The Art of Digital Storytelling

It was a great spring and summer of Digital Storytelling! In CCUSD we had several projects going on during the spring. One of our excellent 8th grade teachers used PhotoStory 3 to assist the students in creating their auto-biographies. Excellent products were created by these energetic and engaged 8th graders. Just a wonderful job.

This summer, also, I had the opportunity to teach DST to another group of amazing educators at the Arizona K12 Center Camp Plug and Play in Tucson. I will post some samples of both of these shortly, but just want to say that once again I am in awe of the voice, dedication, engagement and interest in these students and teachers in this process. Amazing.

I had the pleasure of seeing one of my former Tech Camp students, Mr. Manuel Chavez, who works in the San Manuel District in Arizona.  Such a kind and warm gentleman, and very innovative with his teaching practice!  (not surprising, as he is on of the 2009 Ambassadors for Excellence in Education for Arizona) He shared with me how he wanted to incorporate what he had learned in the Digital Storytelling Class during the summer into his clasroom with students.  One of the projects he did was a live cook book, just before the holidays.  In this live cookbook, the students researched recipes and dishes from their home and culture.  They wrote the recipes down and created a visual for that recipe.  Then they narrated with their voice the students telling how to prepare the dishes.  This project was meant as a gift to parents, at that time.  What a wonderful give of voice, and meaning for the students and parents. 

Manuel did mention that he wanted to put background music to this project, but using the PC did cause some difficulty.  At tech camp we were using Macbooks, and in iMovie HD you have 3 tracks with which to create your movies.  One track for the digital pictures, one for the voice over and one for the soundtrack. 

For these students, they were using Windows Moviemaker, which is a great free product.  It works well and is extremely easy to use.  The one issue with it is that there are only two tracks.  So, what to do?

Well, first you might try mixing down the voice with the images first, once you have the sync just the way you want it, with the voice matched to the pictures.  Then, after you create the file to your computer, you can re-import that as one file on the image or video track, and then just use the audio track as the place for the soundtrack.  It is cumbersome, but definitely an easy workaround. 

Another option may be using the product PhotoStory 3.  In that program, you can ultimately have three “tracks” so to speak, and the program walks you through the entire process. 

The nice thing is that both those programs are free and they are very user friendly.

Well, I just wanted to give a shout out to the students at First Avenue Elementary and Mr. Chavez, and say that I loved your “Cooking with Class” project, and I will be using some of your wonderful recipies very soon! 

What a wonderful way to share culture and family.

Well it took quite some time, but we finished the project with the 5th grade students.  I am happy with the results, and soon we will have a podcast to share what the students felt about the project.  There are 7 different projects that resulted from this one prompt.  That is amazing to me.  But then again, we have 7 different individual students who bring so many different characteristics and experiences to the table.  So it is not that strange after all if Ithink about it.  Additionally, Digital Storytelling is so much about voice, and personal message.  It makes sense that the stories come from so many different directions.

I do have that same experience working with adults.  We don’t have a narrowed prompt, like I do with students, though.  I offer several different story starters, and ideas they can begin with, but ultimately they find their story.  It is very cool.  I am in the process of trying to  acquire permission from the adults that I  have worked with to share their stories on vimeo or some other venue so I can show you all how talented these wonderful teachers are whom I have worked with each summer.  It is amazing….Transformational!

Digital Storytelling — the Art of it.  This can be transformational.  To whom?  Well, the storyteller, for one.  Imagine having something on your mind for some time.  Maybe a lifetime.  Something that pesters your mind. Or something that warms your heart.  Annoys you.  Hurts your soul.  Elates you.  Imagine all of that, and giving yourself the gift of a moment.  A few precious minutes, some time when you focus on your story.  Your voice and your heart.  Everyone has a story to tell.

Putting this story together with words, digital images, and music, is an amazing process.  As an artist, it is as personal as any art form you can ever imagine.  Transformational.

Now, imagine taking students through this process.  Someone once said, (I believe it was Dr. Tim Tyson, at an Arizona K 12 Center Tech Camp two summers ago) “At what age do you have to be to have something important to say?”  I love this quote, and I use it often.  It is so true.  At what age DO you have something important to say?  I mean, can you put a timeframe on it?  My guess is that if we sat down and tried to calculate this, there would be no answer.  All humans have something important to say.  Their voices matter.  Through the art of digital storytelling, our voices, our intentions, our feelings, our thoughts come alive.  They become transparent to the world, and in a way, help connect us to one another.

What a gift this is to people of all ages.  To the storytellers.  To the story watchers.  A window into the person, the place, the time, the essence.  All you have to do is look in.  To participate.

As educators, we have an obligation to extend this opportunity to our students.   Don’t be afraid of the technology and then miss an opportunity to participate in this transformational art form.  Let yourselves be the learners; let yourselves participate in this incredible journey of classic digital storytelling.

This Blog is about the process of Digital Storytelling.  It will show links to digital stories, give explanations, resources, and information for you to use to get started!  All you have to do is jump in.