Interesting collection of digital storytelling resources from CogDog...Alan outlines 3 steps to digital stories:

1. Find an idea ...you need to think of a rather short concept that can use perhaps 4-8 images, text, maybe audio or music to bring a story to life on the web. You will want to pick something quickly, and not worry about it being worthy of a national art prize (!) The purpose here is to experience the creative aspects provided by the web tools. And remember that you will need to find images and other media from public collections that can represent the characters, places, or metaphors in your story.
2. Find media for your story: the media files you use in your story have to be ones that are licensed or shared with permission to re-use; this is the only way you can safely then share your new creation knowing it does not contain any copyrighted material. So just finding a picture via Google is not satisfactory. For each media file you find, document the source by title and URL and find a person or organization to use to give credit.
3. Tell your story with one (or more) of the following fifty tools. They are organized into categories according to the kind of story thet can produce or the kind of media they are built around (Slideshow, Timeline, Mixer, Flickr, Comic, Scrapbook, Map, Audio, Video, Presentation). Again, your mission here is not to review every single one, but pick one that sounds interesting, give it a try, and then leave some tracks from your experience over at the CogDogHouse wiki (see instructions for how to leave notes).

Love the simplicity in these steps!

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Interesting collection of digital stories created by Technology Integration Lead Teacher (TILT) participants...

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

While everyone was at Edubloggercon getting to know each other, having pithy discussions about the future of education, my family and I were at Sea World San Antonio having fun in the wave pool, floating along the lazy river, then wrapping up the day with a nap. However, it's been nifty sifting through all the posts from Edubloggercon. One nugget that jumped out at me was StoryBoard Pro from Atomic Learning.

It came up in the conversation, as shared by EdTechLife. The comment as pretty short:

Joyce is looking for a really good story boarding tool. How about Storyboard Pro from Atomic Learning.

And this led me here:

Atomic Learning's FREE Video StoryBoard Pro is designed to give teachers, students, and home movie makers a tool to plan ahead when creating video projects. It features the ability to:
* Enter shot titles and descriptions, complete with planned lengths and edited order.
* Indicate shot types: video, still, audio, music, or titles.
* Enter film tips for your camera person when videotaping the shot and editing tips to be used when editing in iMovie, Movie Maker 2, Final Cut Pro, Premeire, or any other editor of your choice.
* Import existing video clips, still pictures, and sounds to better illustrate each shot.
* Create, save, and import templates for video projects.
* Print copies of your storyboard for use while filming or editing.
* Print blank storyboard worksheets for brainstorming new ideas.
* NEW: Shot tips that link to online Atomic Learning Library sample video clips.

It's Mac and Windows...but no GNU/Linux. You can find a whole series of tutorials at Atomic Learning at the page. Anyone else using this with digital storytelling?

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

The following describes activities going on at San Antonio ISD. Kudos to the team who is facilitating this Digital Storytelling Camp with students. Those folks include Sue Harris, Tonya Mills, and Claude Ascolese with support from Sylvia Martinez, Greg Rodriguez, Josie Salas, and Larry Stegall.

This exciting technology rich enrichment camp provides students with opportunities to develop stories. These stories are based on authentic research data building of a student selected “under the sea animal," their compilation of information gathered on a Behind the Scenes visit to Sea World gathering real time data: photos, video, and interviews.

Idea generation will be a focal point in the creation of their own t-shirt design.The final camp event consists of an “Under the Sea” project student presentation session of digital stories .Each student will create and present their three minute digital story with digital media and audio tracks.

• View Photo Gallery
• View Student-Created Story

View the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) correlations -

• Reading/English Language Arts
• Technology Applications

One student t-shirt design...

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net, Texas

The photo above is me on the way back from East Texas. . .I'd show you the trip there, but it was dark and raining...and I loved every minute of it. It reminded me of the raining season in Panama where I spent my boyhood.

Yesterday afternoon, I set out on a 7 hour trip to deep East Texas. I arrived in Jasper and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, a wonderful hotel with Internet access! It was wonderful seeing the piney woods again after so many years--I lived in Mt. Pleasant for two years--and running into wonderful folks. I truly enjoyed my trip to East Texas, and had the opportunity to hang out with the Newton ISD folks. We were learning about Digital Storytelling together (get the pdf of the presentation i used).

We did encounter a few technical difficulties but these didn't stop anyone from seeing the possibilities of using Photostory for digital storytelling and lots of other things. I suppose what was so interesting for me as a facilitator was watching how quickly folks cranked out 250-word narratives that they could use as scripts for their digital stories. Most came prepared with their own pictures, and it was fun to watch them explore PhotoStory as they worked with real content.

The technical difficulties? Essentially the lack of microphones, a few blocked web sites for images/audio. Again, these weren't that big an obstacle. Thanks to Newton ISD for having me out today! I made it home safely, albeit a bit tired...but it's the kinda tired I don't mind being!

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

This week, I'm off to Newton ISD in the far reaches of East Texas to share my experiences with digital storytelling...in 3 hours. It's an exciting gambit, and I'm looking forward to "trying out" a few things. Of course, we'll do the standard script-writing, photostory component with storyboarding, and all that. What I haven't tried before is using TeacherTube as the place to publish the digital stories/poems that may arise from the two storytelling workshops. I'm sure it's old hat for some folks, but will be fun for me--and I hope for the participants--as we put our work "out there."

At Teachers Improving Learning with Technology (TILT)--which makes me wonder why I didn't steal this title for our own district initiative of the same name--Episode 16 has some nifty links. What caught my attention was something I hadn't thought of (shame on me)--assessment. At TILT, there's a sample rubric to use and a powerpoint to download. Danny also includes links to SoundDogs, a place I hadn't heard of that has downloadable sound effects, and a short walkthrough of using Powerpoint.

I'm reminded of Storybook Weaver, as Danny creates a 10 slide multimedia story. He's working on a blank, white page, minimizing the components (clip art, ec). He encourages teachers to use peer-editing with their students, develop assessments, and more.

This isn't the approach I'll take with my digital storytelling workshop coming up next week, but it's certainly an approach to take with creating multimedia storybooks. If you haven't seen Danny's TILT series, you need to check it out!

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net, Writing

Educational leaders telling digital stories...it's a powerful idea that has little to latch onto in terms of "real life." How many educational leaders do you know actually tell digital stories? Reggie writes a delightful entry that grabbed me, probably because I've been pondering creating digital stories that are leadership related. In fact, I'm going to advocate for digital storytelling in educational leadership...maybe it will take, maybe it won't. I'll let you know. In the meantime, read what Reggie writes:

There is an art to telling a story. We all know that. We have all listened to someone go on and on and in our minds think of how we could have added a chapter to our dissertation in the time it took the person to finish their story. But as leaders, we can show and teach our staff how to tell a story. Imagine if every monthly staff meeting started out by someone telling a story of something good that happened in the school; something good between a teacher and a student.

Do you, as a leader, use stories in your daily work? If you have a blog, do you tell stories there? Do you think that using stories could help your staff and students be more engaged in their work? Do you think storytelling conjures up images of sitting around the campfire singing songs and having group hugs and therefore isn't useful in the school setting? What do you think? Tell me a story.

If we use a movie publishing vehicle we can all access--whether you post it on your own server or TeacherTube.com--I'm going to throw down the gauntlet. This is the first week in May. By Friday, how about some digital stories that captures the something good in your school or district?

Ok, at this time, I know I should have an example. But I don't. . .check back Friday, ok?

BTW, Reggie, thanks for for the link to the National Storytelling Network!

