Digital+Storytelling

I learned about Digital Storytelling about two years ago when I explored the Web 2.0 Storybird . Having students collaborate in a story that can be publicly shared allows students to learn about the importance of their writing as well as help them see themselves as authors! As the assignment of creating a Wiki came up, I was unsure what I should explore. Thankfully, by following different organizations in Twitter, the idea of digital storytelling came up once again. Because I knew of Storybird, I knew that digital storytelling can be used in the classroom and it is an activity that students learn from and enjoy. I decided that my inquiry project could be learning more about the benefits and skills that Digital Storytelling can provide students and teachers. I know about Storybird, but as I began looking for other tools, I have found that there are many, many tools out there that students can use depending on the topic that they are exploring to create a digital story. Some questions:
 * Digital Storytelling **
 * __Watching and Wondering: Why Digital Storytelling? __**
 * 1) Is there some research that supports Digital Storytelling?
 * 2) What are some of the benefits of Digital Storytelling, beside using it as a Language Arts activity?
 * 3) What are some of the skills that students can learn from participating in Digital Storytelling?
 * 4) Can you use Digital Storytelling throughout the curriculum?
 * 5) What tools (beside Storybird) can students use to create their digital stories?


 * __Webbing: Resources on the uses and benefits of Digital Storytelling __**

[] The Center of Digital Storytelling defines a digital story of being "A short, first person video-narrative created by combining recorded voice, still and moving images, and music or other sounds."
 * Center of Digital Storytelling **

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">@http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan02/banaszewski.htm <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This article explains the process of using Digital Storytelling the classroom, beginning with presenting a topic, allowing students to go through pre-writing exercises, illustrate and collect images, selecting music, record their voices to iMovie, and finally presenting/sharing their work. He explains the importance of storytelling over the technology. Students need to create their stories with an effective hook, introduction, middle, and end, before they begin using the technology to add images, sound, and video to their stories. In creating these stories, students are finding their voice, building up their confidence, and improving their writing.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Digital Storytelling Finds its Place in the Classroom **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">by Tom Banaszewski

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">A well prepared websites that has examples of stories and tools in different subjects and areas. In addition, it has information about the tools and essentials about digital storytelling. It explains how to create and evaluate the digital stories. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">One of vital parts of the site is the 7 Elements of Digital Storytelling that the Center of Digital Storytelling has developed. Here is a diagram that explains the different roles of the elements: []
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">University of Houston: The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling **
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Point of View
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">A Dramatic Question
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Emotional Content
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Gift of Your Voice
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Power of the Soundtrack
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Economy
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Pacing

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The site explains the educational goals and objectives that teachers and students should have when using digital storytelling. In addition it offers a step-by-step approach to creating a digital story, and the assessment that can be used to evaluate student's work. Guidance for teachers wanting to create digital stories can be found in **Digital Storytelling: Educational Guidance**.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Moreover, digital storytelling is aligned to various standards, including the 21st Century Skills, National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS), and the National English Language Arts Standards. More detailed information about the alignment to standards can be found here.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> The site also lists some tools and software that can be used to create digital stories. They can be found in **Digital Storytelling: Software and Tools**.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The site also has many examples of digital stories about: art, educational technology , engines of our ingenuity , health/medical , language arts , mathematics , music , personal reflection , places , pop culture , religion and culture , scientific research , and social studies.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|www.edutopia.org/digital-storytelling-classroom] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Jennifer New explains that digital storytelling is a powerful activity. She cites Joe Fatheree and Craig Lindvahl, who are two teacher who have made seven films and teach filmmaking workshops to educators. They offer advice to teachers doing digital storytelling in their classrooms. More information can be found in **Digital Storytelling: Educational Guidance**.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> by Jennifer New

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">@http://digitales.us/sites/default/files/digitalstorytellingarticle.pdf <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This article gives a definition of what is digital storytelling. "Digital storytelling, according to Bernajean Porter, the author of //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">DigiTales: The Art ofTelling Digital Stories //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, takes the ancient art of oral storytelling and engages a palette of technical tools to weave personal tales using images, graphics, music, and sound mixed together with the author’s own story voice." Bernajean Porter explains that one of the uses of Digital Storytelling is creating a documentary. A story where the students learn about a person, event, or item and create a connection with it to find its meaning. The student then includes images and sounds, as well as multiple views of point of the item. She explained that a digital story is not made until the storyboard and the script are ready. Once that part of project is ready, then students can add the technological components, yet as they add images, videos, and music they need to ask themselves about the value and the reason of their inclusion.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Art of Digital Storytelling **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> with Bernajean Porter and Hall Davidson

