Show Me A Story!

Ready, Set, Write! Let your students express their creativity through digital storytelling! Here are some resources to help you get started.

Articles

Digital Storytelling Finds Its Place in the Classroom

Telling Tales with Technology

Digital Storytelling in the Language Arts Classroom

Digital Storytelling: A Practical Classroom Management Strategy

Use Digital Storytelling to Assess Student Writing

How To: Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom

Foundation for a Digital Storytelling Program

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Getting Started

The Center for Digital Storytelling’s “cookbook” is a PDF that provides a detailed description of the digital storytelling process. This is an excellent resource for getting started. Also, check out the web site at http://www.storycenter.org/. Be sure to watch some of the examples and peruse the resources.

Memory’s Voices is another wonderful resource from the Center for Digital Storytelling. It includes an online version of the cookbook and a great example called “A Recipe.”

Jason Ohler provides a thorough description of digital storytelling along with support for its use in the curriculum. Ohler breaks the digital storytelling process into four areas: Storytelling, literacy, learning; Art of Storytelling; Technology, techniques, resources; and Assessment.

DigiTales, by Bernajean Porter, provides teachers with examples of digital stories broken into five categories which include stories with a-ha moments, wrap-up of project, stories of achievement, or choices made. Especially useful are the Evaluating Project Resources which include methods of providing feedback and assessing digital media.  Another useful tool is the seven step (http://www.digitales.us/resources/seven_steps.php) process for creating digital stories.

David Jakes, creator of JakesOnline! provides a plethora of digital storytelling resources including articles of best practice, examples, tools, tutorials, an overview of the process and connections to standards.

Carnegie Mellon University’s Digital Storytelling website details the benefits of utilizing digital stories in the curriculum as well as provides a process for creating stories. Examples include digital storytelling as virtual tours, interactive stories and as visualizations of complex ideas. 

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Digital Storytelling Examples & Ideas

Stories of the American Revolution (http://techedonline.org/amrevstory.html) is an integrated social studies project completed by 6th grade students of James Giles School. This project page includes resources, a teaching guide and examples. 

Island Movie Contest website (http://islandmovie.k12.hi.us/) conducts a digital storytelling contest for students in the Hawaiian Islands. Students must submit projects which are based on state standards and the curriculum. Categories include “Teach Me Something,” “Tell Me a Story,” and “Environment Concerns and Social Issues.” The website also includes winning movies from 2003 to 2007.

http://www.listenup.org/ A collection of youth produced media with resources for youths and educators. Check out the educators section (http://www.listenup.org/community/educators.php) for examples and projects. 

http://storiesforchange.net/ Great examples and some tutorials under resources.

http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/ This site focuses on the educational uses of digital storytelling. It includes an overview, examples, tools, evaluation, and resources.

http://tech-head.com/dstory.htm This site contains a plethora of links to digital storytelling resources, books, examples and educational programs.

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Software and Tutorials

Apple’s video and text tutorials for using iMovie ’08 and iMovie HD 6. http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/

Another iMovie tutorial in video and text formats. http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/tutorial/

Atomic Learning’s free video tutorials on iMovie. http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/imovie2x.shtml

PhotoStory 3 is a photo story software available for free. It has more functionality and effects than Windows Movie Maker, including what is known as the Ken Burns effect of creating motion in still images. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx

Atomic Learning’s video tutorials on PhotoStory3. http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/la_tour_ps3pc (Must have a subscription to view these. Subscription available through NLU or as an ICE member.)

Windows Movie Maker is Microsoft’s free video editing software which supports video, images and one audio track. To use narration AND music, you must be creative or edit sound files with another program. Here’s some help (http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/Tutorials/HowToAudioTracks.aspx)! http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Atomic Learning’s free video tutorials on Windows Movie Maker. http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/moviemaker2

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net) is a free PC software for recording, editing and mixing audio files.  

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Image, Music & Sound Resources

MorgueFile (http://morguefile.com/) is a public image archive that provides images free of charge for educational and commercial uses. 

Flickr (http://flickr.com/) is an online image gallery service. Users can upload images to share and download images for use in projects. Image use various by photographer. Some are licensed under Creative Commons while others are copyright. Photographers are accessible via FlickrMail if you have an account.

Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/) allows you to search images and audio licensed under Creative Commons through Flickr and OWL music search. By using Creative Commons search you only receive images or audio that is available for classroom use. 

Kitzu (http://www.kitzu.com/), created by the Orange County Department of Education, offers kits of images, sounds and videos grouped around particular topics. All kits are searchable by keyword, grade or subject area. 

FreePlay Music (http://freeplaymusic.com/) contains music and sound effects available free for personal and educational use with attribution given to FreePlay Music. The site contains music from various genres, moods and styles available in mp3 and AAC formats.

ccMixter (http://ccmixter.org/) is another Creative Commons licensed collection of audio clips that includes samples, a cappella vocals, remixes and much more.

The Freesound Project (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/index.php) contains a database of Creative Commons licensed sound files available for individual use with attribution to the creator.

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Have more questions or need additional resources?

Email me at ballen@techedonline.org.