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Leadership, MGuhlin.net

Kimberly Cuero (kimberley.cuero@utsa.edu)

Take a few minutes to listen to this interview with Kimberly Cuero from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Kimberly served as one of the Storytelling Festival Steering Committee members. The Storytelling Festival was held on March 3, 2007 at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Listen to Interview with Kimberly Cuero

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Check out this fascinating series shared via YouTube by Ira Glass on storytelling. Everytime I listen to him speak on National Public Radio (NPR), I'm captivated by what he has to say!

via Pederson Designs.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Like many other folks, I'm fascinated by the prospect of digital storytelling to restore "voice" to classroom activities. So often, schools are caught up in testing, and a focus on activities that do not engage us personally, as human beings. Digital storytelling, like blogs and podcasts, enable children and teachers to develop creativity. That's important in a world that increasingly requires us to be more creative.

Although I have had the opportunity to work on digital storytelling a la oral composition approach, I have to confess that I am a product of traditional schooling. As such, I'm text dominant and oral composition isn't something I'm entirely comfortable with, although our children certainly benefit from the oral composition approach. In attending Lambert's workshop, I hoped to explore the world that David Jakes had introduced me to via his web site and blog.

On Monday, March 19th, three of my team and I took the short trip from San Antonio to Austin, Tx to attend Joe Lambert's (pictured above) Digital Storytelling Workshop. The 3-day workshop was facilitated by Joe Lambert and Stefani Sese (profile shot below). I truly enjoyed the first day of the workshop because of its focus on the seven elements of digital storytelling. I'm grateful to Joe for allowing me to share the interview and audiocast of the Digital Storytelling workshop (Day 1 only...Days 2 & 3 were more about short minilessons and working through the creation of your digital story).

Day 1 was particularly fun because of the StoryCircle. We pretty much started out the day in StoryCircle, sitting in a circle and going around the room to introduce ourselves, then share what our story was. Over the last few months, I've been meditating on how to do a quick homage to my Dad, and Garbed in Silver is an adaptation of a story I wrote 17 years ago. What was shared during the StoryCircle was the best.

The rest of the session included short mini-lessons on Adobe Photoshop Elements and Final Cut Pro Express. With my focus on no/low cost software, I had only worked on Adobe Photoshop and Fireworks in the past. Since I've never been interested at all by art, graphic design, or anything like that, I prefer to work with single-use image editing tools...and if I have to use something, THE GIMP is what I use (even on my Macbook). Final Cut Pro Express, though, was a joy to work with. I was impressed at how easy it was and how much control it provided. Once you've worked with Final Cut Pro Express, it's hard to imagine using PhotoShop or Moviemaker (that crashes every 10 minutes)...but that's what our schools have, and not everyone is using Mac OS X.

A Conversation with Joe Lambert, Director/Founder of the Center for Digital Storytelling

Audio Recording of Day 1 of the Digital Storytelling Workshop - Not yet available

AudioCast Links:

1. Center for Digital Storytelling
2. Miguel's Digital Storytelling Resources
3. Digital Storytelling Cookbook
4. Contact information for the Center for Digital Storytelling: 1803 Martin Luther King Jr. Way Berkeley, CA 94709 USA www.storycenter.org 510-548-2065 phone 510-548-1345 fax
5. DigiTales.us
6. Helen Barrett on Digital Storytelling as ePortfolios
7. Sound clips in the audiocast come from Free Royalty-Free clips available online at PlayItFree.com

Digital Stories (in Quicktime Movie format):

• Family Time - Christina Morrow (2.2 megs)
• Garbed in Silver - Miguel Guhlin (21.5 megs)
• Alaska - Larry Stegall (13.7 megs)
• My Island - Greg Rodriguez (15.4 megs)

Photos:

 
(Left to Right: Stefanie Sese (Facilitator) and Susanna)

 
(Left to Right: Christina Morrow and Joe Lambert)

Prior to the workshop, an email went out announcing what would be done, goals and objectives. Here's a copy...I really appreciated this step!

In 1993, CDS¹s founders developed a unique workshop environment that assists people in creating video stories from their family photos and home video. It is based on a philosophy of emphasizing fundamental elements of good storymaking combined with a demystification of multimedia technology and tools.

We have helped over 10,000 people to mine powerful and effective tales from the pictures of their lives, or the lives of their loved ones. The stories have covered every conceivable topic: tales of survival and achievement; corporate brand stories, travel adventures; love stories, health and healing; oral histories about cultures, historic periods, and work experiences; and memorials to loved ones.

The class is a great introduction for the multimedia novice or the professional to working with digital imaging and digital video softwares. The workshops include hands-on instruction to Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Express and script/storyboard development. The CDS teaching staff will give each student specific assistance on their projects, including design, scripting, and other issues regarding the specific use of their digital story.

Students will complete a 3 minute piece which will be output to disk and mailed following the workshop.

---------------

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. To provide students with an introduction to the tools of desktop video in a production context.
2. To introduce storytelling methodology (point of view, emotional content, dramatic action) into a dialogue about new media content.
3. Assist students in completing a project.

---------------

ROUGH TIMETABLE OF WORKSHOP

DAY ONE

• Introduction
• Presentation of 7 Elements and Digital Stories to introduce digital storytelling and analyze story elements in prior student work.
• Story Circle to discuss students own project plans in group setting.
• Lunch
• Adobe Photoshop Elements Hands-on Tutorial
• Preparation and Digitization of Individual Materials including scriptwriting and revision, image selection and storyboarding, scanning and image preparation in Photoshop on student workstations.

DAY TWO

• Adobe Premiere Pro Hands-on Tutorial
• Final Individual Script Review
• Record Voice-overs
• Assemble rough edit in Adobe Premiere Pro

DAY THREE

• Complete Rough Edit in Adobe Premiere Pro
• Select and add Soundtrack audio
• Select and add special effects in Adobe Premiere Pro including image pan and zoom, motion, superimpositions, transparency and titles.
• Complete Final Edit
• Export Draft of final version of digital story for workshop presentation.

---------------

PRE-WORKSHOP PREPARATION

To get the most of out the workshop we recommend preparing the following materials: an idea for a story you want to tell, a script, images, video and music.

It is best if you come with a rough draft of a script. Since we are working on pieces that will be 2-3 minutes long, bring a script that is about 1.5 pages, double spaced or 250 words.

Also bring photographs, art work, letters and items for your story. Images can be scanned ahead of time or during the workshop. Around 20 images is a good number. If you can scan them ahead of time we recommend scanning at about 300 dpi and bringing them on a CD if possible, or flash card.

If you are planning on using video make sure you have previewed your tapes prior to the class and made notes about which 5-15 second clips you will want to capture. Video uses a lot of memory and can be time consuming to work with so we will use video efficiently and in small clips. If you are using a video format other than VHS or Mini-DV please bring along your camera for use in capturing your video clips to the computer.

For background music you can bring music on CD. Choose a couple of possibilities and then you can choose the option that works best. We will also have copyright free music and software available at the workshop if you would like to use that, or you may find songs available on-line for purchase.

Our web site has a copy of the Digital Storytelling Cookbook, the manual we have created to accompany the class. You will find the first sections helpful to read prior to the class. There is a PDF version of the front sections of the cookbook at www.storycenter.org/cookbook.

You can also find helpful resources in the new text: Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community by Joe Lambert which is available for purchase on-line at: www.storycenter.org/book.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling

Re-reading old blog entries, I ran across this one that I'd been tagged for by Brian at Bump on a Blog. In that entry, I dropped the image shown above in. The image came from a blog entry entitled the Power Law of Participation (Ross Mayfield). When I was writing this, I didn't reflect too deeply on the whole power law of participation thing. On hunting for the origin of the post, I found this quote from Ross' blog:

Social software brings groups together to discover and create value. The problem is, users only have so much time for social software. The vast majority of users with not have a high level of engagement with a given group, and most tend to be free riders upon community value. But patterns have emerged where low threshold participation amounts to collective intelligence and high engagement provides a different form of collaborative intelligence.

