3. Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is a brand new technique being introduced to classrooms everywhere. The idea of digital storytelling is to design, or create a themed story out of a variety of media such as sound, video and pictures. Often digital stories are used at functions or celebrations such as school graduations, a 21st birthday, sharing a school trip with people and in other more science based environments.

Digital storytelling is special in that it engages the students uniquely. The students if asked to create their own individual digital story are immediately engaged as they are creating something that they want to create, they are choosing the photos, sound and videos to use, they are putting it all together and are themselves enthused by it.

Other forms of digital story telling can happen throughout any subject such as drama, science, mathematics, and even sport. In drama, displaying pictures from Romeo and Juliet with text at the bottom helps students to visualise the scene  in their minds, whereas in science a specific chemical process or setup procedure could be explained. In sport explaining the various subroutines of a throwing motion could be depicted by digital storytelling.

The most amazing thing with digital story telling is that it is so easy to begin and achieve. Students and teachers have access to a multitude of digital equipment such as cameras, video, web cams, mobile phones and microphones. Even the simplest Ipod today has sound recording capabilities.


Other than having access to the tools required for capturing the necessary media for a digital story, students have access also via their school to a varying range of websites specifically aimed at aiding the creation of a digital story. One of the most well-known of these is http://prezi.com. Students are able to embed, attach, or insert media of their liking to prezi into either a given template, a modified template (which they themselves have modified) or into a new template which they themselves designed. This not only show the teacher the students capabilities but also it allows the student to create the digital story in the exact way they want to with very little structuring.

Below is a prezi that I myself designed  detailing differing points of an antagonist and the protagonist, or good guy and bad guy in almost any film or movie. Whilst this may not have any pictures it can easily be adapted to include pictures, sound and video.


(Libby 2013)

Some issues that may arise from digital story telling is generally based on the lack of structure, as in some students may require that extra bit of help and structuring to get them started, however if the teacher has clearly explained the task, what is expected and required of the students, then there should be very few problems.
Something I found when attempting digital storytelling as a student was that without a clear explanation and an example of what is expected form the students I was very lost. I had all these options of ways I could take my story; I could make a spaceman story, a story of my dog, a friend (really the same thing) my family, but which way should I take it? It became evident that I needed a theme for my story.

There are seven components that are required for a digital story:
1. A point of view
2. A dramatic question
3. Emotional content
4. Your voiced opinion
5. The power of sound
6. Economy
7. Pacing
(Campbell, 2013)

All of these are very important, but none quite as important as the theme. I believe that No.1 should in fact be a theme, chosen by the teacher, that the student must follow. (IE the theme of family, designing the story on family, or food: favourite foods, awful foods, strange foods) Having a theme narrows down the options of what a student can pick, making it relevant to the subject and easier for them in many respects.
Now every single one of those other points is just as important. The whole idea of a digital story is to portray a point of view(No.1), a story from a perspective but not just any perspective, your own specific perspective where your opinion is voice(No.4). The key point of having a dramatic question(No.2) engages the audience, and makes them think about the presentation being shown, this could however also be an underlying message within the story. The emotional content (No.3) is built up using the power of sound(No.5) and its many emotions that it creates (IE jaws music, or calming jazz). Economy(No.6) goes hand in hand with pacing (No.7) the presentation must move smoothly along without getting boring, but in saying that it also must not drag on. People enjoy short engaging presentations, the longer the presentation the more engaging it has to be or the attention of the audience will drift. Without any of these 7(now 8) points a digital story would become mind-numbingly boring. Teachers planning to use this in the classroom, please be warned, digital stories work better in higher grades where technological skills are somewhat advanced, and that there is a varying range of presentations that may be received and criteria to mark these forms of assessment, if used as assessment, may have to be very flexible.

Well if considering everything I have stated above, implemented it effectively and if guidelines are clearly set then I would most certainly use this form of media design in the classroom. Not only does it benefit the students in advancing their understanding of technology but it too deepens their imaginative thinking, which frankly I don't believe the schools of today offer in  higher up grades. Where students are taught a structure, method and procedure and follow it to pass their given subject. This method of teaching I believe will not only engage s the students if used by the teacher, but deepen students abilities if also allowed to be used by the students.