Resources for digital storytelling projects:
A starting point for any educational uses of digital storytelling should be aligning to standards--there is a summary of the ISTE NETS standards for creating video projects, based on Adobe's free curriculum for their video suite. Although seemingly high level for an elementary classroom, they are still helpful to review as a framework for any DS project.
A storyboard is an essential tool for building a project. There are many templates available, this one is based on Dr. Helen Barrett's work.
It's easy to get caught up in the "techie" parts of creating digital stories. I think it's essential to remind one's self constantly that the exercise is always about student expression: helping students to develop the creative and imaginative tools to communicate their knowledge and understanding to others. Whether it's sharing personal stories which have emotional resonance -- the continuing vision of the Center for Digital Storytelling, and many other practitioners -- or using digital stories in a looser sense where they become part of "writing across the curriculum" projects in other disciplines, the process always a story at its core.
I had a good lesson in applying a framework too rigidly when I began spearheading a digital storytelling project with the Watsonville Charter School of the Arts. I outlined the classic digital sotrytelling approach, where the first step is to write a script that becomes the text for a voice-over to a story.Several of the teachers said, "We're an arts school. We might want to have students start with a piece of art they've created, and then write from that."
With that caveat, I'll also share the Center's "Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling," as summarized by Dr. Barrett. There's a much fuller discussion of these elements on the Center's website.
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An exciting new project launched January 15, 2008: The International Day for Sharing Life Stories, co-sponsored by the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley and The Museum of the Person in Brazil. It will be held May 16, 2008. Here's their press release.
Here's my "String Epiphany" story:
Please contact
me for information on digital storytelling production, training,
and project coördination. |
"Intelligence is knowing what
to do when you don't know what to do." |
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