And from the comments:
Participation, the small number of core community members leads to collaborative intelligence, while the larger community provides an important collective intelligence by contributing bug reports, ideas, and comments. These two types of contributors and the resulting intelligence generated both feed off of each other and allow the community to prosper.

What if we combined this graph with an analysis of wikis? Consider my most recent "discovery" of a 9th grade wiki, Thousand and One Flat World Tales Project:

Being an avid sci-fi person, I love the way this wiki starts out:

"Look at them..the human race is so uninteresting. They are stupid, they are ignorant, and most of all, they are hopelessly boring. They are not worthy of this planet called Earth. Let's destroy them, so we can take their land and use the humans for 'human-testing'," Chief Zen suggested.
"No, Chief Zen, give them a chance. The human race is famous for storytelling. Let them entertain us before we act too harshly," Zero replied.
"Fine, Zero. But if the story doesn't please me--we destroy the storyteller and his/her country," Chief Zen said.
"Great idea, Chief. Bring forth your storytellers, humans...."

Ok, back to the combining...would it be possible to "measure" educational projects according to where they fall along the power law of participation? I'm just playing with the idea, and invite feedback.

This particular wiki seems a perfect way to find a response to Ross Mayfield's question, Can users discover their own power together to either discover something great, or even create it? As I understand it, collective intelligence is achieved when people like you and me read entries, tag them, even blog about them. When we do that, we move up the curve from Read to Favorite to Tag and perhaps, even Comment. As we become more proficient--we make a conscious decision to learn more--we learn how to track all our subscriptions using a tool like Bloglines.com or Google Reader.

Is it safe to say that when educators use wikis in their classrooms to achieve collaborative level of inquiry, that they are meeting Ross' higher standard of

When users participate in high enagement activities, connecting with one another, a different kind of value is being created.

In a related blog entry, Ross quotes Mitch Kapor, who shares...They are in relationship to one another and that is the glue that holds it together. Here, he's talking about wikipedians, but isn't that what Clay Burell, Julie Lindsay and the other participating teachers are doing when two groups of students come together? They are building relationships.

In the past, we had to have these organizations (I*Earn is one example) facilitate communications between teachers. Now, given the tools graciously provided by WikiSpaces.com, Learnerblogs.com, teachers and students can create something interesting, moving from collective to collaborative intelligence.

Is this true? Or am I giving this idea or wiki or both too much credit?

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

In anticipation of my visit to New Zealand, I've been spending a LOT of time meditating on my presentation, as well as enhancing the wiki materials at http://www.mguhlin.net/wiki

It's amazing how much content is embedded in the pages of any blog, and I'm finding my "old" blog pages a source of material/content for the wiki site. If a blog is a more permanent record of my thoughts and learning, then a wiki is practically a perpetual record. At least, that's the way it feels.

As I updated some of the links, I realized that information is changing so quickly that unless we work together--mass collaboration--we will be unable to maintain resources that all of us, or even one person, can use. It's an awesome testament to the pace of change, and how much we need each other simply to survive as individual digital citizens.

In the meantime, check out the digital storytelling, podcasting and blogging resource pages and let me know what's missing. Cindy mentioned SpringDoo, and I've included that. If you want to make updates or changes, the password is available. <wink>

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Education, MGuhlin.net, TechTips

Warning: Don't read this if you haven't seen the movie.

Wow, my wife and I just finished watching this movie. I had planned to take my 7 year old but reconsidered after watching the preview on HBO last night of the movie. It was a GREAT movie, and I was amazed at the feeling of being transported to another time and place. I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought that the one Spartan who gets to survive the onslaught of 10,000 Persians--portrayed as sex fiends, ogres, slaves, Immortal troops that are faceless in their uniformity of molded silver faces under the leadership of a "divine" Xerxes--is the one who can tell stories, the storyteller. It is his voice that tells the story of King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans, his voice that calls 10,000 Greeks--outnumbered 3 to 1, but what are those odds to Greeks led by Spartans?--forward to fight.

The power of storytelling...who even cared about the Battle of Thermopylae when they heard about it in school? This movie makes it all the more interesting. I was surprised to read that some of the best lines in the movie were reported to have been uttered...

Despite their extremely disproportionate numbers, Greek morale was high. Herodotus writes that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as "to blot out the sun", he remarked with characteristically laconic prose, "So much the better, we shall fight in the shade."

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Last summer (2006), Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw and my school district organized a series of digital storytelling academies. On Saturday (03/03/2007), I had the chance to attend the Storytelling Festival held at the University of Texas at San Antonio. This event--which was free to the public, especially K-12 educators--featured Tim Tingle as its keynote speaker, as well as a host of other presenters.

At the March 3rd Storytelling Festival held at UTSA, two teachers--Sandra Garcia and Juliana Berry--shared what they had done as a result of the Academy one of them had attended. I was thoroughly excited and delighted about what they had to share, and I interviewed them regarding what they had learned as a result of their work with 5th grade students.

I urge you to listen to this if you ever doubted the power of digital storytelling to help students improve and be more engaged in their writing.

 Listen to our conversation

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Last summer (2006), Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw and my school district organized a series of digital storytelling academies. At the March 3rd Storytelling Festival, two teachers shared what they had done as a result of the Academy one of them had attended. I was thoroughly excited and delighted about what they had to share, and I interviewed them regarding what they had learned as a result of their work with 5th grade students.

I urge you to listen to this if you ever doubted the power of digital storytelling to help students improve their writing, be more engaged in writing.

 Listen to the Podcast

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

 
Tim Tingle, Storyteller and Keynote Speaker at UTSA's Storytelling Festival, 2007

Although I walked in a few minutes late to Tim's presentation, I did manage to catch most of his keynote. Unfortunately, I picked a spot near a baby! So, the baby is a featured speaker in this recording, but not TOO much. As I listened to his keynote again, I was slowly drawn in by his stories and the message he wanted to convey.

After the keynote, I accosted Tim on stage to ask his insights. To my surprise, he spoke to the importance of reading in improving standardized test scores. The reason? No, it wasn't Accelerated Reader. Rather, it was Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) for an hour, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. The test scores started to go up, and now they have access to state funds, grants and more. What a powerful message for all of us to hear.

I'll be releasing the short interview later, so check future entries for his keynote.

Listen to this Audiocast or listen to the audio in different formats, including Flash.

Note: Not sure how to play an OGG file? Use the free VLC Media Player or add OGG functionality to your iTunes Player.

Technorati Tags: storytelling festival, storytelling,storyfestival2007,utsa

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

At today's Storytelling Festival, I cornered Doc Moore. He was standing in front of a table with a whole bunch of books, one of which he was kind enough to gift me with (he's pictured holding it above)! Here's a bit from his web site:

Doc Moore brings over thirty-five years of public school and university teaching experience to the telling of history, folk, ghost, and inspirational stories. A popular performer for the past twelve years at the Texas Folklife Festival, he appears regularly at local, state, regional and national festivals. As a humorist, Doc won the prestigious Austin Liar’s Championship in 2002.

He was a delightful person to chat with him, and this short podcast captures "the fire" that enlivens Doc. As we parted today, he encouraged me to tell stories.

• Texas Ghost Stories
• Spooky Texas Tales
• Walking the Choctaw Road

Listen to this Audiocast or listen to the audio in different formats, including Flash.

Note: Not sure how to play an OGG file? Use the free VLC Media Player or add OGG functionality to your iTunes Player.

Technorati Tags: storytelling festival, storytelling,storyfestival2007,utsa

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Today, Saturday (03/03/2007), I had the chance to attend the Storytelling Festival held at the University of Texas at San Antonio. This event--which was free to the public, especially K-12 educators--featured Tim Tingle as its keynote speaker, as well as a host of other presenters. Not only was I fortunate enough to chat with Tim Tingle, as well as record his keynote (and he was generous enough to grant permission to post as a podcast), I have several other great interviews to share with you.

