popular content on the internet (such as the Harlem Shake), creating social media profiles, etc. Our student are already engaged in the digital medias and creating products to put on the internet. Why not tap into this interest? They are engaged in it anyway, and they would not be doing it on their spare time if they did not enjoy it. I think digital storytelling can really turn students on to writing more, thinking about connections more, and being much more engaged while doing it.
~The Audience~
English Language Arts is a mandatory class all through high school, so naturally there will be a handful of kids in each and every class that either do not like reading or do not like writing, or both! I have also taught short stories or novels to students where we read aloud as a class and there are a few students that look like they are attentive and engaged in the story, but most students look as though they are about to fall asleep, and some students are actually asleep. I have also had it where students share their written work with each other and again, some students love it, but the majority are disengaged. When observing the class when I presented my digital stories, I noticed that nearly the entire class was attentive. From the people I talked to following my presentation, it seemed as though they enjoyed the stories and learned something about me through them, which was the intention. If I would have simply stood up at the front of the room reading a story, I don't think the class would have been as engaged.
~Time and Frustration Level~
I limited myself to 4 hours maximum on creating my digital stories. If I think about how much time students should take on creating a 3-5 page story with process work, drafts, editing (self and peer), and creating a polished final copy, it would probably be exceed 4 class periods. Give this, I would not be afraid of using the technology in my classroom to create digital stories since I think every step that is taken in writing a story is also used in the process of creating a digital story. In terms of frustration with the technology, yes there will be some. But won't there also be lost paper copies, processes that take longer that expected, and frustration that come along with the creative portions of making a story. I actually found my creativity to flourish slightly more with the use of technology because I found I could express myself with more than words.
~ Engagement and Enjoyment ~
As I mentioned in my blog post about this topic, students want to create, not just consume the digital medias. This includes music videos (which can be seen through Sean Quigley's video), popular content on the internet (such as the Harlem Shake), creating social media profiles, etc. Our student are already engaged in the digital medias and creating products to put on the internet. Why not tap into this interest? They are engaged in it anyway, and they would not be doing it on their spare time if they did not enjoy it. I think digital storytelling can really turn students on to writing more, thinking about connections more, and being much more engaged while doing it.
~The Audience~
English Language Arts is a mandatory class all through high school, so naturally there will be a handful of kids in each and every class that either do not like reading or do not like writing, or both! I have also taught short stories or novels to students where we read aloud as a class and there are a few students that look like they are attentive and engaged in the story, but most students look as though they are about to fall asleep, and some students are actually asleep. I have also had it where students share their written work with each other and again, some students love it, but the majority are disengaged. When observing the class when I presented my digital stories, I noticed that nearly the entire class was attentive. From the people I talked to following my presentation, it seemed as though they enjoyed the stories and learned something about me through them, which was the intention. If I would have simply stood up at the front of the room reading a story, I don't think the class would have been as engaged.
Where and in what ways can digital storytelling be used?
Though I already mentioned that the ways the digital storytelling can be used is nearly endless, I want to include some of the ideas that I came up with through thinking about digital storytelling and through creating my own digital story.
- Field trip - A story made about the field trip, encompassing images of the place visited, voice-over explaining the connections and confusing concepts, and interesting things that students found from the trip.
- Computer Programming - Creating a story in a 'programming language' such as Scratch, Alice, or Kodu. Either building upon a game development aspect, or just focusing on the story, I think there is lots of potential here for cross-curricular activities (if only computer programming was a mandatory class...)
- In a short form with animations (using GoAnimate, Animoto, Powtoons, etc.)
- Used in multiple forms (just video and music, just audio, video and audio combined, a combination of both) to change the emotion or effect given
- Through multiple perspectives. Using images etc. I think that students may have an easier time taking on a perspective other than their own, and through actually speaking as someone else, there may be more connections and learning then there may be by just writing
- In any content area - Really wherever there is a character, a place, or a topic. Stories are made about everything! I actually cannot come up with a time where digital storytelling would not work!
Implications for Teaching
Through my education degree, the biggest thing I think I have come to realize to be a crucial part of teaching is to make the learning have a purpose and have meaning for individual students. The students have to care about their learning to actually get anything from it. As much as I hate the word, it may just fit here. The learning and the activities are more useful and meaningful to students when they are 'authentic'.
Digital Storytelling has lots opportunities to be authentic, personal, and to be meaningful for students. It is not like short stories that often get shoved in a binder and end up somewhere in the trash. They can be publish for an audience without having to be approved by a publisher. Yes, students could also publish written stories online, but if you have made it this far into this written description, I would actually be very impressed. Students (and people in general) watch and listen to information much more often than they read it, especially with the technology boom, and the portable devices which give people the ability to consume more than a newspaper on the bus, sitting in the park, or nearly anywhere in the world. Since reading can be integrated into these stories, considering digital formats other than traditional text would cater to the interests of students.
