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Topics for Class Seven:
Online Class this Week:
Writing a Digital Storytelling Script or Outline
Assignments for Next Class:
* Reading Assignments
* Hands-On Assignment 7
*
Blog Assignment 7
Reminder: There is no face-to-face
class this week because of the mid-term exam in ELED 7325.
Please see information about the
assignments for this week's online class at the bottom of this page.
Writing a Script
At its core, digital storytelling allows
computer users to become creative storytellers through the
traditional processes of selecting a topic, conducting research,
writing a script, and developing an interesting story. This material
is then combined with various types of multimedia, including
computer-based graphics, recorded audio, computer-generated text,
video clips, and music so that it can be played on a computer,
uploaded on a web site, or burned on a DVD. The entire process is
visually displayed in the figure below.
The Writing Challenge
Many students have trouble learning to
formulate an educationally sound argument, and just providing
students with a library of digital images and computer-based
authoring software will not be beneficial to students or educators.
There are many helpful resources for students, and Ohler and
Dillingham’s Visual Portrait of a Story as shown in the figure below
is part of a detailed description of story elements that can be
helpful to students and educators as they construct their own
stories.
Ohler and Dillingham’s Visual Portrait of a Story
A Questioning Toolkit (http://www.fno.org/nov97/toolkit.html)
from the online journal From Now On (http://www.fno.org/index.html)
is a resource that can be used to introduce students to effective
questioning techniques that may help them in their attempts to
formulate the dramatic questions that will form the basis of their
own stories.
Marco Torres, a nationally recognized social
studies teacher and technology director at San Fernando High School
in California, encourages his students to use multimedia projects to
tell stories about their community and its history. Torres teaches
his students to write scripts, develop storyboards and construct
timelines during a planning stage that is just the first part of the
design and development process. Next comes the production stage in
which students use technology equipment such as computers, digital
cameras and microphones to collect or create the images, narration,
and music and text that will be used in their projects.
Tom Banaszewski conducted a Master’s Thesis in which he investigated
the use of Digital Storytelling in Grades 4 through 12, by examining
the storytelling process, the motivation of teachers and the
possible alignment of Digital Storytelling with curricular goals and
school district or statewide education standards. In his study,
Banaszewski echoes the opinions of many that when the focus is just
on the technology of creating digital stories and other literacy
skills are ignored, a number of troubling issues arise:
- Students cannot explain what Digital
Storytelling is and why it is different from a computerized
slideshow;
- Students do not recognize the power of
their own voices;
- Students concentrate on using the
computer before a story’s script has been completed; and
- Students waste time on unnecessary
transitions and special effects.
Banaszewski proposes that the solution to
these issues is for students (and teachers) to concentrate on
developing narrative skills and focusing on what makes a good
non-digital story, the same established practices found in
traditional writing and composition classes. In his own classroom,
he notes that the technology was always secondary to the
storytelling, a view that cannot be overemphasized.
Digital Storytelling
Finds Its Place in the Classroom
http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan02/banaszewski.htm
In this article, Banaszewski gives a
detailed description of the digital storytelling process
used in his 4th and 5th grade classroom. While the
technology enabled students to develop and share a clear,
effective story, the author insists the technology was
always secondary to the storytelling. Banaszewski gives
examples of how he structured the process from beginning
with an outline answering specific questions, adding visual
images, peer coaching through the production phase, and
story coaching to provide a positive classroom environment.
This story coaching approach was adapted from storyteller
Doug Lipman and gives students an opportunity to share their
story, receive cool and warm feedback, and then give the
author an opportunity to ask questions.
Banaszewski found it important to
model this process to his students. Just like sharing
stories presents risks for students, the teacher should
share a story of his own. He also recommends starting with a
class story that can be created collectively. Interestingly
enough the author began teaching digital storytelling with 3
Macs and now has 20 Macs in his classroom but it still
requires the same amount of time…about 6 months. He also
discusses the classroom management issues that teachers must
deal with while creating these stories. The most important
advice he gives is that the teacher must surrender a great
deal of control allowing students to become their own
director.
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Assignments for Next Class:
Reading Assignments:
Literacy Through Technology: The Power
of Digital Storytelling
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2410
Digital Storytelling in the Language
Arts Classroom
http://cs2.cust.educ.ubc.ca/csed/400/csed_readings/display%2024.pdf
Chapter 3: Approaches to Scripting
from the Digital Storytelling Cookbook, pages 20 - 25.
http://www.storycenter.org/cookbook.pdf
Hands-On Assignment 7:
For this week's hands-on assignment, you
should write a first version of the script or outline on the topic you
will be using for your final semester digital story project and post it to
your personal blog.
Blog
Assignment 7:
The blog assignment for this week is to provide online feedback to two
different students regarding the first draft they posted to their personal
blog.
The way this will work is that the class has been split into three groups,
each containing three students. You should provide feedback on the posting
of the two other students in your group and those two other students will
provide feedback on your posting. The three groups are as follows:
In your feedback, please ask any questions or make suggestions regarding
material that is unclear and try to add any other information you think will
be helpful in developing the digital story.
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