I'm going to share them in the order I recorded them...the first was a chat with Courtney Crim, pictured below.

Courtney is a literacy professor at UTSA and had some interesting things to say about storytelling and creativity. As I was introduced to her, I felt an overwhelming affirmation of my understanding earlier this week (read The Buck Stops Here!) regarding Richard Florida's points about creativity being for ordinary people, not just the elite. It was wonderful to hear Courtney make these points in the context of K-12 education, as well as higher education...and advocate for storytelling in the face of No Child Left Behind. It was a sentiment that was echoed by Tim Tingle, the main speaker at this event.

Listen to this audiocast or listen to the audio in different formats, including Flash.

Note: Not sure how to play an OGG file? Use the free VLC Media Player or add OGG functionality to your iTunes Player.

Technorati Tags: storytelling festival, storytelling,storyfestival2007,utsa

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

I forgot to mention that I'll be attending the Storytelling Festival at the University of Texas at San Antonio on March 3, 2007.

The UTSA Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching will host the third annual Storytelling Festival from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Saturday, March 3 at the 1604 Campus Main Building ground floor. The morning session is free and open to the public. The event will feature professional storytellers and workshops with a range of topics including "How to Tell Stories" and "Storytelling in the Classroom." Renowned Choctaw storyteller Tim Tingle will deliver the keynote address, "Storytelling as a Vehicle for Change." Additional afternoon workshops will be available including "Collecting Our Studies: Pride In Preserving," taught by Tingle and "Eight Steps to Storytelling Success" led by Jo Anne Ollerenshaw.

Both Dr. Maria Kaylor and Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw will be presenting.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Joe Lambert sent me the following announcement:

Digital Storytelling Workshop
Monday-Wednesday, March 19-21, 2007
Communication Area, North Office Building A
University of Texas
Austin, TX
http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/noa.html)

Monday - Wednesday, 9am-5pm
Instructors: Joe Lambert, CDS Staff
Price: $ 495 USD Individual project
To register: email workshop@storycenter.org
Or go to http://www.storycenter.org/schedule.html#austin

See you there!

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Unfortunately, I had to back out of delivering my TCEA workshops due to other commitments (TCO meeting and SIG meetings). However, I felt pretty comfortable entrusting the workshop to several people. Although I was able to drop in to the session, I could only stay for a few minutes. I felt terrible that I was missing the workshop...and that later, several folks appeared unhappy about the technical portion of the presentation. That aside--although it's tough to put aside--I did have a chance to quickly touch-base with the presenters and one innocent bystander.

 Listen to a quick brief overview by Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw and Laura from Deer Park ISD (who was a great sport and put on the spot).

You can find all the materials shared at the digital storytelling workshop online. BTW, if you're interested in finding a digital storytelling workshop facilitator team, let me know! I'd love to!

Technorati Tags: mguhlin, tcea, tcea2007

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Education, MGuhlin.net, Texas

When my copy of TCEA's TechEdge magazine--circulation is 8,000 readers--arrived today, I was overjoyed...it featured 3 articles I was particularly excited about re-reading.

The 3 articles included:

1) On the Precipice of Change: 3 Obstacles to Technology Use in K-12
Mark Ahlness is quoted in this article. It is one of his best quotes. I encourage you to read it. Here's the lead from that article:

"Let's talk about 3 obstacles,” shared one executive director in a conversation that I had the opportunity to participate in, “that keep you from doing what you want to accomplish in Instructional Technology." What a great opener for a conversation about district-level initiatives! We are often stopped by obstacles that we perceive. Warren Greshes' shares that for most people, there are 3 obstacles that they just cannot get around (Source: Read More) .

2) Unleash the Power of Digital Storytelling: Part 3
This is the final story in a digital storytelling trilogy. This section was primarily written by Dr. Maria Kaylor in collaboration with Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw and, of course, me. Kind of them to share the byline...you can read the first two at http://mguhlin.wikispaces.com/writings

This article describes reasons for using digital storytelling with students who have learning disabilities.

3) Download a la Mode: Apps that Simplify Your Life
More and more school districts are placing restrictions on the rights of teachers to select and install software they view as relevant to classroom needs and/or instruction. On the one hand, districts deal with these requests from an increasingly tech-savvy group--especially those who read this column--and complaints from the district's helpdesk that end-users are "trashing" the machines with unrestricted install rights. So, even as teachers become more tech-savvy, more restrictions are imposed on work computers.This article addresses how you can bypass all the protections by booting off a CD-ROM, as well as deals with other exciting how-to issues such as getting YouTube videos for use in K-12 (if appropriate) if YouTube web service is blocked in your school district, and several others.

Get a PDF copy of all 3 articles

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Download a la Mode, Education, Leadership, MGuhlin.net, OpenLearning, TechTips

I received this email from a friend...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LugKLahXyho
My Son's totally pointless Movie

The movie is entitled, "How NOT to Fly a Kite." Of course, what really catches my attention is the comment the father made about his son's movie. Is this movie really, totally pointless? Or, are these kids doing something important? Hmm...

1. Joining a global community of people sharing equally pointless, but entertaining videos.
2. Finding a way to express themselves in video

Heck, I'm out of time. Anyways, what other ways is this video NOT pointless?

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

The articles co-authored by Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw and I willappear online at the KLRN Public Radio web site this coming week. It appears as part of the materials shared at The Institute for Connecting Teachers and Technology held September 23, 2006. It was the last conference I presented at before things went bad with my dad and I cancelled conference appearances (sigh).

This year's ICTT held on September 23, 2006 was rockin'. Working along the theme of “Rockin' With Technology,” this year’s event focused on video-related instruction. Breakout sessions by Master Teachers from around the city included topics such as digital storytelling, podcasting, wikis and more.

Several of my colleagues presented (Wide World of Wikis, SAISD Internet Drivers' License, Video Storybook), and I wrote about the ICTT experience.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Education, MGuhlin.net

After suffering a laptop (or two) setback yesterday at work, and getting ready for a workshop today on Digital Storytelling, I chose sleep over writing...even though I woke up early to create a quick presentation on Digital Storytelling. I stole from several folks and acknowledge them in the presentation (sans links). . .thanks!

Today's presentation was for the Institute for Connecting Teachers and Technology, sponsored by the KLRN group. It was our--Dr. Maria Kaylor and I--first "public" presentation of the oral composition approach to digital storytelling (sheesh, have to come up with a better way of describing it). I hope to have the podcast up a little later tonight, or perhaps tomorrow. In the meantime, you can find all the links over at the JotSpot Wiki I created on Thursday.

It was an easy presentation to prepare since I fell back on my blog entries on digital storytelling. What was particularly fun was listening to Dr. Kaylor share experiences about oral composition approach being used by middle school students in San Antonio ISD. The teachers in the audience were hooked and their heads were nodding...The most telling point is this one, which gathered lots of approval from those in the audience:

Encourage students to use the storymap and then develop their story orally. Students develop oral language naturally (Vygotsky, 1978; Snow, 1977; Engel, 1995). If students are provided with an opportunity to tell their story orally, then when it comes time for them to write, they will write. Students will have something to say, and will want to write, like the 4th grade students from the physics of sound research study. F. Scott Fitzgerald (2006) stated that, “you write because you’ve got something to say”.
--Dr. Jo Anne Ollerenshaw

One comment--from a middle school teacher--that struck me as strange, and I hope comes across on the audio, went something along the lines of this:

We can't have students writing on word processors because the TAKS test requires them to write out their answers. Some say that we shouldn't bother teaching them to write on computers because they can't use the computer on the test.

