DIGITAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOP

Monday, November 24, 2008University of Texas at San Antonio

Academy of Teacher Education &

School of Science and Technology

by Bulent Dogan, Ed.D.

STORYTELLING

• Power of storytelling

• Storytelling is the ancient art

• Crucial elements of storytelling

• It existed as long as humanity

• Modern tools for storytellers

Digital Storytelling (DS)

• New technology brought new possibilities• What is Digital Storytelling?

– DS is a process of creating a short movie•Script or an original story• Images, video, music •Narration•2-10 minutes

• Topics:– personal tales, – retellings of historical events,

– teaching/introducing a specific subject

SAMPLE DS 1

• ALMOST PARADISE

Types of DS

• Personal or narrative stories

• Stories that inform or instruct

• Stories that re-tell historical events

Elements of DS (Lambert, 2003)

• Point of View• A Dramatic Question• Emotional Content• The Gift of Your Voice• The Power of the Soundtrack• Economy • Pacing

Process of Creating DS

• Writing• Script• Storyboarding• Locating Multimedia• Creating Digital Story• Sharing

Benefits of DS

• Developing social and learning skills– The director’s chair effect– Representing individuals' voice– Identity construction– Personalization of learning– Transformative process for students – Increase in:

• Student motivation and engagement, • Creativity, • Self-confidence

– In the classroom, DS helps• Students respect for each others’ backgrounds• To facilitate discussions in the classroom• Shy students to express themselves

Benefits of DS (CONT’D)• The process of creating DS

claimed to develop 18 out of 20 of these skills (Jakes, 2006).

• Students most notably develop certain skills:– Information literacy, – Visual literacy,– Technological literacy and media literacy,– Creativity and taking more risks,– More effective communication (Howell &

Howell, 2003; Jakes, 2006; Robin, In press).

DS in K-12 Education

• Common Uses of Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

• Effective use of Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

• Challenges and Barriers for Using Digital Stories in the Classroom

Uses of DS in the classroom

• Who is going to create Digital Stories?– Teachers themselves– Students– Stories created by others

• Primary use is to teach a subject• Other uses:

– Graduation portfolios– Collaborative team work – State use of DS for meeting technology standards

• Two most common uses of DS:– Using Digital Storytelling to Teach Writing – Using Digital Storytelling for Targeted groups of

students

Common uses of DS

• Two most common uses of DS:– Using Digital Storytelling to Teach Writing

• Process of creating DS is suitable for teaching writing• Scott County Schools example: State required writing

portfolios• No more: “I don’t have nothing to write about”

(Banaszewski, 2002).• Technology aspect is motivating factor for students

– Using Digital Storytelling for Targeted groups of students• Transformative and empowering feature of DS (Hull &

Nelson, 2005).• Motivational benefits for special need students

(Salpeter, 2005). • Helps minority students to construct identity (Weiss,

2002).

Effective use of DS

• Increase in number of educational tools but inadequate guidance for how to use them

• Coaching required for DS to see a difference in student learning (Banaszewski, 2005).

• Requirements for effective integration of technology & DS

• Professional development programs concentrated on integration of technology

• More instruction and guidance needed on how to use DS in the classroom.

SAMPLE DS 2

• The Pythagorean theorem

Current Research on DS• Dogan, B. & Robin, B. (2008). Implementation of

Digital Storytelling in the Classroom by Teachers Trained in a Digital Storytelling Workshop. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2008 (pp. 902-907). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. http://bdogan.wordpress.com/publications/

My Research

• To document teachers’ use of DS in the classroom after attending the workshop at the UH.

1. To what extent do teachers trained in the University of Houston’s DS workshop integrate DS in the classroom?

2. If they have used digital stories in the classroom, in what ways have they been used by the teachers? What purpose did teachers have in using digital stories in the classroom?

3. If they were not used, what were the barriers that kept teachers from using DS in the classroom?

Results • Sample uses

– By students• Video yearbook,• History fair project,• Description of field trips taken, • Social and science investigations, etc..

– By Teachers• As opposed to PowerPoint• Highlighting a time in history• Sharing personal experiences• Teaching a subject matter

• Types of Digital Stories– In Survey II

• Personal or narrative stories (52%)• Stories that inform or instruct (47%)• Stories that re-tell historical events (35%)

• Cross-Curriculum Use– All interviewed teachers shared DS with other teachers

Results (cont’d)

• 3 main themes emerged from the data:

– impacts on 21st century skills,

– impacts on motivation and engagement level,

– impacts on special groups of students.

• The creation process of DS and 21st century skills

Results (Cont’d)

• Motivation factor & “Director’s chair” Effect (Banaszewski, 2005; Paull, 2002)

• Interviewed Teachers– “It’s like they’re creating the new Hollywood” – “Getting to use computers and technology”

”21st century kids” – Chance of self expression: “They were so

inspired to create… that they got to tell a story about themselves”

• Students’ academic performance

Results (cont’d)• Impacts of DS on special groups of students (Salpeter, 2005;

Weiss, 2002).– Interviewed teachers:

• “Students felt more confident about their work.” –Response to an open-ended item

• Another teacher: DS for targeted groups of students, such as students who are new to U.S.

• Interviewee #2 saw benefits with his “marginal students”

• Expected problem: “Time issues”

• Results: “Access to hardware”

• Lack of technical assistance and support: No problem

Other Results and Considerations

• Teaching Style– Interviewed teachers

• Digital Storytelling Outside of the Classroom– Both survey results indicated this– Other teachers or family members– potential uses for DS outside of the classroom

• Digital Stories: Easy to Use, Learn and Teach– One of the 5 themes– easy to create and teach with available resources

• Photo Story 3 • digital images.

Future Potential of DS• Future Potential in K-12

• Implementation of DS depends on – access to technology, – proper training of the users, – and on-going technical support.

• Remarkable FEATURES about DS:– creates motivation– draws attention easily– Easy to make with already available tools

• Motivating factors– director’s chair effect , – the chance for self expression, – opportunity to use computers

Resources and Sample Stories

• http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/ This website is the University of Houston’s official digital storytelling resource and research site.

• http://bdogan.wordpress.com/research/ This website is a research blog about digital storytelling. This website which includes information about Digital Storytelling, tutorials, and current research.

• http://techszewski.blogs.com/ Tom Banazewski’s digital storytelling blog

• http://www.distco.org DISTCO 2008 Official website

• http://www.storycenter.org/ Center for digital storytelling

SAMPLE DS 3

• Gettysburg Speech