Digital Storytelling Workshop Reflections

*The extended version of this, which includes reflections, comments, and summaries from Jason Ohler's book (below), is in the PAGES section of this blog, linked to the right.

In November 2012 I attended a professional development workshop on Digital Storytelling, conducted by Jason Ohler. These are some reflections on that workshop, as well as revisions/ additions made as I read through his book Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning and Creativity. For those interested have a read for more detailed study. I'll start with copyright, one of the burning issues.

FROM THE WORKSHOP

A key idea in this workshop that I appreciated was the emphasis on the story and the process, not the technology. I’ve seen in the past how students often get hung up on the technology rather than concentrating on the content and the task itself. This of course may be due to poor planning on the part of the teacher (yours truly) and not scaffolding the process well enough. Key idea: the technology supports or highlights everything else and shouldn’t necessarily be the focal point. This whole idea help limit the habit of students being given high grades because the technology looks good, regardless of the quality of the content. Story telling can be anything. It can be a description of how to conduct a science experiment, a photo documentary, a local news event, or a fictional story about the monsters under your bed. Think of anything that can be told!

OHLER’S DAOW of LITERACY & APPROACH

• So how can we approach storytelling? DAOW: Digital, Art, Oral and Written Literacies 
• Concentrate on the narrative, not the media.
• Incidental music – make the audience feel what you want – relative to the theme, topic
• 30 seconds plus a soundtrack forcing the atmosphere
• Remind students to be aware of visual noise; the background that is distracting or irrelevant
• Be careful of images used – even on blankets, green screen background images
• Story vs Lists – tell a story, rather than listing “facts”, and you get greater student retention
• Flow of the story is important: Beginning, Conflict-Transformation, End (table below can be a god start
• ing point)

COPYRIGHT

Essentially, anything you produce and put online or in public is automatically copyrighted. You can pay for formal copyright, but it’s slow and can be expensive. (before I put my own original music in the public sphere I email it to myself and make a CD, and mail that to myself for the date and official “stamp”) See Chapter 15 of Jason Ohler’s book.

The United States’ TEACH Act:

For music, video, and animated you can use up to 30 seconds or 10%, whichever is shortest

For words, you can use up to 1,000 words, or 10%, whichever is shortest

For illustrations, photos, graphics you can use up to 5 images from one artist; you can use 15 works from a collection, or 10%, whichever is smaller

• In terms of using copyrighted material for education:
• Cite the source and creator(s) of the material used
• Seek permission but be prepared to be turned down
• Pay for it, if you’re willing

I think Ohler makes a very important point in his book: create your own material. GarageBand makes it easy and free (for Mac users), at least. Create your own images and scan them. Ohler suggests also using friends’ materials, as it’s easy to get permission. Use free-use web sites. Use pay-for-use web sites. Use Creative Commons. He does note, using the “rules of respect” noted above if you use other material.  

Check the Copyright Clearance Center. (remember, this can be based on country, as well)

ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS

• Set clear goals
• Assess the story without being overwhelmed or overly impressed with the media
• Assess everything the student uses in order to achieve the final result, for instance, the story map, the audio narration, the video, etc, (the build-up, not just the final piece of work)
• Assess the student’s planning process
• Assess the student’s understanding of what Ohler calls “media grammar” – a simple example being an audio narration that doesn’t have inappropriate background noise 
• Assess the student’s understanding of the content presented
• Assess the use of resources
• Assess the performance of the student (ie) the ability to act, how well rehearsed a part is, etc
• Have students self-assess

SOME SUGGESTIONS (will be updated)

The following are not necessarily only for digital storytelling.

TOOLS

Stop Animation (such as I Can Animate)

Audio programs (Reaper, Audacity, GarageBand)

Photo Story / Photo Story 3

Green screens ("How To" Guide)

Keynote / PowerPoint / Prezi ("How To" Guides)

iMovie / Movie Maker ("How To" Guides)

Online mind mapping (Mindomo, Mind 42, Mind Meister and more...)

Video Cameras

Flip Cameras

Smart Phones

IDEAS FOR A SOCIAL STUDIES CONTEXT (will be updated)

Social Studies is my field of expertise, so I thought I'd add to the post. These ideas can be used jointly (ie) record the audio and layer it with images. 

*Be sure all images, outsourced audio, and documents quoted are sourced AND historically accurate.

*Be certain that whole photos are used, and not altered.

Image-Only

• Myths
• Journal reading from the "author" with supporting images
• Historical Documentaries
• A biography of an historical figure
• Narrative of an opinion on an historical document (or anything else)
• Narrative assessing images in history and describing them and why they were painted, photographed, etc. 
• Letter writing. Students can pretend to be a person in the photograph, outside the range of the photo, or the photographer him or herself. They can write a letter to a friend, a wife, a commanding officer, or even make a diary entry about the event. Source
• Have students create a diagram, such as a table or mind map, and have them explain it through an audio narrative
• Describe changes to a region in geography (ie) the division of the "Middle East", with several maps to go along with a narrative
• Make a children's story based in history
• Draw, scan and produce a storyboard for a period in history

Video

• Reenact a scene in history (write an original dialogue; write a dialogue based on modern language and social mores)
• film a puppet show (even a simple drawing on a stick puppet, sock puppet, or paper bag); draw a backdrop to scan and use with a green screen
• A newscast based on an event in history
• A political speech by someone in history
• Reading an original poem written about something in history (and use a green screen with an original image or historical image as the backdrop)
• Have students create a diagram, such as a table or mind map, and have them explain it with the diagram as the backdrop
• Interview a community resident about local history
• Film a rant about an historical figure as if they were a roommate

Podcasting
Have a look for some ideas on teaching podcasting here or here. Here is a good podcasting pdf file that goes beyond this discussion.

• A radio news broadcast of an event that happened yesterday
• A radio interview with a person in history
• An audio journal giving an opinion or theory
• A political speech by someone in history
• A (telephone) conversation between two historical figures
• A narrative describing a dinner party in history
• A biography of an historical figure
• Describe how a device in history looks and works (success can be judged by students ability to figure out what it is)
• A radio advertisement for a product of the past
• Write an historical rap or song
• Write an editorial or an editorial letter outlining concerns of the "consequences" of a present situation (in history) 

Keynote/ PowerPoint Presentations (developed by students)

• Choose Your Own Adventure story
• Jeopardy review game
• 20 Questions review