Does that send shivers down your spine? It did mine when I heard it...it's the reality of teaching in Texas schools. I have whole other blog entry on this subject but I'm saving it for later!

Find all materials, including examples and video, at the Unleashing the Power of Digital Storytelling wiki page.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw (Science Storyteller) authors the latest installment of Unleashing Digital Storytelling. This is the 2nd in a multi-part series that approaches storytelling from an oral composition approach rather than a written one. You can read Part 1 here, and Part 3 will be written by Dr. Maria Kaylor (CyberRoots). Here's the lead for the article:

“I’m motivated! Digital storytelling will help me encourage my students from kindergarten through 5th grade to become move motivated to read, write, and use more language literacy skills”, shared one participant from the Summer Digital Storytelling Academy, “because it is user-friendly. Teachers and students can use different technology tools to develop their digital storytelling. I cannot wait to start digital storytelling in my school this fall!” “There is clearly a new love affair with storytelling in a variety of disciplines, and this is resulting in emerging research trends and applications”, contends Figa (2004).

This article, the second in a series about digital storytelling, describes the professional development activities from the Summer Digital Storytelling Academy. Miguel Guhlin, Unleash the Power of Digital Storytelling - part 1, challenged you to become familiar with Photo Story™ for this article. I would like to encourage you even more with the oral- and digital- storytelling strategies that teachers used this summer during the Digital Storytelling Academies.

I especially like this point that JoAnne makes. I was dragged kicking and screaming to this point of view:

My position about digital storytelling diverges from the mainstream position on digital storytelling, because I support the oral story instead of a written story for the digital storytelling. [Read and listen to the debate from Sidebar #2.] Since we are working with students in school, our purpose for digital storytelling differs from the Digital Storytelling camps, e.g., the Center for Digital Storytelling. I strongly suggest: do NOT write your story out first, since you are modeling for your students. Especially: do NOT ask your students to write out their story first. Encourage students to use the storymap and then develop their story orally. Students develop oral language naturally (Vygotsky, 1978; Snow, 1977; Engel, 1995). If students are provided with an opportunity to tell their story orally, then when it comes time for them to write, they will write. Students will have something to say, and will want to write, like the 4th grade students from the physics of sound research study. F. Scott Fitzgerald (2006) stated that, “you write because you’ve got something to say”.

You can find examples of digital stories online here.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Graham makes some interesting points in his recent blog entry, The Death of a Metaphor:

The limited ability to express abstract concepts in video and audio when compared to text could mean a lessening of things like metaphors and analogies which text in the hands of a skilled writer can impart so much.

He cites Stephen Downes, who points out:

True, there will always be a need for text, especially among academics, but much (if not most) popular communication will be audio and video.

This is sad news for me. I can already see the difference--text dominated world that I grew up to survive in is fading fast, moving ever more to audio and video. I imagine a day when audio and video will be the primary way to communicate, and classes will be offered for us text-centric dinosaurs who insist on text-casting rather than vodcasting or audiocasting.

Consider this in light David Jakes' recent post on the TechLearning.com Blog on digital storytelling where he shares 3 beautiful stories (my favorite is My Turn by Valerie) crafted by teachers in Illinois. These folks followed the lauded Center for Digital Storytelling approach, which involves a written script. (An aside: David takes advantage of Flickr and Flickr CC images, something I wish my district could take advantage of but blocks because of the inappropriate images displayed. And, with inappropriate images displayed, I can't complain reasonably). Earlier I wrote about this alternative composition approach to digital storytelling:

At first, it was difficult for me to imagine that such an approach would be successful, but now, having seen the results--the products of teachers in training--I'm impressed by the possibilities.

When I listen to these 3 examples of oral composition of digital storytelling, which are not necessarily about personal narrative--which is what makes the written approach so compelling because it's someone's story--and aren't limited to Reading/ELA essential knowledge and skills, Graham's and Stephen Downes' ideas are affirmed.

Alone at the End… The story deals with punctuation marks and their role in a sentence.
Julio Earns His Puppy. The story chronicles a young man’s journey to earn a new dog.
The Storm of 1942. The story tells the story of a family during the 1942 hurricane.

In the Alone at the End digital story--created by Juliana Berry, a Special education teacher--the focus is on these Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):

1. Language Arts Third Grade 110.5 (15)AB; (17)C; (18)C;
Fifth grade 110.7 (1)AB; 2(D);(16)AB;(18)B;(19)C
2. Reading Third Grade 110.5 (1)AD;(3)C;(9)ACK;
Fifth grade 110.7 (9)C;(10)AK

As I look forward to a new age, I see now that the iMovie fanatics were right all along...learning to express yourself in audio and video is the digital literacy needed. More projects will be posted online at the SCRIBE Initiative site.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Education, MGuhlin.net

These words jumped off the screen at me from Andy Carvin's transcript of Larry Lessig's presentation. They resonated with my growing understanding of how an oral composition approach to digital storytelling--which I share here--is THE way to do approach digital storytelling, rather than the approach that follows a written script. While I don't think it's an either/or proposition, there's a lot to be said for re-discovery of the oral approach. Consider the quote:

We need to recognize that writing words is the Latin of our modern times. Video and sound are the vulgar languages of the common people, tools for speaking with power - a new potential to speak, learn, a new literacy that's reviving the read-write culture.

We need to be careful here as we advocate for digital storytelling in schools. What we're advocating for is OUR way, our ADULT, text driven way, of approaching stories. Yet, the oral composition approach is more in tune with the "languages of the common people." While I don't want to say one approach--especially one that I've just become aware of in my school district--is THE way to go, it seems to me that anyone who wants to advocate new literacies must consider it. And, that we have to put that kind of work and product OUT THERE for the rest of the world to discover for free. What do you think?

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Education, MGuhlin.net

Maria over at CyberRoots shares the following:

We just finished two weeks of Digital Storytelling Academies for Special Education teachers. It was a fantastic experience. I was impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm of the teachers. I really feel that using the oral storytelling method as a basis for the digital story will make this successful for many students with disabilities. There are so many directions to take from here, such as using the oral story to promote the written story, in digital format of course. I am awaiting the beginning of the school year so that teachers can use their newly acquired skills and we can study teacher implementation and student outcomes.

This is the result of intense revision of an approach to digital storytelling that holds much promise as an ALTERNATIVE to the written script popularized by the Center for Digital Storytelling. At first, it was difficult for me to imagine that such an approach would be successful, but now, having seen the results--the products of teachers in training--I'm impressed by the possibilities. The process and the 3 day workshop have been refined again and again. The Problem Solution Narrrative Structure used has also been helpful. Here's how one teacher described it:

All participants had access to a Tablet PC running Windows XP, as well as specialized free software such as Cmap Tools, MovieMaker, Audacity sound editing software. In addition, participants also received an iAudio U2 digital audio recorder. This enabled them to record their stories using an oral composition approach, which differs from the written composition approach (involving a script) popularized by the Center for Digital Storytelling. An oral composition approach has many benefits for special education students, as well as others for whom written scripts may impede development of story concepts and elements.

This oral composition process involved crafting problem narratives and embedding situations that help students move from problem to solution in a story. Conceptually, participants had to make various decisions, such as: 1) What their story was going to be about; 2) What characters they were going to have in the story; 3) How and where to begin the story; 4) What the turning point of the story was going to be; and finally, 5) How the story was going to end in such a way as to resolve the problem.

Participants also had to digitally record their story—using technology they had never been exposed to until this workshop—and then edit their audio-recorded story using the Audacity software. Another key component to enhance the story was to add background music that enhanced the telling of the stories. After developing an orally pleasing story, pictures were chosen from the Internet. Only those pictures that could tell the story without audio were chosen. By combining all the elements—edited audio with background music, story-enhancing images—in MovieMaker, participants were able to create a digital version of their audio story. Other aspects to enhance the story included transitions, titles, credits to round out the product. This was tough work for participants, as well as other participants, yet the result was a new approach to storytelling and teaching that is engaging for children who are less focused on writing, more on oral storytelling.

