Digital Storytelling “Engaging Our Students (and Ourselves) Through Digital Storytelling” Workshop for COLTT 2011 Amy Goodloe Program for Writing and Rhetoric, CU Boulder
ì
Workshop Goals ì discover the rela.ve ease of composing with digital media ì experience the feeling of personal investment inspired by
telling personal stories with mul.ple media
ì iden.fy the ways digital narra.ves might reinforce some of
the same cri=cal thinking and communica=on skills as wri9en projects
ì explore their poten.al to equip students with the wri=ng
skills of the future, which extend beyond the scope of text-‐ based wri.ng
Workshop Schedule ì Intro to Digital Storytelling (15 min) ì Digital Storytelling in the Classroom (20 min) ì Hands-‐on Workshop: iMovie basics (1 hr) ì Discussion (20 min) ì Share Stories ì Assignment Design & Assessment
Intro to Digital Storytelling
ì
What is “storytelling”? ì Conveying ideas or values using a
narra.ve framework
ì ancient and intui.ve human prac.ce ì how we make sense of the world
ì Grounding ideas in everyday lived
experience rather than abstrac.ons
ì key players are people, not ideas ì desire to understand behavior and find
coherence and meaning drive story forward
Stories can be... ì imagina.ve or crea.ve ì fic.on, comics, TV shows, movies ì informa.onal ì news stories, documentaries ì educa.onal ì persuasive ì call to ac.on, poli.cal, ac.vism ì and more...
We like stories because... ì They hold our a9en.on ì John Medina’s Brain Rule #4: “We don’t
pay a9en.on to boring things” ì Stories are (usually) more interes.ng than other kinds of informa.on
ì They move us
What makes a story “digital”? ì composed with mul.ple forms of digital media ì photos, graphics, video, anima.on, sound effects, audio
narra.on, music, text
ì viewable only on digital devices ì computers, tablets, smartphones ì typically video or presenta.on
ì shareable across social networks ì easily distributed to friends and family ì poten.al for global audience
More than the sum of its parts ì These are digital storytelling projects: ì photo essay documen.ng an immigrant’s adjustment to American life ì interviews with community members impacted by Prop 8 ì video reflec.on on overcoming a learning disability ì mul.media presenta.on on the slippery nature of gender iden.ty ì This is not: ì CNN story on the “Sissy Boy Experiment”
Why not? ì Stories published by CNN and other major news
outlets are:
ì produced by teams of professionals with expensive
equipment and advanced media edi.ng skills ì designed to avoid poten.al conflicts of interest with adver.sers and other stakeholders
ì The “Digital Storytelling” movement is powered by
the rest of us
ì amateurs using consumer-‐end tools, not pros ì telling stories to move people, not to sell a product
From consumers to producers ì We’ve always known that mul.media messages are
rhetorically powerful
ì But most of us lacked access to the tools to produce
them as well as the means to distribute them
ì Un.l now ì Basic video, audio, and image edi.ng apps come
standard on all computers (also available online) ì Social networking sites provide publishing placorm
Who’s using digital storytelling? ì Public Health
ì Environmental Supporters
ì Social Services
ì Ac.vist Groups
ì Community Organiza.ons
ì Museums and Libraries
ì Business
ì K-‐12 Schools
ì Local Governments
ì Colleges & Universi.es
ì
Digital Storytelling in the Classroom
Digital Storytelling in Education ì All levels ì K-‐12 schools ì undergraduate and graduate classes ì research projects ì student services ì Across all disciplines ì Composed by students, faculty, and staff ì For a variety of audiences and purposes
Popularity Â
Potential Uses by Faculty ì Convey course material using a wider array
of communica.on tools than text alone ì Demonstrate an ac.vity ì Illustrate a concept ì Present content in engaging way
ì Offer students a sample project ì Share research insights with broader
audience
Potential Uses by Students ì Research projects
ì historical: archival footage ì contemporary: using interviews and other primary data
ì Reflec.ons on learning and engagement ì literacy narra.ve ì self-‐reflec.ve essay
ì Personal narra.ves rela.ng to class topics ì Service learning projects ì raising awareness, encouraging ac.on ì clarifying organiza.onal mission
Paper Supplement or Replacement? ì Consider: why do we assign papers in the first place? ì what do we want students to learn? ì can that be learned through a digital storytelling
project instead of a paper?
