Teaching with Technology

Constructing Digital Stories by, Sara Kajder, Glen Bull, and Susan Albaugh

Description

A digital story is a narrated soundtrack that is combined with still images to produce a story. It begins with a short script that is less than 1 page double space typed.  Next a storyboard is planned for the images to show such as sketches, still images, or short video clips. These can be found by searching the web, taking pictures or drawings. A discussion and revision occurs after the script and storyboard. This can be done through a story circle where small groups share and give feedback then revise based on comments. Once the revision is complete, it is time to use the digital video editor such as iMovie or Movie Maker. It may be necessary to scale the images in a photoshop before importing them. Next the narrative track can be added. It is suggested to save recordings one sentence at a time and label 1,2, 3 in order. Last is to add special effects such as fades and music. It is noted that minimal special effects make the best stories.

Findings

There are several instructional strategies that can maximize the time on task and learning from creating digital stories. One is for teachers to give specific tasks and track individual progress. Another is to require the storyboards and scripts before the computers can be used. It is suggested to save every five minutes and each time significant changes have been made due to time and software constraints. It is also wise to have a backup copy on a server folder or computer hard drive. Do not forget copyright. Students should be encouraged to use their own original images and free domain music. Creative Commons is an example of a place to get legal content. Most importantly keep the goal in mind- which is story telling. Essential elements are images, motion, narration and student voice.

Reflection

In a K-2 environment it is important to have quality volunteers to help with the technical components of digital storytelling. Inviting tech-savvy parents to help or involving the technology facilitator at my school would be key to making a project like this work. I would probably begin this project by sharing examples of digital storytelling. I would show them some of the stories on BookPALS website featuring stories read aloud by members of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. We would talk about ways that the actors made the story interesting such as expression on their face or in their voice. After this I would have the students write a short story in groups of 3 or 4 involving character with a problem and how they would solve the problem. Then they would make a script and storyboard. Depending on the number of volunteers I could find, I would either have a volunteer pull a small group at a time or have enough volunteers to work with each group at once. The volunteers would help the students turn their script and storyboard into a digital story. Last I would have all the groups share their creations!