Digial Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is a great way for students to showcase their work while fostering organizational and creative skills. Our group which consisted of Mary Bellone, Chrissy Hellyer, Robin Bulsza, and Mike Jessee decided to do a digital story on "How to Pick a Just Right Book" from the ES Learning Hub. It was good for us to go through the process that the students must also go through when designing a digital story. Fortunately our team did not have any "teamwork" issues. We sat down together and brainstormed ideas of what we could do with our limited time, and resources. After deciding upon our theme, we started to design a storyboard to help organize our ideas. We then started the production by using the flip cameras to take video. Upon viewing the video, we decided that it would be more effective for us to use still pictures and voice overs to communicate our them in a movie. We then used I-movie to organize and edit the clips. we also added introduction and ending slides as well as a public domain music track for background music. We found that using still images is the most efficient method for beginners when making a digital story. Later in the year when my students make their digital stories, I will stick it to the KIS (Keep It Simple) method so that they can focus on effective communication rather than getting caught or distracted with too much unfamiliar technology. Once they have proven themselves capable of using the simple skills, they will be free to try to explore and try different methods for visual story telling.