Digital Storytelling can be simple or elaborate. Your choice of digital storytelling tools will be dependent on the purpose of the activity, the age of the students, the technology available and your students experience with the technology.
Digital stories can be used in all curriculum areas. They do not have to be used solely to tell a creative writing story in language arts. In the sciences and social studies students can create digital stories to complete a project or demonstrate knowledge; such as, documenting a science experiments or outlining the political system of a nation. Digital stories are an excellent way for students to voice their opinion on social justice matters and explore their own feelings and dreams. Finally, digital stories are a fantastic vehicle to document student growth in a digital portfolio.
GETTING STARTED
TOOLS
The Storytelling Process explained:
The following is an outline provided by Athabasca University on how to get started with digital storytelling.
The following is an outline provided by Athabasca University on how to get started with digital storytelling.
Some easy places to start:
One of the easiest places to start with students is to have them create a stop motion film on a digital story they created. There are a lot of apps and programs that you can use to create a stop motion clip. Some of the common ones are: PowToon, VideoScribe and even easier iPad apps like Stop Motion and Stop Motion Pro. Many of these programs and apps allow for free use with a limited set of options. If you wish to use all the options a subscription may be needed. For more in depth information on stop motion animation please take the link below to a comprehensive webpage.
More advanced options and lesson ideas:
There are a multitude of tools that can be used in digital storytelling. Almost every program ever created has a tutorial and examples of finished products on youtube. If you would like more in-depth information and lesson ideas on digital storytelling please take the link below.
Now that you have a foundational knowledge about digital storytelling and how it can be implemented in the regular classroom the remainder of our site is dedicated to Digital Storytelling with Aboriginal Populations, ELL Learners and using e-portfolios to demonstrate Digital Storytelling growth in each student. Take the link below to Digital Storytelling with Aboriginal Populations or use the menu at the top of the page to navigate to the topic of your choice.