Digital Storytelling: Bringing Student Writing to Life!

Digital storytelling has become one of the most popular ways to use technology and incorporate it into the curriculum.  I think this is because it is easy to use and incorporate into any grade level and/or age group.  There are many ways to use digital story telling in the classroom, and there is also a variety of software available.  No matter what the subject or how in depth the subject matter is, it seems that by using digital story telling the ways of presenting information is endless!

One common thread that sews all digital stories together is the use of digital pictures, text, videos, and narration.  The internet is an excellent source of information, but as teachers and media specialists one must teach students how to find RELIABLE information.  This is one if not many media center lessons alone.  By providing students with source links and “digital media tool boxes” this helps to cut down on the time a student spends reading and judging the credibility of sources.  Digital stories can be created on almost any topic ranging from fictional stories, to personal narratives, to informational research of historical events.  The key is to make the digital story engaging and entertaining for the audience.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a huge variety of digital story telling software available.  Some are very simplistic and would lend themselves to even the youngest of students while others are quite complex and would require technological training before students could successfully create stories independently.  Here are a few of my favorite digital software options:

Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows XP

Microsoft Photo Story is one of the most easy to use digital story making software options available in school districts.  I have personally used this program with students as young as 7 years old.  This program guides the students through making digital stories using easy, step-by-step instructions.  While some of the transitions are simplistic, it is user friendly and allows students to narrate and add text to photographs.  Music can easily be added to liven up a story.  One down side is the fact that live video cannot be incorporated into the digital stories.  This would be a great program to use to introduce the art of digital story telling without overwhelming students and/or teachers.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

As a Mac fanatic myself, I love the iMovie software because it is easy to use and creates beautiful products.  This program is more advanced than some available in the classroom, and Mac computers are not often seen in the school setting, but iMovie allows users to create, edit, and publish professional grade movies that incorporate easy to use tools such as templates, themes, transitions, and trailers.  I also like that one can export their movie in a variety of ways including YouTube .  This program can incorporate photographs, live videos, music, text, and many other interesting features to bring a digital story to life!

Windows Movie Maker 2.6

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=34

                Windows Movie Maker is similar to Apple’s iMovie and allows PC users to make professional quality movies incorporating many of the things that iMovie has to offer.  This is a popular program given that it is supported by Microsoft  Windows, and is an excellent way to use digital storytelling with older students (I have used with 4th and 5th graders, but could also be used with middle and high school students). Unlike Photostory, Windows Movie Maker allows users to edit live video and disperse video intermittently with photographs.  The author can add music, transitions, text, and narration to digitial stories.

                                As a future media specialist, I enjoy using Digital Storytelling with students.  It helps to bring writing and research projects to life and allows students to create a professional looking project that they can share and be proud of.  Teaching students to be successful digital storytellers requires a bit of teaching, but it exploration also needs to be part of the lessons.  In order for students to take ownership in their products, the SLMS must allow students to try out new techniques.  As the students discover how to use the digital storytelling software, the more interesting and engaging their stories will become.  A library media specialist must also allow students of even the youngest ages to tell stories using computers.  Using computers to incorporate photographs, video, and narration allows the learning standards and objectives to come to life!  The learning opportunities become endless and the products that the students create to “show what they know” become better and better.



The Power of Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling takes the power of telling a story to a new level by adding the digital element.  The story can be told through pictures, video, music, voice, and sound effects.  Digital storytelling is a fascinating multi-disciplinary tool for the classroom.

The comprehensive Digital Storytelling website http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/index.html from the University of Houston provides a great framework outlining the digital storytelling process. With the inexpensive digital cameras, camcorders, microphones, and free or inexpensive software available, digital storytelling could become a part of our curriculum. The media specialist could become instrumental in this because this equipment is often stored in the media center for check-out and the media specialist could provide training to students and teachers.  Media specialists are also considered the authority for the school on copyright issues.    

Another great speaker and resource on digital storytelling is Bernajean Porter from Colorado.  I've heard her a couple of times at GaETC.  She has a website called DigiTales that includes her 7 steps of digital storytelling.  She then places those 7 steps under three parts: Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production of the digital story. This wiki from Bernajean Porter gives much information about the process.  http://storykeepers.wikispaces.com/StoryMaking+Steps  A favorite from Bernajean Porter is "When a digital story is finished, it should be remembered for its soul, not for the bells and whistles of the technology tools."  

As an extra-curricular activity in our school system, teachers can select teams and participate in Georgia Movie Academy (GMA), a digital storytelling student competition sponsored by our RESA ETC for the last several years.  The school supports this by providing laptops to the coaches for the teams to use in producing the movies.  Camcorders and microphones are available for check-out through the media center.  The GMA rules require a three-minute, theme-based, standards-based movie completed by a spring deadline.  The rubric used for judging the movie includes all aspects of the process from photography to sound to content.  GMA emphasizes that the most important element is that the movie have a lasting impact on the viewer.  Students and teachers learn lots during the process, including learning about copyright issues.  Students always want to include in the soundtrack the most popular song of the moment. GMA gives free licensing to movie teams for royalty free music provided by Soundzabound.com. The University of Houston digital storytelling site has a very informative section on copyright.  GMA rules state that the media specialist is the authority in the school on copyright issues, and movies should be approved with regards to copyright by the media specialist before submission.  I've participated with GMA teams over the years, and it's a great experience to see the growth in the students in digital story creation and technology usage during the production of the movie. Some students show a talent in the process.  In fact there's a student graduating this year who was on one of my first GMA teams.  He's continued his interest in moviemaking and is headed to film school in the fall! 