ì Some.mes the answer is no ì Sustained inquiry or argument across mul.ple pages
has educa.onal value
ì Perhaps we should reserve paper assignments for the kinds
of learning they’re best suited to ì might reduce paper burnout (and grading burnout!)
Benefits to Students: Overview ì Greater engagement ì Reinforces tradi.onal wri.ng skills ì Encourages seeing wri.ng as a process ì Improves cri.cal analysis skills ì Improves digital literacy skills ì Provides prepara.on for the future of wri.ng
Main Benefit to Students Engagement! ì Projects have real and las.ng value ì con.nue to work on projects even beyond semester
ì Real audiences and purposes ì friends, family, prospec.ve employers ì service learning partners
Benefit: Improves Student Engagement Digital Storytelling allows students to ì work on authen4c assignments ì develop their personal and academic voice ì represent knowledge to a community of learners ì receive situated feedback from their peers.
Due to their affec4ve involvement with this process and the novelty effect of the medium, students are more engaged than in tradi/onal assignments. (Oppermann and Coventry, 2011)
Benefit: Reinforces Traditional Writing Skills ì Being asked to communicate in the ‘new
language’ of mul4media brings students a greater awareness of the component parts of tradi4onal wri4ng.
ì Digital storytelling helps students develop a
stronger voice and
ì helps students more accurately and firmly place
themselves in rela/onship to the arguments of others. (Oppermann and Coventry, 2011)
Benefit: Encourages Seeing Writing as a Process ì Makes clear the value of approaching all
acts of communica.on as a process
ì Can’t produce a rhetorically powerful digital
storytelling project the night before! ì Requires planning, research, collabora.on, problem-‐solving, draking, feedback, revising ì Helps students experience how effec.ve communica.on evolves over .me
Benefit: Improves Critical Analysis Skills ì We teach students to cri.cally analyze the
mul.media messages they view
ì But asking them to compose these messages leads
to a much deeper understanding of their rhetorical func.on ì how the elements of digital media messages work
together to persuade, using appeals to logic, evidence, and emo.on ì how producers of digital media a9empt to establish their credibility
Benefit: Validates MultimodalCommunication ì Mul.modal: a combina.on text, images, and
sound designed to have emo.onal and intellectual impact
ì Students know that mul.ple modes convey
meaning, not just text
ì John Medina’s Rule #10: “Vision trumps all other
senses.” ì Ira Glass might say hearing is a close second
ì Digital storytelling projects validate a mul.modal
approach to communica.on
Benefit: Improves Digital Literacy Skills ì Today’s college students don’t have the digital
literacy skills they need to compete against today’s high school students ì But many don’t realize it, as they’ve been told
they’re “digital na.ves”
ì Digital storytelling projects enable students to: ì iden.fy deficiencies in their digital literacy skills ì remedy them while working on a project they find
meaningful
Benefit: Preparation for the Future of Writing ì Today, 3rd and 4th graders are producing
mini-‐documentaries on civil rights leaders and famous authors ì What kind of research projects will they expect
to do in college? ì What kind of projects will employers expect all college graduates to be capable of producing?
ì What is the future of wri.ng?
