1. AN INTRODUCTION TO
DIGITAL STORYTELLING
Jeremy Anderson
Courtney McKenna
Tracy Van Oss

2. What are digital stories?
Multimedia narratives
Audio: music, sound effects, narration
Visual: videos, images, text
Typically 3-10 minutes in length

3. Why assess with digital stories?
• Engender active learning
• Increase Reflection
• Engage emotions
• Encourage service learning
• Repackage text-based skills
• Improve digital literacy

4. DIGITAL STORIES
And the Learning Paradigm

5. Written
Communication
Script with a purpose

6. Oral
Communication
Narrate with purpose
& emotion

7. Critical Thinking &
Reasoning
Synthesize media into
a cohesive product

8. Visual Literacy
Select images to serve
a purpose and to tell a
story

9. DIGITAL STORIES
Examples and samples

10. Digital Stories as Reflective Pieces
Courtney McKenna, QUSS instructor
• Weekly blogs – using blog tool in Blackboard
• Reflect on class discussion
• Triangulate topics from other courses
• Comment on current events
• Identify what was most important to the student each week
• Digital Story:
• Synthesis of blogs to show personal or intellectual transformation
throughout the semester
• Camtasia Relay – or other software familiar to student

11. Reflection – Student Example
• https://capture.quinnipiac.edu/recordings/lagoldstein/QU101/QU101_-
_Flash_(Large)_-_20111207_05.26.18PM.html

12. Lessons Learned
• Student feedback
• Enjoyed going back to review blogs
• Helped put the semester into perspective
• “Not another paper!”
• Lessons learned
• Need to push students to not be so literal with the “recap”
• May require the inclusion of outside materials
• Other courses
• Events
• In class showcase?

13. Digital Story & Photovoice for Service
Learning
Tracy Van Oss, DHSc, OTR/L
Digital storytelling was final project for a service learning
course incorporating photos with narration:
• Youth Day Fair at the Yale Bowl
• North Haven Fire Department Bike Safety Day
• International Walk To School Day
• St. Andrews Children Fair
• Halloween Safety at Keefe Center

14. Service Learning – Student Example
YouTube

15. Photovoice as Service Learning
• Photovoice was a grant funded project to capture images
and narration from the child’s perspective to assess a
need for change of the environment in Hamden, CT.

16. “I saw a crack in the sidewalk and someone might trip”

19. Other potential uses
• History: archival footage/images
• Current events: interviews, documentary images
• Personal narratives
• Case studies

20. Digital Stories as Personal Narratives
All the Truly Important Things…
Eric Zheng (pseudonym); part of “Taking Root: Our Stories, Our Community”
YouTube

21. Digital Stories as Current Events
Evolution of Education: The Present
Katelyn Stoll, Bridget Figmic, Bree Gooley, Katie Thompson; students ED 311 YouTube

22. Digital Stories as History
Birth of a Nation as Racial Propaganda Wordless Sound in Antebellum African-
Mary Corrado, student; QU 201 American Song
Brian Noell, instructor; QUSS
YouTube

23. WORKFLOW & TOOLS
For digital story projects

24. What is the workflow?
Select Combine
Write script
Record images, m narration
&
narration usic, video and other
storyboard
s, text media

25. Tools for creating/collecting media
Record narration
• QuickTime, iMovie, Sound Recorder
Find…
• Images
• Flickr Commons & Creative Commons
• Videos
• Flip Video Cameras, YouTube, Vimeo
• Music
• Jamendo, ccMixter Mac
• Sound effects
Windows
• Freesound, SoundBible

26. Tools for finalizing/combining media
• Edit images
• iPhoto, Live Photo Gallery
• Edit/record video
• iMovie, Live Movie Maker
• Camtasia Relay
• Share product
• Publish to YouTube
• Share Camtasia link Mac
Windows

27. Tips, tricks, & suggestions
• Provide support for tools
• Make sure hardware is accessible
• Choose a good microphone
• Encourage process writing
• Have check-in assignments
• Smaller groups (3-4 students)
• Plan a showcase

28. Resources for faculty & students
• AT’s Multimedia support page
• Instructional Technologists
• Jeremy, Monica, Gary, Christina
• Technology Center – Flip Cams, tripods, etc.
• The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling
• University of Houston