Digital storytelling projects can work at every grade level and across the content areas for students. There are many reasons why one might want students to create digital stories as a formative or summative assessment.

OVERVIEW

Jannette Ortega provides us with some of the benefits of digital storytelling in the classroom.

• It encourages collaborative learning as students problem-solve and bounce ideas off one another.

• Students get to share work for an outside audience

• Provides a meaningful platform to learn the technology skills

• Students use higher-order thinking skills as they evaluate, apply, and synthesize ideas

• Students become designers of effective communication

The art of creating a digital story provides students with practice in many different literacy areas, too. These include:

• Traditional literacy which includes reading, writing, speaking and listening

• Information literacy which involves searching for and critically evaluating background information for the story

• Visual literacy which includes understanding and producing meaningful visual images to go along with the story

• Media literacy involves the ability to communicate a message to inform or persuade a specific audience with the story

• Tool literacy is the use of software and hardware tools to create the story

• Digital literacy is using the digital technologies to communicate and collaborate with others

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), in the writing area, include many standards that are touched upon when creating a digital story, as well as including the use of technology to support the process and the production, which show up in the anchor standards. (Even if your state is not using the CCSS, these standards show up in your state standards somewhere, I guarantee it!)

The anchor standards in writing target text types and purposes, production and distribution of writing, and research to build and present knowledge.

• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.3

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4

• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6

And here are the anchor standards for speaking and listening in the area of presentation of knowledge and ideas.

• Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4

• Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.5

• Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.6

RESOURCES

I have a page on my Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything site entitled Digital Storytelling which includes classroom ideas and practices, assessment rubrics, books, great resources from great people, lots of videos, and some students samples. Take a look there for some more of the how and why!

 

APPS AND ONLINE TOOLS

Here are some useful Android apps and Web 2.0 tools to help with the digital storytelling process. There are tools needed for planning the story, tools for producing the story, and tools for creating and hosting of the digital story.

 

Tools for planning

Skitch - Skitch is an app that allows users to pull in an image and write and type on it. With a JPEG of a storyboard graphic in the Gallery, students can pull it into Skitch and complete the storyboard. The board can then be saved to the Gallery or emailed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bubbl.us - an online tool that also works well for storyboarding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon Storybuilder - Amazon Storybuilder is an online screenwriting tool. Users have to have an Amazon account to use it, but it also works on a smartphone and tablet. Users can invite collaborators to contribute, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mindjet Maps - this mapping tool will allow students to plan and organize their digital story. Users can bring in images and arrange the map in many different ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tools for producing

Photo Editor by Aviary - a full featured photo editor with lots of tools

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SketchBook Mobile - includes many high-end features such as symmetric drawing and brush sensitivity. Users can save the drawing when incomplete and export the finished product to the camera roll and then import into the final digital story software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio Recorder - this app allows users to record audio for an unlimited time and the recording files are saved on the device. It can output as an MP4, which can be brought in to other software for completing the digital story.

 

Tools for creating/hosting

Animoto - this app allows users to use their own photos and video clips, pick one of Animoto's styles and music tracks, and put together an engaging visual digital story.

Audioboo - this app allows students to create audio-only digital stories; they could easily add an image to represent the content of the story and post it online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Explain Everything - this wonderful screencasting app has recently arrived for Android; it allows the importing of all types of files and exports the final product to various places. In addition, students can create a video of themselves talking and import that to the stage as part of their digital story.

Explain Everything 2.0 from MorrisCooke on Vimeo.

 

Lensoo Create - another screencasting tool for Android that can be used to create a digital story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magisto - automatically turns users video clips and pictures into a digital story movie. Students get to pick music, graphics, and effects before they create the final story.

Tellagami - this app allows users to use a virtual avatar to tell a story. Users first edit their avatar, pull in a background, and record their story. It goes up to the Tellagami server and users can send the link to Twitter, FB, or email, SMS or save the movie to their photo library. Students can easily string multiple "gamis" together to create a story.
Here are a few "gamis"that I put together to make a iMovie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WeVideo - this app allows users to utilize photos from their gallery or take pictures and videos from within the app itself. The items can be trimmed and arranged to easily create a digital story.

 

IDEAS? THOUGHTS?

Do you have other Android apps you use in the classroom for preparing, producing, creating, and hosting student-created digital stories? Please share in the comments!