Digital Storytelling

1. What have your learned (one or two key points) about digital storytelling by creating your own video?

I always knew that planning is essential to creating any media project. I created a script, storyboard and shot list to plan my video. The storyboard and shot list really helped with planning my images and recording the voice over.

2. What aspects of digital storytelling did you learn while viewing the websites above?

Telling a specific type of story, i.e. memory, lessons learned, legacy, etc.

3. How might you use video in your classroom next year? (Perhaps even as a component
of your project).

I plan to use video as part of my project: World War II Monologues. Students will videotape a dramatic monologue based on the experiences of a particular individual or group affected by the war. The video will be edited in I-Movie or Final Cut Express.

Personal Soapbox

As a multimedia teacher, I believe in using media to empower students. I guess you could say I am interested in media and social justice... in other words, media that will enlighten, inform and make a difference in the lives of others. My video will (hopefully) demonstrate how media, more specifically digital video, cameras and computers, can arm students with the tools to create "meaningful media". I envision my students as "guerilla" journalists and documentary filmmakers. Sure, integrating technology and creating media projects is fun, interesting and inspiring, but I like the content to be relevant to the current social and political climate.

My video piece will consist of still images, mostly pictures taken of Philip, my 12 year old subject. The video sequence will take you (viewer) through a day in the life of a regular student transformed by multimedia and technology. I plan to narrate the story.

Before I begin any media project, I like to create a storyboard, script and shot list (when necessary) which minimizes time spent on media and provides me with a visual blueprint.

Right now, I am not sure about using music, or where it will fit. I was thinking of either the theme music from Hawaii Five-O or My Philosophy by Boogie Down Productions. Not sure yet. I should probably use Garageband and escape the copyright issues.

Assignment 3

1. How will your project meet your students’ learning styles and needs?

I want the students to create an oral history or documentary about a particular subject, which will require an interview component. My students vary in learning styles, needs and motivation which can be very challenging. Luckily, I have the media component to spark their interest. However, because the content of the media projects require research, writing, planning and revision, many students struggle with the level of complexity and the amount of work involved. The most important factor in addressing their learning styles and needs is to provide a highly structured lesson, with clear objectives, a calendar and checklist and numerous scaffolding activities to break the project down into several components. It is rare that I can let students out into the "wilderness" and guide their own research.

2. How will your project address higher order thinking skills?

Interviews require good questions, probing questions, and active listening. These are higher order thinking skills. Particularly if students are to develop questions that will evoke responses that correspond to a particular event, theme or idea. Students will have to think about the time period, understand their interview subject and craft questions that will elicit strong responses which they will use to create a documentary or oral history.

3. How will your project address the skills business and industry tell us are important? (Collaboration, Decision Making Skills, Connecting to the Real World)

Collaboration-working with an interview subject and classmates to create the project
Decision Making Skills-deciding what to ask and when to ask the right questions, particularly if they are personal.
Connecting to the Real World-Documentaries, although they are subjective, connect the audience to the subject.