The process followed included:

1. Task ID TEKS Correlations

2. Create the Oral Story Using the Problem Solution Narrative Structure

3. Develop the Structure: Initiating Event, Problem, Setting, Characters, Middle, Turning Point, and The End

4. Practice the story

5. Enhance the story

6. Record the story: iAudio recording

7. Create the Digital Story

8. Download Audio File

9. Select Images to Enhance Story

10. Import Pictures and Audio to Windows Movie Maker

11. Finalize Product

12. Participate in Gallery Walk

13. Use Rubric to give Formative Assessment

14. Make Final Edits

15. Publish the Final Product on the S.A.I.S.D. web site

I look forward to sharing links to the products developed. Another key difference between this approach and the written script is that other TEKS--aside from writing--can be addressed. This makes this approach to Digital Storytelling a lot more adaptable to classroom settings in hitting content-area objectives. Kudos to Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw andDr. Maria Kaylor , as well as Larry Stegall and Greg Rodriguez at SAISD, for their hard work in making this successful!

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Education, MGuhlin.net

When I walked into the open area where my team is housed, a young teacher was sitting alone in one of the waist-high cubicles. She was speaking into her iAudio U2, recording a digital story. She looked up at me, and shared, "This is hard to record, especially without written notes." As I heard these words, I flashed back to the conversations we've been having over the last few weeks about digital storytelling.

"You're exactly right," I told her. "This is hard."
"It's harder than doing a blog or podcasting," she responded. I agreed. I expressed how grateful I was that I hadn't yet had to craft a digital story via the oral composition approach. It's what she said next that was really interesting.
"It's hard to do this because I'm used to writing everything down. But, you know, this is in reverse for our Special Education kids." I again agreed and shared that this was exactly the conversation we'd been having over the last few weeks. She continued.

"My students can do the oral but they won't do the writing. They can talk for 3 minutes straight and tell a story, but I have to do this multiple times."
"As you model this process to them, " I responded, "you're establishing common ground. They'll see that you're not that good or proficient at it, but they'll be able to do it better."
"Yes,' she replied, "for them, this is their strength."

This conversation was quick, but profound. It was profound because it reminds me that we often force our children to learn the way we do. In many cases, that's great. But, when you consider what the TED Conference speaker, Sir Ken Robinson, had to say. . .essentially that our creativity is educated out of us.

If we're so busy educating children to OUR strengths as educators, aren't we diminishing the strengths that our children have? Can't we find a way that nurtures the strengths in our children? Who knows? Maybe those strengths that we place so little value on--remember, Ken says we squander children--will be what save us in a flat world.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, Education, MGuhlin.net

Implementing digital storytelling has been primarily of emphasizing the primacy of the written script. As we look at the models of digital storytelling that are out there, it's mostly focused on the written word. But, perhaps, in our rush to seize the power of technology to enhance storytelling, have we forsaken a more primal connection to what it means to be human? Have we, in our rush to adopt the written word, pushed aside oral storytelling tradition that has a greater appeal to younger learners? As adults teaching digital storytelling, is it wrong to emphasize written scripts to young learners who haven't quite learned to write?

This audiocast is a conversation that consider the composition process of digital stories, the difference between oral and written approaches. What is fascinating to me is that oral storytelling tradition seems a greater part of our heritage as human beings, yet it has been pushed aside in the drive to compose digital stories that depend on a written script. One of the key points is that oral storytelling actually IMPROVES student writing more than if you were to just start writing.

One hour later, we were still chatting...it was amazing how quickly time flew by! Listen in...

Listen to Audiocast (approx 14 megs)

Subscribe to AudioBlog Entries Only

Show Notes:

1. Dr. Maria Kaylor's Blog on Digital Storytelling
2. Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw's Blog
3. Previous entry differentiating between oral and written storytelling composition processes
4. Listen to recording of Oral Storytelling introduction
5. Audio background is Pachelbel's Canon (available for free use at Wikipedia)

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Source: Image created with TuxPaint (can't you tell?)

At the risk of being inflammatory (hey, why not? <wink>), I made the drawing above (using the free Tuxpaint, BTW. Lots of fun!). It's in friendly response to a post by the CyberRoots blog, a blog crafted by Dr. Maria Kaylor. The post points out a difference of opinion on digital storytelling. She makes this point:

I think we have a divide between technology folks and what they classify as DS and those of us approaching this from a storytelling perspective with technology playing a support role. Don't get me wrong, I love technology and all of the amazing things it can do. But, I must also think about what purpose storytelling can serve in the K-12 classroom. There are alot of models already out there that can map a route to implementation of DS. But, how many of those models provide research on the impact these models have on students? Whether we like it or not, we have to think about what the students need to learn versus what is cool (okay, I am not current on the correct lingo) for them to learn.
Source: CyberRoots - Digital Storytelling: Traditional or Cutting Edge

This is an interesting distinction to make. The difference, Maria points out, is between what technology folks classify as digital storytelling and those of us approaching this from a storytelling perspective with technology playing a support role. I perceive the difference altogether differently. I see the difference as being between an ORAL tradition and an emphasis on the WRITTEN word with digital media illustrating the story. The paragraph implies that the digital storytelling issue is NOT one of--as David Warlick describes in his welcome message--those excited by the light itself ("the technology folks") and those who are excited by what the light can be shone onto ("those of us...with technology playing a support role").

Into this gap between techno-philes and those committed to just using digital media in support of worthier curriculum pursuits, Maria asks some follow-up questions worthy of consideration:

Whether we like it or not, we have to think about what the students need to learn versus what is cool (okay, I am not current on the correct lingo) for them to learn. There are some fancy digital stories out there but how do they relate to student assessment? That is the bottom line. If we want to make DS a legitimate classroom activity, it has to be tied to assessment. Using the digital story for writing makes sense but how much time are teachers able to spend on this? Once a student has written a story, how does turning that story into a digital format impact the writing skills?

In the first sentence of the quote above, digital storytelling approaches appear to be labelled as "what is cool," while other approaches are shared as legitimate. The implication is that the written approach is not REALISTIC in terms of TIME teachers can spend on this, and, without the connection to assessment, it is unworthy of our attention as educators. It is also implied that digital storytelling--as popularly defined--is technology for technology's sake.

WRITTEN APPROACH: TIME-INTENSIVE, LACKING ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS, AND TECHNOLOGY FOR TECH'S SAKE
I would like to explore the difference between oral storytelling composition process and the written appoach taken so often in digital storytelling. David Jakes describes that approach in this well-articulated blog post:

One critical attribute of digital storytelling that beginnners should understand is the relationship between the personal narrative and the script. In classic digital storytelling (there are certainly other interpretations), an author begins with a personal story (the narrative) of between 2-4 pages. This narrative is then reduced, or distilled to its essence, to form a script of about 3/4 to 1 page, double-spaced. The objective is then to build the story back up with the inclusion of the other multimedia elements (still frame imagery, video). The intent of this process is to develop two tracks of meaning , 1 auditory (the voice over of the script) and then one visual in an nature (the images and video). This double track system is what I believe makes a digital story such a powerful medium for communication, as both can be very emotional.
Source: Two Tracks of Meaning, Strength of Weak Ties Blog

In this approach, though, the primacy of a written script is evident. Everything--including technology use with selections of images and video--revolves around the written script. In the oral tradition, it's definitely NOT about a written script of any kind.

