Tag Archives: storytelling

Digital Storytelling Resources

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I find that one of the most useful features of Twitter is the resource sharing. With a well-established network of educators, it seems easy to solicit responses from educators who are willing to share favourite resources on various topics. Today, one of my undergraduate students Krystal (@tealek) inquired about digital story telling resources. I sent out a tweet, and many good people within my network sent back their responses. I have collected these below (sorry if I missed anyone):

– @pcwoessner sent me to David Jakes’ excellent Digital Storytelling resources.

– @CherylDoig offered Jason Ohler’s resources.

– @lloydcrew sent me to the Images4Education site, and a great article by Bryan Alexander and Alan Levine.

– @cheritoledo offered a link to the Center for Digital Storytelling.

– @clintlalonde sent me to his long list of Delicious bookmarks tagged as digitalstorytelling.

– @plowenthal linked to a techheds podcast on digital storytelling.

– @sammora sent me to the resources at Montclair Public schools and their digital authoring initiative.

– @MagistraM led me to Langwitches blog and the various resources offered there.

– @bcdtech offered her Diigo list/digital storytelling category.

– @jorech sent me his Wikispaces page with a long list of resources.

– @shyj offered her list of Delicious bookmarks tagged on the subject.

– @barbaram sent Krystal her wiki of resources on storytelling and other activities.

– MtnLaurel offered her Diigo collections of resources.

Again, sorry if I missed anyone or screwed up any of the links. Do let me know.

This is one of my favourite uses of Twitter. Through the generosity of educators, it can be easy to gather a substantial list of educator-recommended resources on topics like this. And, I’m happy that through this post, I can give back a little to my network.

Centre for Future Storytelling

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The MIT Media Lab has announced the creation of the Centre for Future Storytelling through a Partnership with Plymouth Rock Studios.

With the establishment of the center, whose research program begins immediately, the Media Lab and Plymouth Rock Studios will collaborate to revolutionize how we tell our stories, from major motion pictures to peer-to-peer multimedia sharing. By applying leading-edge technologies to make stories more interactive, improvisational and social, researchers will seek to transform audiences into active participants in the storytelling process, bridging the real and virtual worlds, and allowing everyone to make their own unique stories with user-generated content on the Web. Center research will also focus on ways to revolutionize imaging and display technologies, including developing next-generation cameras and programmable studios, making movie production more versatile and economic.

Future of Storytelling

This is an exciting project and I look forward to the innovation and possibilities that emerge in the coming years.

“Choose Your Own Adventure” Comes to Youtube

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I fondly remember the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series of books from my childhood. While I remember loving the concept, I would literally stick my fingers between the pages as to simultaneously navigate multiple paths made by previous decisions. Years later, I tried to figure out why I could not let go of any particular path. I realized that it was not that I was afraid of failing because of a poor decision, it was that I might miss something of value, something meaningful, along the way. This has been something I have thought about for a very long time as choice, and living with choices that have been made, is an essential part of the human experience. For a better understanding of this concept, I highly recommend Barry Schwartz’s TED Talk “Paradox of Choice” (or the book by the same name.

Choose Your Own Adventures - Cave of Time

Anywho … these thoughts came to me when I discovered “Time Machine” today. This video is the first of a series by Chad, Matt, and Rob that brings the “Choose Your Own Adventures” concept to video format, and does so by making good use of Youtube’s annotation feature. This concept could inspire some very neat uses of digital storytelling with video. I know it will be only a matter of time before we see teachers and students bring this concept to life in the classroom.

So if you want to try it out, start here:

It is a very good thing I have multiple screens, I no longer have to use my fingers. :-)

Green Screen (Chroma Key) Basics

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As I’ve stated before, Izzy Video is one of the best resources I have come across in regards to learning digital video techniques. Izzy Video is not free (it’s about $45 USD for a 6 month subscription), but Izzy does release a few free videos from time-to-time. The latest free video outlines the basics of using a green screen in video production. As usual, it is very well done and informative.

Izzy Video

And, if you have missed it, I highly recommend taking a look at Matthew Needleman’s K12Online Conference presentation, “Kicking it Up a Notch Film School For Video Podcasters“. This is an excellent overview of the procedures and techniques you should know to get started with video in the classroom. Matthew has done a wonderful job of making this presentation equally informative and entertaining.

MovieStorm

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I just discovered MovieStorm, free software for Mac or Windows that allows users to create animated movies. The software download is quite large (in total, almost 500 MB), so if you are trying this, be sure to use a solid, high-speed connection.

MovieStorm Demo

Click here to watch a demo.

While I have not had a chance to dive deep into this tool, it seems fairly easy-to-use and has enough potential to keep more advanced users engaged. The tool could be used as intended for creating and narrating movies, and then sharing with a wider audience. Or, the program could also be used to plan, storyboard, or sketch ‘real-life’ video projects, including set design, lighting, camera angles, and script. While the tool is free, there are content packs that can be purchased.

I am not sure how long this tool has been around, or if there has been much work done with it in classrooms, but I am excited by the possibilities for movie production and storytelling.

We Tell Stories – “The 21 Steps”

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Penguin Publishing has put out a neat site where it seems six stories by six authors will be told in the coming weeks via Google Maps. The first story is 21 steps by Charles Cumming, and with this, you can quickly get a sense of how the stories will be told.

21 Steps

Content and marketing aside, this could be a very powerful way of telling a story.

Love Letters

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This is a brilliant example of story telling, and one that uses no spoken words. This is quite powerful, wonderfully rich and would be an excellent piece for deconstruction, analysis or reproduction.

An unusually tense game of Scrabble unfolds in this directing exercise for the Columbia University MFA Film program. Directed by Mary Gillen. Starring Sandy Nisson and Harry Shaw. Special Thanks to Thomas Woodrow.