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Bernajean Porter explains that in order for students to be successful in communicating in the 21st century, they need to learn multiple communication technologies. In creating digital stories, students are sharing their stories using multimedia tools. She explains that storyboards come first, as students must have something meaningful to share. Students need to understand the type of communication they are engaging in, so that they can effectively organize the structure of their information and then the technical elements they will add. Depending on the purpose and audience of the topic, students will begin to choose the media that helps communicate their message. By having storyboards and scripts ready before being allowed to use technology, it will ensure that students' content is accurate and it will help them choose the media tools that will support their message. She goes on to say that Marshall McLuhan claims that "the medium is the message." More information can be found in **Digital Storytelling: Software and Tools.**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Beyond Words: The Craftsmanship of Digital Products **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> by Bernajean Porter Igni

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The different types of communication are: Narrative, Informative/Expository, Persuasive, and Participatory.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the Narrative category, students can create: personal expressions, myth/folk tales, short stories, docudrama.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the Informative/Expository category, students can create: summary reports, book reports, how-to directions, and biographies.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the Persuasive category, students can create: documentaries, advertisements/public service announcements, description/conclusion, analyze/conclude, analyze/persuade, compare/contrast, and cause/effect.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the Participatory category, students can create: participatory environment products.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**Igniting Student Creativity Through Digital Storytelling** by Jennifer Dorman <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] media type="custom" key="11197298" <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Bernajean Porter explains how Digital Storytelling can be used across the curriculum. She explains that although many would claim that it is only valuable in language arts, it also"provides a memory structure and depth of context that engages learners in a sense-making of facts." By participating in storytelling, students are practicing and mastering 21st century skills, content, and technology standards (NETS). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students should first create the content for their stories as they are "meaning makers." They investigate, write rough drafts, refine and polish their work. According to her, 40% of the project-building time should be focused on the writing. The narrative script is recorded as a voiceover for the story, and then must creatively communicate their work in the media they choose.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Digital Storytelling Across the Curriculum: Finding Content's Deeper Meaning **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> by Bernajean Porter
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Docudramas: pretend to be George Washington, a slave, a circle, a character in literature, being a decimal point
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Describe and Conclude: students share the wisdom of what they learned from the topic—the “so what?”developed from learning about people, events, or situations.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Advertising or Public Service Announcement: students must use personal appeal along with multimedia to create influence and impact

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Silvia Rosenthal Rolisano explains that digital storytelling helps students connect, communicate, and collaborate. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">It also lists Baker’s Dozen Digital Storytelling Skills written by Bernajean Porter in her book __Digitales: The Art of Telling Digital Stories__ that students will gain through storytelling. The skills have been "identified and cross-referenced with National Standards, NETS-S, and 21st Century Skills":
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Digital Storytelling Tools for Educators __**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Stories connect people on an emotional level and with their experiences.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Stories let people communicate their ideas, viewpoints, and opinions.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Stories, made up of characters, actions, and different points of views, are a collaborative work as they are passed down through generations.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Cognitive Apprenticeship
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Creativity and Inventive Thinking
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Enduring Understanding
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Visual Literacy
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Technical Literacy
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Information (Media) Literacy
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Effective Communication
 * 9) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles
 * 10) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teaming and Collaboration
 * 11) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Project Management Mentality
 * 12) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Exploring Affinity

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">It explains that Digital Storytelling is made up of text, audio, images, and video. Visit **Digital Storytelling: Software and Tools** for information about these tools.


