This past weekend Tony and I immersed ourselves in the incredibly transformative process of digital storytelling. We rode the Amtrak down to Philadelphia, PA and stepped into a group of 8 other folks with diverse backgrounds and intentions for developing a particular style of communication. The 3-day hands-on tutorial, presented by the Center for Digital Storytelling, led us through the methodology for building digital stories from beginning to end—from nuggets of ideas to finished and polished pieces.
Digital storytelling utilizes computer-based tools to combine writing, narration, photography, sound and video to create reflective stories in the form of digital movies. The stories focus on a specific topic and typically encompass a particular point of view. Though they may vary in length, most of the stories that are being integrated into higher education curriculum tend to be 3-10 minutes long. Stories range from personal accounts, historical reflection, cultural explorations, to humorous metaphor and life experience. They have the potential to be used as poignant pedagogical tools within teaching, research and community building.
Stories. Done well, they are not only unique, but powerful and vital representations of our experiences and knowledge. They are our vehicles of explanation and meaning. We carry within us stories of discovery, accomplishment, adventure, character, recovery, placement, memorial and ability. Stories increase our connection to our studies, communities, and our selves. The group of us that came together in Philly discovered that digital storytelling is as much about the process as it is about the product. The workshop reinforced just how valuable immersion and group critical feedback is in the creative process. Though working on our individual pieces we engaged in a collaborative system of developing, molding, honing and finalizing our projects. As I settle back into my routines and ventures at Academic Computing, I do so with a greater self-awareness and excitement about the capacity of digital storytelling in our lives, inquiry, scholarship and art.
To view a sampling of digital stories, check out:
• Details and examples of digital storytelling in Higher Education
http://www.umbc.edu/oit/newmedia/studio/digitalstories/index.html
• Examples in different academic categories
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/
• Examples of digital storytelling applications in various genres
http://storycenter.org/casestudies.html
• The story that Tony created at the Philadelphia workshop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFo1BfEOdxk
• The story that JC created at the Philadelphia workshop
http://www.jcgraymedia.com/portfolio/digitalstorytelling.html
Digital Storytelling is a burgeoning genre that is finding its way into a variety of academic settings, departments and curriculum. Already we are seeing it integrated with success into courses at the UMass campus within the Public Health, Communication Disorders, Social Justice, Languages, Anthropology and English departments. We are all very excited to be part of the vanguard. Stay tuned for information about digital storytelling here at Academic Computing!