What is a digital story and why do we care? Firstly, story telling in an innate aspect of being a human being. Every culture in the world has used stories to transmit cultural knowledge and ideas. In short, it is part of being a person. Research has shown that content delivered by way of a story can be easier to understand than content delivered by a PowerPoint, for example. Stories are also remembered better than isolated facts. Children and adults alike love stories and will engage. Why? We care about stories and the characters in them. These days, educational technology has made it easy for people to create and narrate their own digital story. For example, PowerPoint and an online screen recorder will help you. Here is an example of a digital story I created about the writing process and plagiarism. Remember, that when you make digital story, it transmits a message that is meaningful and worth remembering. Also remember the main elements of a story:
1. Characters
2. Setting
3. Plot
4. Conflict
5. Resolution
Can you see the elements of a story in this example?
What do these videos have in common? They deliver an important message about a topic in a story that is simple and easy to watch. Generally, a digital story should last about 7-8 minutes maximum. Any content from any subject can be told by way of a story -- history, science, English....anything. All you have to do is add your creativity and your natural sense of story telling. Here is an example of a story of the water cycle. This guy is really energetic, but it does capture the idea that there is a story is everything.
Here are some resources to find out more about digital stories.
http://school-technology-portfolio.wikispaces.com/Storytelling
http://evscicats.com/blog/web-tools-for-teachers-digital-storytelling/
http://creativeeducator.tech4learning.com/v05/articles/Digital_Storytelling_Across_the_Curriculum
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/list-of-best-free-digital-storytelling.html