Technology Training

Technology Training

Currently at Luella Elementary technology has become a big push!  This is my third year as media specialist and in previous years there has basically been no outside training and no money allocated for technology.  I have conducted trainings on technology according to what my teachers stated they wanted on the survey I send out at the beginning of every year.  I hold four media and technology meetings each year.  We begin the meeting with the basics and then end with a training.  In the past I have done document cameras, UnitedStreaming, Flip cameras, digital cameras, ect.  The teachers' skills with technology are pretty basic.  Most of my teachers are very capable of learning new skills, if the technology is available and the trainings occur.

This year we have a new administrator and she has funded technology, as well as supported technology trainings.  The county ITSs have come out many times this year and conducted trainings.  The 28th of this month we are having a training on Activ Slates.  The teachers have actually been complaining about having to attend so many trainings.  The ITSs have the ability to create their own schedules in Henry County Schools.  This works really well because they can come any time of day they are requested.  They prefer to come and actually teach classes using technology and have the teachers observe.  Then, they will come back and assist teachers when they are teaching using the technology.  This method has really worked well this year.  The teachers are using the technology a lot more and when they use it is not the lesson, but rather a tool like it should be.

With the help of the ITSs this year the teachers are using a lot more technology effectively.  The draw backs are that now they are requesting the technology and I don't have enough to go around.  I spent 10,000 this year on technology and it was only a drop in the bucket.  Every time I think I am starting to get what we need something breaks and lamps go out.  For the cost of a projector's lamp I could just about buy a new projector.

With all the hardware woes I try to focus on software as well.  This year a big hit has been the blog feature on our new upgraded web software.  In the past Henry County has blocked all blogs and wikis, but the web software comes with its on blog feature that only employees have access to.  This is deemed safer to use.  We have been using it with students to promote writing skills.  Our 4th and 5th grade teachers are using it to write responses to literature.  Using innovative software is lot less expensive than hardware.  There are still problems with our computers running the software.  Our school is in the middle of a phase in upgrade.  The county is slowly replacing old computers.  My student computers in the media center only have 256mb of memory.  You can imagine how slow they are.

Overall, the majority of purchasing and training of technology falls on the media specialist in Henry County.  We have 4 ITSs that service the entire county.  They are a lot of help, but spread thin.  The media specialist is also spread thin because we only have part time parapros and no technology specialist in the building.  Most media specialist enter work orders, maintain the school webpage, AR, purchase and train on technology, and all the other duties and responsibilities that are traditionally ours.  Creativity is the key.  I find creative solutions like combining media and technology meetings with trainings, creating detailed directions for those tech savvy teachers, and emailing a lot of information out to teachers is helpful.  This class has given me some new creative solutions for trainings like podcast and vodcast. They are really easy to create and share with teachers.  I have made a few this year and burned them to a DVD.  When teachers come and ask the same thing over and over again I just hand them the DVD.  They actually are enjoying them and a couple of teachers have requested specific things.  Jing is another great source that I use as a creative solution.  I am also hoping that my webpage is going to be a big hit too.  The CCGPS page I just created has been a big hit with teachers, so I am hoping they will explore other pages as well.  My big idea for technology training is use technology to help train on technology.  You also have to remember that it is a journey.  Every little bit helps, but nothing will happen over night.  Keep modeling technology in the media center, holding trainings, and finding creative solutions and most teachers will come on board.

Media for the Schools - GPB & Video Distribution Systems

Georgia Public Broadcasting is an awesome resource.  A trip to the website for GPB shows the many opportunities for learning and support.  The Quick Links provide information about the new Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) and the webinar that all Georgia teachers were asked to watch in the fall is there.  Dr. John Barge, state school superintendent, is featured in the webinar, and several deputy superintendents participate.  Our faculty had a hard time watching this webinar live in the fall.  It crashed, and started and stopped so many times that we gave up and watched the archive version at a later time.   The webinars offered throughout the year have offered information on the content areas and the new Common Core Standards. 

GPB also links to the favorite of many of our teachers - Discovery Streaming.  Once called United Streaming, this resource is from the Discovery Channel, and Georgia has license for its teachers to download and show any video in the collection.  I have found this to be a very useful resource because of the many videos relating to the topics that I teach.

Probably the best resource I've seen on GPB is Georgia Stories.  It is very useful for eighth grade social studies.  I especially like the World War II stories. One of the veterans interviewed is a friend of my family and lives in my county.  His story is amazing.  

In our school the video distribution system is used only occasionally.  The drawback to it is that we still have the Channel One televisions that were given to schools many years back, so the TV screens are only 19 inches in size!  Our video distribution system does work, and the media specialist can show shows over it successfully.  The video distribution system is used for showing AR rewards movies that licensing is available for and Channel One.  This year, my gifted program class has been creating a monthly news show for the Middle School.  We shoot the interviews or news stories with a digital camcorder, download the footage to computer, create the TV news show on computer using video-editing software, and then transfer it to DVD for showing through the video distribution system.  The media specialist then sets it up through the video distribution system and classes in the Middle School watch it during homeroom. It's a neat project that we enjoy. It's called "The Best of TCMS."