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wiggling and Weaving __**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Major Ideas that I have Learned **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**The process of Digital Storytelling**: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students need to first decide what they will be writing about that will hold meaning. They can create a storyboard to develop the content and multimedia they will use in their products. The writing process must be completed, before the students are allowed to use technology to create their story digital. The students should have a clear purpose of their project,decide their audience, and include a beginning, middle, and end. Students' work should be evaluated based on a rubric that the teacher or students have made.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**The Benefits of Digital Storytelling**: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Digital Storytelling allows students to communicate and collaborate when creating stories that can be used in different content areas. Several sites claim that digital storytelling allows students to meet 21st century skills and National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS) which include high order thinking skills, creative thinking, media literacy, effective communication, and collaboration. Students will develop their computer skills using different software and multimedia, and gain confidence as they find their voice in their writing.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**Using Digital Storytelling Throughout the Curriculum**: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students can do various types of stories in different subjects. Students have created digital stories in many areas: art, math, language arts, places, religion, social studies, and many more areas. Their stories can be narratives, informative/expository stories, persuasive, and participatory works. They can create personal expressions, myths and folk tales related to their cultures, summary reports, biographies, docudramas, documentaries, advertisements, and much more.The main goal is for students to create meaning and to be able to express their messages using the appropriate multimedia.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**Tools to Use Digital Stories**: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">There are many tools available for students to use in the internet in Web 2.0 tools and in free software. In addition, there is one tool, a storyboard, that I had not thought about that helps students map out their ideas and create their stories. One important article that I found tells teachers who might not be comfortable with technology that they should try and learn alongside their students. Students need to learn the different tools and need to choose what they believe will express their message in the best and clearest way.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Digital Storytelling allows students to connect, collaborate, and communicate their ideas. These digital stories could be of really anything- related to the curriculum, presenting a project, conducting an interview, etc. The main goal of the digital story is for students to write and then communicate their messages using digital tools.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wrapping and Weaving __**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why is using digital storytelling important? **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The best way I found to express the benefits of digital storytelling was by making my own digital story. It is an easy task that makes a message stronger and more interesting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Here is the storyboard I created to map out my ideas. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Then I decided to use Windows Movie Maker and added images, videos, and music available from the internet. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Here is my digital story about digital storytelling:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">media type="youtube" key="Y8I1F0xHX4U" height="315" width="420"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teachers, parents, and students should know about digital storytelling. Teachers should not feel uncomfortable trying out digital storytelling, as they can work alongside the students to learn about the available technological tools. The benefits of digital storytelling are great as students are not only writing, but learning to communicate their message to others with multimedia. Students should be excited to work on a written project, and then have the opportunity to add images, sounds, movies, and much more to express their work. Parents have the opportunity to view their children's work and could even try out some of the multimedia tools for personal projects at home.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Who needs to know about this? **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I would use Digital Storytelling in my future classroom because it is a versatile activity that can be used across the disciplines. Digital Stories can be used in every subject: in language arts to give a book report, recreate a myth, legend, and folktale, a response to the book, a play, a docudrama of a literary character; in math to explain the function of a decimal point, to explain a word problem; in social studies to give an oral report, a documentary, a biography; in science to present an experiment, to dramatize a concept such as the water cycle; and much more- the students' imagination is the limit. In a bilingual classroom, students could create digital stories about their culture and those who are advanced can make stories in English. The main goal is to get students writing, defining their purpose and audience, and then making sure that their digital stories effectively expresses their messages.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the future? **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students focus on their writing and message, and then can gather different media to publish their work. Students are curious and enjoy using technology in their work, and technology, in its part, is a great tool that teachers should take advantage and use in the classroom. The media that they use will illuminate their work and there are many mediums- including software and internet tools that can be used to make the final product. Because the internet and software is constantly changing, there are many tools that teachers and students have to learn about before using. Students and teachers can work together to learn these tools; however, the focus should always be on the students' writing and message.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">After researching digital storytelling- the benefits, the specifics of how to use in the classroom, and the tools necessary to create digital stories- I feel that this is a task that teachers should be using in their classrooms. Digital Storytelling is a positive activity that helps students gain confidence and improve their writing. It meets the curriculum and standards, is student-centered, and interests students as it is an enjoyable instructive activity. I hope that when I implement digital storytelling in my classroom, students will learn and enjoy creating and sharing their work. In addition, because digital storytelling can be done individually and collaboratively, it is an activity that will allow students to work and learn from each other. The benefits of digital storytelling are many, and for that reason, it is an activity that I hope many teachers are currently implementing and will continue to implement in their classrooms.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wishing __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I am aware that there are schools that may not have all of the software or tools that students may use when creating digital stories. When I become a teacher, I hope to write a grant so that my school is able to buy cameras, video recorders, and software which will enable students to create digital stories about any topic that interests them. My future students will be digital natives, who are ready to use technology and learn. I hope that other teachers can see that this project, which may take some time to complete, is beneficial and will help students develop many appropriate skills. In addition, I hope that parents will acknowledge the educational value of digital stories and may try to make their own at home. Overall, I wish that teachers, parents, and students will learn about digital storytelling and begin creating and sharing their own stories.