Another thing this has really started me thinking about is what my purpose as the teacher is. Upon presenting to the class I noticed that students were more engaged when I showed them a video. Yes, this entire page would probably be more engaging if it was on a video too. Just think of that. If everyone is more engaged in videos and I am up at the front of the class talking in person, showing a PowerPoint with text, giving students verbal instructions for assignments which is also written in text at the top of a type written handout, is this the best way to teach? One teaching period is a story in a sense. There is a plot, there are characters, it's just non-fiction. If students are engaged in the video and not in me talking, why do I insist on talking everyday when they would rather see me in a video? It is the whole idea of moving students from engaged in the content to actually thinking about it. I really do believe that students must be engaged before they can step into the thinking phase. How can you think about something thoroughly and in-depth without being engaged in the topic first. I know there were many presentations that talked about this concept in terms of marketing education and getting students engaged in classroom management, and all of these presentations have kept me thinking about where digital media and more particularly, digital storytelling fits in this. Storytelling is something that is taught all through school, and by high school I'm sure students are just going through the motions, not thinking about what they are doing, what the emotions and ideas of the story are doing to impact the reader. Digital storytelling may just fill this void. With the digital story I created for my mom's birthday there is an emotion that is portrayed and there is an impact that results from it that would not have resulted from a card or written letter. The story ties in the listening, viewing, and representing strands of English Language Arts, not just the reading and writing that are part of the other two formats.
I feel as though there is so much depth and areas to explore in the topic of digital storytelling, and I would certainly use it in my classroom. If storytelling has stuck around since near the beginning of humanity it won't be leaving any time soon. Digital storytelling may just become a fad, but I like that if it is a way to keep the culture of storytelling alive and it can be a way to make it relevant for the 21st century learning.
My blog has more information, including the digital stories I created and more background about why digital storytelling is relevant for students, including why I was interested in this topic.
Reading material I explore to get more information:
http://www.storycenter.org/
http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/digital_storytelling.aspx
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/12484/Digital_Storytelling__Using_Technology_in_the_Classroom.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7021.pdf
Digital Storytelling has lots opportunities to be authentic, personal, and to be meaningful for students. It is not like short stories that often get shoved in a binder and end up somewhere in the trash. They can be publish for an audience without having to be approved by a publisher. Yes, students could also publish written stories online, but if you have made it this far into this written description, I would actually be very impressed. Students (and people in general) watch and listen to information much more often than they read it, especially with the technology boom, and the portable devices which give people the ability to consume more than a newspaper on the bus, sitting in the park, or nearly anywhere in the world. Since reading can be integrated into these stories, considering digital formats other than traditional text would cater to the interests of students.
Another thing this has really started me thinking about is what my purpose as the teacher is. Upon presenting to the class I noticed that students were more engaged when I showed them a video. Yes, this entire page would probably be more engaging if it was on a video too. Just think of that. If everyone is more engaged in videos and I am up at the front of the class talking in person, showing a PowerPoint with text, giving students verbal instructions for assignments which is also written in text at the top of a type written handout, is this the best way to teach? One teaching period is a story in a sense. There is a plot, there are characters, it's just non-fiction. If students are engaged in the video and not in me talking, why do I insist on talking everyday when they would rather see me in a video? It is the whole idea of moving students from engaged in the content to actually thinking about it. I really do believe that students must be engaged before they can step into the thinking phase. How can you think about something thoroughly and in-depth without being engaged in the topic first. I know there were many presentations that talked about this concept in terms of marketing education and getting students engaged in classroom management, and all of these presentations have kept me thinking about where digital media and more particularly, digital storytelling fits in this. Storytelling is something that is taught all through school, and by high school I'm sure students are just going through the motions, not thinking about what they are doing, what the emotions and ideas of the story are doing to impact the reader. Digital storytelling may just fill this void. With the digital story I created for my mom's birthday there is an emotion that is portrayed and there is an impact that results from it that would not have resulted from a card or written letter. The story ties in the listening, viewing, and representing strands of English Language Arts, not just the reading and writing that are part of the other two formats.
I feel as though there is so much depth and areas to explore in the topic of digital storytelling, and I would certainly use it in my classroom. If storytelling has stuck around since near the beginning of humanity it won't be leaving any time soon. Digital storytelling may just become a fad, but I like that if it is a way to keep the culture of storytelling alive and it can be a way to make it relevant for the 21st century learning.
My blog has more information, including the digital stories I created and more background about why digital storytelling is relevant for students, including why I was interested in this topic.
Reading material I explore to get more information:
http://www.storycenter.org/
http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/digital_storytelling.aspx
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/12484/Digital_Storytelling__Using_Technology_in_the_Classroom.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7021.pdf