Although I haven't seen a clear explanation of the oral storytelling approach with the end result of a digital product, as compared to Jakes' and Lamberts' writings, I have participated in some conversations. So, what appears below is my limited understanding of digital storytelling as informed by the oral storytelling tradition. I encourage those who have a different experience to speak up and correct my understanding without fear of embarrassing me (hey, I'm already embarrassed <grin>).

ORAL APPROACH: LEGITIMATE, TIED TO ASSESSMENT, QUICK FOR TEACHERS TO SPEND TIME ON
When considering these two perspectives, I like to think of two branches on the opposite sides of a tree. They have a common goal--to tell a story that is compelling, perhaps teaches some lesson or moral--but the oral storytelling approach can be more easily adapted to content area instruction. In other words, unless a deeply personal digital story is about science, it's not going to make that content connection to Science essential knowledge and skills.

(About this image: Tuxpaint is fun...I haven't had this much fun since the earlier versions of KidPix!)

One approach discussed during conversations planning "future" sessions of digital storytelling, with special education teachers as the audience, included the following (right click and view image to see it at original resolution):

The key concept is that revisions are made ORALLY rather than to a written text/script. This occurs in Step #2, where participants TELL the story, REVISE ORALLY, then tell it again. This approach, Maria suggests, is actually easier to accomplish in classrooms. Perhaps, it may even be easier with special education students as well as making curriculum connections...and, if so, it may very well broaden the appela of digital storytelling. In the written approach to digital storytelling, the content area addressed is English/Language Arts. But with oral storytelling, the approach can embed the content area essential knowledge and skills appropriate for the lesson to be taught.

While it's rarely an either/or proposition when it comes to digital storytelling, wouldn't the oral storytelling tradition manifesting itself in this suggested approach offer greater flexibility than the written approach?

I look forward to your thoughts and conversation. I hope we'll all be better able to come to an understanding of digital storytelling can be "legitimized" and connected to content area "assessments" and serve as an activity that requires less time on the part of the teacher and students in creation...therefore resulting in more products being created.

Technorati Tags: digital storytelling, mguhlin, mguhlin.net, science_storyteller, kaylor, mkaylor, david jakes, joe lambert, education, k-12, schools, innovative, storytelling

Flickr Tags: digital storytelling, mguhlin, mguhlin.net, science_storyteller, kaylor, mkaylor, david jakes, joe lambert, education, k-12, schools, innovative, storytelling

Del.icio.us Tags: digital storytelling, mguhlin, mguhlin.net, science_storyteller, kaylor, mkaylor, david jakes, joe lambert, education, k-12, schools, innovative, storytelling

Furl Tags: digital storytelling, mguhlin, mguhlin.net, science_storyteller, kaylor, mkaylor, david jakes, joe lambert, education, k-12, schools, innovative, storytelling

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

In reading Dean Shareski's entry on digital storytelling--and his stirring digital story on Father's Day--I'm struck by the difference in approaches. Dean outlines the approach as follows:

* It begins with an idea….looking at tangible evidence of how my father has influenced me.

* This translates to a written script.

* I collect assets….photos, music, video

* I record my script

* Insert the assets in the appropriate spots in the timeline

* Add motion to images to create a more compelling message

But, in the Oral Storytelling tradition, a different process appears to be at work. If my understanding is imperfect, I apologize, I'm a newbie...and that's why I'm writing about it. In the oral storytelling tradition, the flow of storytelling feels different to me. For oral storytelling, writing down a script to follow takes the fire out of the story*. The focus, then, is on the spoken word, rather than what is written. Stories that are told orally become, as Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw writes, "the collective memory for the people of the community." For stories like those we seek to tell, that engage us at a fundamental level--like Dean's story about his dad--oral storytelling can take on power. It's ironic that Dean references his father's stories as the first thing that makes him appreciate his dad. Were those stories oral or written?

If it's anything like my dad, those stories were oral. My father never wrote his stories down, which makes recording in audio them all the more important. And, our fathers seemed to know the importance of telling stories over and over again, letting them sink into us--their children--to serve as life-long lessons, "sacred histories," of who we were, who we might be.

In the oral storytelling process I was exposed to, but have yet to fully embrace as mine own since I am also drawn to the written script approach to digital storytelling, the process looks something like what follows. It is based on JoAnne's approach to oral storytelling, which she has documented in her article on Storytelling: 8 Steps that Engage Voices from the Middle (In Press). Any misinterpretations of JoAnne's approach are mine own.

• 1) Identify reason for telling the story, as well as decide on the message or moral to be shared. You might also consider technique to make storytelling come allive in the listeners' mind. Techniques include your voice, stage props, hand movements, deliberate misconceptions/errors introduced into the story, and deciding whether the story will be told in 1st/3rd person narrative.
• 2) In the first spoken line of your story, establish the main character, initiating event, setting, mood, feelings, and the problem the story's plot line will solve. This is accomplished in a variety of ways using
• 3) Determine the sequence of the story. Illustrate the sequence with appropriate images.
• 4) Practice oral telling of the story, including "editing orally."
• 5) Rehearse and, finally,
• 6) Tell the story

In planning of digital story creation, it is important to NOT lose the power of responsive communication, whose purpose is to communicate a message.

Now, I have to be up front. Oral storytelling is not what I imagined when I thought of digital storytelling. I imagined something more like storyboarding a la HyperStudio or PowerPoint, something which I thought my writing would be an asset. In the case of oral storytelling, it is not.

Perhaps it is because of our Judeo-Christian background that we are a people of the Book, that the power of stories is written down, rather than told aloud. The power of print is compelling for me as a writer. To abandon it makes me afraid. It makes me afraid because I'm venturing outside the realm of externalized thoughts and ideas, and tapping into the flow of communication between storyteller and listener. In the real way that I've experienced oral storytelling, it is an intimate communication, like two people touching a pregnant woman's belly to feel life kicking it like a drum. It is frightening because the stories are intended, not as a digital repository for a story created, but a message sent from one human being to another.

Finally, oral storytelling hearkens back to a different time and culture when storytellers were keepers of the community's sacred lessons. While we still have sacred stories to tell, those are pushed aside and lost in the endless storymaking and movies that surround us. To cling to oral storytelling seems restrictive, too limiting. Written scripts also appear to be potent approach to storytelling. What then, is the ultimate aim of digital storytelling? To awaken to and maintain the sacred, or to produce better writers?

Maybe this is too limiting a conversation. Consider the Center for Digital Storytelling's description of what a digital story's primary concern is:

We all have stories about the events, people, and places in our lives. In a group process, the sharing of these stories connects people in special ways. People often come to our workshops feeling insecure about their writing, about the technology, about their design sensibility. Many of the stories we show as examples in our workshops are directly connected to the images that one collects in a life's journey. But our primary concern is encouraging thoughtful and emotionally direct writing.

And, based on JoAnne's writing and research, storytelling is...

. . .a strategy where the storyteller uses body and oral language to communicate a message to a listener. . .storytelling stimulates creative images about the world in the listener's mind. These images engage the listener during the storytelling experience, and are interpreted by the listener as the story unfolds.

It seems to me, then, that the aim of the two approaches--oral or written--are fundamentally different. In the first, we collect images. In the second, we stimulate images. Could merging the two be possible? Could we collect images that stimulate other images? As I viewed Dean's digital story of his father, I thought of my own father and stories he told. As Dean shared about laughter that was in abundance, I also thought of my father sitting at the table, telling stories.

The difference between telling and showing is a big one. I can't come down on one side or another yet. I'll have to find the approach that works best for those I serve, and for me. What do you think?

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Surprisingly, today is the third and final day of the Digital Storytelling Academy. It's gone by so quickly!