What about drawbacks? Fairly Easy to Address ì Privacy ì Access to tools and
equipment
ì Technology as poten.al
distrac.on
ì Availability of tech
support
Not as Easy ì Intellectual honesty
(copyright, plagiarism)
ì Student resistance ì Assignment design &
assessment
Digital Storytelling Process
ì
Overview of Composing Process 1. Brainstorm Topics 5. Apply Effects 2. Gather Assets
6. Export Rough Cut*
3. Build Storyboard* 7. Revise &Polish 4. Assemble Assets
8. Export & Share*
* Get Feedback (recommended)
Tips for Story Design ì Experiment with plot ì chronological is not always the most interes.ng ì start in the middle, not at the beginning ì follow a narra.ve arc, not an outline ì Offer details of place and sepng ì Use dialogue to convey conversa.ons ì Build in drama.c tension with foreshadowing ì Frame with key ques.on or unifying theme ì Show, don’t tell
STEP 1: BRAINSTORMING
ì
Planning Brainstorming Strategies ì Freewri.ng
ì Dialogue
ì Lis.ng
ì Interviewing
ì Cluster mapping
ì Reviewing old photos
Rhetorical Situa.on ì
Audience
ì
Timing
ì
Purpose
ì
Target publica.on
ì
Occasion
Types of Stories by Purpose Inform/Analyze ì history or biography ì documentary ì reflect on personal
experience
ì demonstrate ac.vity ì illustrate concept ì analyze sources
Persuade ì Public Service
Announcement
ì docudrama ì call to ac.on ì parody
Types of Stories by Content Important People
Important...
ì Character
ì Places
ì Memorial
ì Events
ì Adventure
ì Ac.vi.es
ì Accomplishment
ì Discoveries
ì Rela.onships
Joe Lambert, Digital Storytelling Cookbook
Topics for Faculty Stories ì why you chose your field of study or profession ì memories of: ì learning to read and write ì learning to use a computer or go on the web for the first .me ì learning how to become a good student ì an “embarrassing moment” that was par.cularly educa.onal ì an event that changed your aptudes about an issue or inspired
you to fight for a cause
ì an incident from your personal experience that illustrates a key
concept in your field of study
ì an incident that illustrates the value of something you learned in
college that you thought at the .me would have no prac.cal value
Approaches Most common: ì photo or video essay ì your own images, footage, and audio ì remix of exis.ng material (with proper licensing)
ì video interviews
Other: ì mul.media presenta.on ì anima.on ì Xtranormal and GoAnimate ì “machinima” (recording performance in virtual reality or
game)
ì comic strips
Xtranormal Â
Comic Life
Cartoon app for iPhone
X-‐Ray effect in iMovie
Remix of archival footage
Photo Essay on Gender Socialization
A word about expectations ì We spend most of our grade school and college
years learning how to write well, and yet very few master the skill well enough to be published, much less widely read
ì The digital stories most of us make are not likely to
ever be nominated for Academy Awards!
ì One benefit of the workshop is to help you develop
reasonable expecta.ons for student projects
ì Brainstorm a few possible
topic ideas for a prac.ce digital story
ì Consider what would give you
the most hands-‐on experience (with a variety of media)
Workshop Step
TIP: use Word, PowerPoint, GoogleDocs, or TextEdit – or even an email to yourself
STEP 2: GATHERING ASSETS
ì
Types of Assets Digital Media
Sources
ì photos & other images
ì archival footage
ì video clips
ì media labeled for reuse
ì audio clips
ì media used with
ì narra.on ì music & sound effects ì anima.ons ì text
permission
ì self-‐produced
File Formats ì File format needed depends on which app you use
to assemble the story
ì such as iMovie, MovieMaker, PowerPoint
ì Common digital media file formats: ì Images: jpg, png, gif, .f ì Video: wmv, mov, m4v, mp4 ì Audio: wma, wav, mp3, m4a
Tips for Working with Assets ì Download, scan, or create images in highest quality
possible
ì Work with images in .f or image app format, not
jpg
ì Name (or re-‐name) with helpful file names ì don’t change file extensions (like .jpg) ì For video, choose what works best with assembly
app
ì may not be highest quality op.on
Asset Management PLANNING TIP: Think ahead to develop a strategy for managing your assets, but remain flexible and experiment. ì Mac users: put assets into appropriate iLife
apps:
ì iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, and GarageBand
ì Windows users: put assets into WindowsLive
apps
ì Brought your own assets? ì Access them now ì If on a lab Mac: ì create a new folder on the desktop ì give it an appropriate name ì save your files there Workshop Step
Finding Assets ì Search for images with crea.ve commons licenses
or otherwise marked as copyright-‐free
ì Images ì Google Images, Flickr, many others
ì Videos ì YouTube, Vimeo, Archive.org
ì Audio ì DigCCMixter.org, Freesound.org
Tips for Downloading ì Find the highest quality available ì depending on your bandwidth limits ì Use a browser tool like Download Helper (for
Firefox) to access embedded videos
ì also offers conversion and audio stripping
ì Rename files for clarity, as needed ì x&4lxp8w.jpg is not a helpful file name ì Right-‐click or control-‐click on image or file to
download
ì Downloading mp3 from dig.ccmixter.org
ì Downloading movie file from archive.org
ì Search for some usable media ì download 2-‐4 images ì download at least one mp3 audio file ì download a video clip (op4onal) ì Put files in assets folder ì rename as needed Workshop Step
Managing Assets ì Recommended on Mac: Import into iLife apps
(iTunes, iPhoto, GarageBand)
ì Also possible to drag and drop images from folder
into iMovie
ì dragging audio is not recommended ì If needed: ì Use media converters to change file formats and extract
audio from video ì Use QuickTime X to trim audio or video or extract audio
For Later: Creating Assets ì Record your own video with QuickTime X or iMovie
(Mac) or MovieMaker (PC)
ì or digital camcorder or smartphone
ì Record audio narra.on with QuickTime X, iMovie,
or GarageBand (Mac) or Sound Recorder or Audacity (PC) ì or smartphone
ì Take your own photos with a digital point-‐and-‐
shoot, SLR, or smartphone camera
STEP 3: STORYBOARDING
ì
What is a Storyboard? ì Method of planning a visual composi.on by
mapping out scene by scene
ì Describe digital media clip, narra.on, effects,
soundtrack, transi.on out, etc.
ì Tools: PowerPoint, Word tables, Comic Life,
S.ckies, print or “virtual” index cards, etc.
ì lots of Word and PDF storyboard templates
available online
Storyboard Elements ì Digital media clips ì Narra.on or script ì Effects applied to clip ì Music or sound effects ì Transi.on out to next scene
Storyboard Using Tables
Storyboard Using PowerPoint
Storyboard Using Pen & Paper
Two Approaches to Photo Essays ì Story first, then images ì Write a story ì Gather and assemble visuals to accompany story ì Record audio narra.on
ì Images first, then story ì Assemble visuals ì Prepare a script to accompany visuals ì Record audio narra.on
Multimedia Composing Tips ì Let the pictures do (some of) the talking ì Make use of the different channels of
communica.on available through mul.ple media ì each element contributes to meaning: images,
narra.on, music, text, effects, etc. ì elements can complement or contradict, depending on the desired effect ì Go easy on the effects and transi.ons
ì Sketch a few scenes for a
storyboard
ì in Word or PowerPoint ì in S.ckies ì on sheet of paper
Storyboard contents: ì Digital media clips
Workshop Step
ì Narra.on or script ì Effects applied to clip ì Music or sound effects ì Transi.on out to next scene
STEP 4: ASSEMBLING
ì
ì Launch iMovie ì Op.onal: ì Launch iPhoto and import
photos ì Launch iTunes and import audio Workshop Step
iMovie Interface ì Event browser ì for video clips recorded or imported ì Media browser ì access to iPhoto, iTunes, GarageBand, etc. ì Project library ì individual movie projects ì Menu sepngs ì Keyboard shortucts ì press space to play and stop
Create a new project ì Give it a name ì Choose an appropriate aspect ra.o: ì standard 4:3 (good for archival footage) ì wide screen 16:9 (good for new footage)
ì Do NOT check the automa.c transi.ons box ì May click on themes to preview, but leave “no
theme” selected
ì Can switch to a theme later
Adjust properties ì Go to the File menu and then to Project Proper.es ì Change Ini.al Photo Placement and Ini.al Video
Placement to Fit
ì you can apply cropping or Ken Burns’ Effect later, to
individual clips
ì Adjust default photo and transi.on dura.ons, if
desired
ì you can adjust dura.ons for each clip later
