6. Digital Storytelling

Adding Voice to ePortfolios through Digital Narratives

While not a part of the course, this section provides examples of digital narratives and an overview of the process of adding voice to ePortfolios through short reflective videos.  This video may be a inserted as link or embedded into a blog entry or web page. A digital narrative can be 3-to-5 minutes (300-500 words), recorded and illustrated with digital images, and posted online, either in YouTube/TeacherTube/SchoolTube (upload a digital video created with iMovie, MovieMaker or PhotoStory), or developed in VoiceThread, or developed as Powerpoint adding narration using Screenr.com. You can even save videos in GoogleDocs if they are in a smaller size. Digital images should be either Creative Commons (from Flickr search) or digital photos that you have taken or Powerpoint slides you have exported to JPEG or screenshots of educational websites.

Here are some rubrics for evaluating digital stories:

http://electronicportfolios.com/digistory/dsrubric.pdf

http://www.techteachers.com/digstory/gradclass/rubrics.htm

http://www.scribd.com/doc/12840228/Digital-Storytelling-Rubric

http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/DS-Project-Guidelines-2010.html

Here is a website with a instructions for creating a digital story/narrative:

• 1. What is a Digital Story? A basic definition with examples created by Dr. Barrett and some of her students

  2. What are the purposes for creating Digital Stories? A document that describes many purposes for creating digital stories, especially when used in electronic portfolios

  3. Who Creates Digital Stories? How Are They Used? The different constituencies that can create digital stories in education, plus a statement about privacy (COPPA and FERPA)

  4. How are Digital Stories Created? The digital storytelling process, using iMovie or MovieMaker2

  5. How are Digital Stories Shared? How are they Assessed? A look at the many places where digital stories can be posted online, along with some ways to evaluate these stories

This digital narrative can also be created in VoiceThread, a collaborative Web 2.0 tool. Here is a demonstration of the capabilities of this tool, with some examples. You can also apply for an educator account, which gives additional benefits.

This is a tutorial on using PhotoStory (only available for Windows XP): Video Photo-tutorials or Video Storytelling Projects made with Microsoft Photo Story