Reflecting on the last 3 days has yielded some insights. Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw, Larry Stegall, Greg Rodriguez and I got together during lunch to come up with a formalized structure for the Academies we'll be doing in the future. Lots more work has to be done to prepare for these future academies. Rather than post a really LONG entry, I've recorded an informal podcast (which is what most of mine are anyways!).

The purpose of sharing this information is to heighten the transparency of our planning. For example, we've dropped Powerpoint and MovieMaker from the process (in spite of the benefits), and have settled on Audacity for Sound Editing, MS PhotoStory, MS PhotoEditor (the last two are pre-installed on our computer). I also neglected to mention that the movies that are generated as Windows Media movies will be posted on the Digital Storytelling Blog, although those products will be kept under wraps for now, but we anticipate sharing that via the SCRIBE site at http://itls.saisd.net/scribe

Listen to Podcast

I also encourage you to listen to the Conversation with the Digital Storytelling Participant below in the podcast notes. You can find the original sound and photo here.

Podcast Notes/Links/Related Audio:

• Digital Storytelling Academy Structure
• Sample Commitment Letter participants had to sign
• Equipment Checkout Form
• Conversation with Digital Storytelling Participant - Susan Garay
• Introduction to Oral Storytelling by Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw
• Lewis Black National Public Radio (NPR) Interview
• Visit Dr. Maria Kaylor at http://www.kaylor.us
• Visit Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw at http://jolle.edublogs.org
• Previous Blog Entry

Subscribe to AudioBlog Entries Only

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw, featured storyteller in the Digital Storytelling Academies offered by my district, has just set up her own blog. You can find her at http://jolle.edublogs.org

She has a quite a bit of stuff to add to her blog, but it's a start.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

The following are my personal reflections on day 1 of a Digital Storytelling Academy (DSA). This is the first of several Digital Storytelling Academies the Office of Instructional Technology for San Antonio ISD is facilitating for district staff. As director, my role was to take care of the logistics, coordinate with university researchers and presenters, and then turn the job of facilitating the session to my team of folks. I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to facilitate digital storytelling on my own (as a consultant), and I'm looking forward to the experience.

But, for now, reflecting on the DSA is good enough...unfortunately, when you're the boss and sitting in on a workshop, there are always a million other things to do and places to be. I skipped a department meeting and several other things just to be present. I'm praying nothing critical comes up!! <smile> Fortunately, I had a chance to listen in on some of the best parts of the DSA and I share the first part with you now.

"Fearless," the word popped into my head as I listened to Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw share a story of how the sun came to be around the earth. Just as she had led the group of workshop participants through a Seneca Native American song honoring the Wolf Clan, shaking a rattle, ending with a howl from everyone in the room, she allowed herself to be carried away by the story. And, as easily as she was lost in the story, so were we, who sat there listening to her.

I have seldom encountered such storytelling. As a matter of fact, the last time was when I was in college listening to a guy from Alaska. I even bought a book of poems and stories he had written. JoAnne, though, put him to shame with her fearless rendition of three stories in the tradition of oral storytellers. As I listened to her, I thought to myself, "My goodness, how can we hope to replicate this?" My fears were well-founded. As I asked the two professionals who were charged with teaching the Digital Storytelling Academy later this summer, they each--individually with no knowledge of what the other had said--stated that this is why they were videotaping. They would just show the videotape. The questions that popped into my head included, "Can anyone be a storyteller? Can anyone be as fearless?"

It was the too good to be true phenomena. When your presenter is so good, I immediately ask, "How many teachers will be able to approximate this kind of approach?" Part of this reaction is based on MY reaction...can I imagine myself shaking a rattle to get folks in the storytelling mood? Honestly, no. Fortunately, it was acknowledged that we each take our own approach to storytelling...we each make our own commitment to the story we are to tell, and allow it to sweep us away.

JoAnne said, "Once they [children] get to the stage, we can't stop them from writing."

But, there is something powerful about being in the presence of a real storyteller. There were no computers used in today's session, except a slide show and a video depicting children telling stories. The power of storytelling requires no digital assistance, but I took the liberty of recording the workshop today. The photo below pictures three people that are key to the initiative. From left to right, Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw, and Larry Stegall. Greg Rodriguez--not pictured here--is serving as the camera person. He'll be expected to take his own approach to digital storytelling when he leads a group later this summer.

About the Recordings: These recordings were made with the iAudio U2 ($109) that will be issued to each of the participants.

Some of the participants expressed their expectations for the workshop; those included these points:

• -Get kids excited about reading and writing.
• -Learn use some new tools. Always interested in preserving my own family stories. I'm the storyteller for my High School class.
• -Kids write and they give you 3 short sentences. They see it as enough because they have the picture in their head, and the words describe--for them--what they see. I want them to elaborate more and digital storytelling will help with that.
• -Looking for something to take back to the campus.

Digital Storytelling Academy - Part 1 : In this section, the recording begins shortly after Larry Stegall (primary facilitator for this session) has begun introducing the concept of storytelling, and I have shared my vision or expectations for the Digital Storytelling Academy...cutting has shortened the length of the audio file significantly, but I've cut to keep it as short as possible, but not because the content shared prior to Dr. O wasn't worth listening to. You'll hear JoAnne sing the song as she beats the rattle, and the workshop participants join in. It was a weird experience to be in the audience, and truly transported us all to where we needed to go for storytelling. She then shares 3 stories--a dark world because there was no sun, tall man & mountain lion and, a boy who wanted carrots.

This intro took the morning (along with the other things that were discussed). Other parts will be posted as time permits.

After listening to the first story, she asked the audience about the different techniques that she used. Those were outlined below...

After the second story, she shared the graphic organizer that she used...

My final reflection is that this all seems very different from what I've seen others doing with digital storytelling. This first day, we didn't use any technology (LOTI 2 actually). However, I'll be watching to see how use of tech on days 2 and 3 is similar/dis-similar to the approach experts like David Jakes and Joe Lambert take. Actually, I would love to hear their feedback on info shared here.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: AudioBlog, Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

(note: not my actual hand <snicker>)

The iAudio U2 digital audio recorders/players, and aside from its light plastic exterior (black and silver) that implies light and airy (which it is, so no implication I suppose), arrived today for the Digital Storytelling Academy we're holding June 13-15th. We'll be deploying a hundred or so over the next 4 months for digital storytelling academies.The team was delighted that the $109 recorder is so versatile, compatible with multiple platforms, and...easy to use.

Comparing it to my iRiver T10, it's incredibly light, easily worn around the neck--unlike the albatross feel of the iRiver--without significant weight, and flexible. I hooked it up to Linux, Mac, and Windows boxes without problem! I'm retiring my iRiver T10, I think, and relegating it to home recording use only.

The only issue is that now everyone in the communal office will have to watch what they say even more...<lol>

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net

Our first collaborative effort together, Dr. Maria Kaylor, Dr. JoAnne Ollerenshaw, and I are working on a series of digital storytelling articles to be published in TCEA's TechEdge magazine. You can find the first installment online. Feel free to leave comments here! This is the lead on the article:

Children like to tell stories. Amid the push for high-test performance, that desire for storytelling and listening may be neglected in schools today. What if you could tap into that desire in a way that reinforces content-area essential knowledge and skills, as well as models appropriate technology use? Digital storytelling is one way to accomplish that. You can find a variety of resources on digital storytelling available on the web. Implementing digital storytelling in your classroom can be as easy as installing the appropriate software, crafting a story using the writing process, storyboarding, and then publication.

This article is the first of 3 that focuses on digital storytelling use in the classroom, as well as shares one school district's approach to a district-wide implementation of storytelling. Only time will tell if this approach will work in your district. Once you have seen the engaging benefits of digital storytelling first-hand, you will want to unleash digital storytelling in your school district.

Posted by Miguel Guhlin at | +Del.icio.us |
Categories: Digital_Storytelling, MGuhlin.net