Import Photos ì Finding photos: ì iPhoto library in Media Browser ì folder on desktop ì Drag and drop onto your new project
.meline
ì Drag to change order
Import Video ì Videos in iPhoto available in Media Browser ì Go to File menu, select Import, and then
Import Movies
ì Will go into Event Browser
ì Drag whole clips or selec.on onto Project
Adding Title Cards ì Browse through .tle card selec.on ì Drag a card and release in appropriate spot, when
green + appears
ì Cards can go between or on clips
ì Choose background ì Type text ì Adjust fonts if desired ì Click Done when finished
Adding Transitions ì Browse through transi.on op.ons ì Drag a card and release in appropriate spot
between clips, when green + appears
ì Preview transi.on: ì move playhead before transi.on ì press space bar to play
ì Can adjust dura.on and overlap, as needed
Photo Effects: Ken Burns ì Click on the gear to access the Cropping, Ken Burns,
and Rota.on menu
ì Ken Burns Effect: ì panning and zooming on photos ì set the “start” and “end” points as well as dura.on ì Tips: ì Never let key person’s head go off screen ì Slower is be9er ì Vary effect (including not using it in some cases)
ì Preview and then click Done when finished
Working with Video Clips ì Click on gear to access video op.ons ì apply video effects ì trim clips ì separate out audio track (perhaps to delete) ì “Non-‐destruc.ve edi.ng” ì whatever you “destroy” in the project space will not impact the original in the Event Browser
Photo Effects: Duration TIP: When working on a project, don’t fiddle with dura.on for photos, video clips, transi.ons, and .tle cards un.l AFTER you’ve assembled all your assets But go ahead and fiddle with it now! ì Double-‐click to access Clip Adjustments ì Set dura.on in seconds ì bet you never knew how long 4 seconds could be!
Add Audio ì Browse audio op.ons ì iMovie Sound Effects ì iLife Sound Effects ì GarageBand ì iTunes
ì Drag and drop audio file when green + appears ì TIP: Don’t release while background is green or the
clip will become an embedded soundtrack with no op.on for adjustment
Audio Adjustments ì Click gear to access clip adjustments ì Set dura.on ì Advanced audio op.ons ì Click and drag audio ribbons to move ì Use Clip Trimmer to trim
Preview Your Cacophony J ì Click the “play project full screen”
bu9on
ì Go back and play around some more
STEP 5: SHARING
ì
ì Go to the Share menu ì Select Export Movie ì Specify file name and loca.on ì Choose medium ì Click OK Workshop Step
... and wait!
Export Options ì Can’t share original movie project file, so must
export a compressed version
ì Format depends on intended use for video ì Uploading to YouTube, Vimeo, etc. ì Embedding or offering as download on CMS
ì iMovie file formats: m4v and mov ì Choose m4v in most cases ì Windows Movie Maker: wmv
Sharing Options ì Upload to video hos.ng site like YouTube or
Vimeo
ì provide URL to video on site ì use embed code on blog or web page ì enable privacy op.ons, if applicable
ì Upload to CMS or web space ì Make file available for download ì Use custom-‐installed player
ì Log into account on Vimeo or
YouTube (or elsewhere)
ì Click Upload ì While video uploads, add
relevant info
Workshop Step
ì Restrict viewing: ì YouTube: unlisted ì Vimeo: password
Saving Your Project File ì A9ach external thumb drive or HD and make copy
of Project files in Project Library browser
ì Do the same for Events ì Also save all downloaded files, if applicable ì Or, if you were really just goofing around, never
mind!
ì All files will be wiped on reboot
DISCUSSION
ì
Sharing Samples & Ideas ì Want to share what you made with someone else? ì How might you use digital storytelling to enhance
your teaching?
ì How might you use it to assess student learning
and/or inspire engagement?
ì Now that you’re more familiar with the process of
composing a digital story, how have your ideas about assessing student projects changed?
Take Home Tips ì Future of wri.ng is digital ì Wide variety of free and rela.vely easy tools
available to compose digital stories
ì Keep your expecta.ons realis.c, for yourself and
for students
ì Experiment, play, have fun ì Need more help? Ask Google!
Further Resources See the Digital Storytelling category on:
digitalrhetoric101.com (feel free to email with ques4ons!)