Josh Mika

Playdate 58

O'Neill Middle School

Saturday, January 18th, 2014

Session: 11:15 AM - 12:10 PM

http://www.dg58.org/domain/767

Why Digital Storytelling?

"The story is the vehicle we use to make sense of our lives..."

—Jim Trelease

“Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession.“

—Horizon Report 2011

"I know only one thing about the technologies that await us in the future: We will find ways to tell stories with them.”  

—Jason Ohler

Playdate 58 Participation

Join the discussion! Add your slide to this brief collection of digital storytelling ideas. Follow the directions on slide two:

Common Core:

ELA Career Ready Goals

“Students employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use. They tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.”

What is Digital Storytelling?

• Multimedia tools to tell a story
• Skills: script writing, revising/editing, storyboarding, and production (all elements of the writing process)
• Stories that can be shared and commented on using social media
• Demonstrate your learning, persuade, or explain your message in a method that hits several senses

Why is it Important for Students to Tell Stories?

• Stories surround us everyday
• We share stories everyday
• Stories help us to understand the world

Why Digitize a Story?

• SAMR: Redefine storytelling using tools that convey more then what I can say or do.
• SHARE!
• Engages students in active learning, cooperative learning and uses a range of multiple intelligences (Tech4learning, 2004).
• Animation can be used to visualize a dynamic phenomenon or process which cannot be readily seen by the eye or science setting (e.g. meiosis), so they produce a visual product which shows the content (Tech4learning, 2004). 
• Has the potential to deepen their understanding of topics through visualization of content.

Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

• Point of View – What is the main point of the story and what is the perspective of the author?
• Dramatic Question – A key question that keeps the viewer's attention and will be answered by the end of the story.
• Emotional Content – Serious issues that come alive in a personal and powerful way and connects the story to the audience.
• Gift of Your Voice – A way to personalize the story to help the audience understand the context.
• Power of the Soundtrack – Music or other sounds that support and embellish the storyline.
• Economy – Using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer.
• Pacing – The rhythm of the story and how slowly or quickly it progresses. 

Additional Resources:

There are myriad digital storytelling resources out there any many sites already offer a collection of them.  The links and widgets below are from my own research, but I will be updating with other's suggestions:

University of Virginia: DigitalStoryteller (Flash)

Alan Levine's 50+ Ways to Tell a Story