Exercise Three: Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is the practice of using web 2.0 tools to tell stories. As the name implies, digital stories usually contain some combination of digital images, text, animation, recorded audio narration, music, and video clips. Digital stories are usually less than 10 minutes in length. Digital stories may be used as an expressive medium within the classroom to reinforce curriculum and appeal to different learning styles. Teachers can use Digital Storytelling to introduce projects and themes, to help facilitate class discussions, to create an anticipatory set for a new topic, or to help students gain a better understanding of more abstract concepts. Students can work individually or collaboratively to produce their own digital stories. Through the creation of these stories students are required to take ownership of the material they are presenting. They have to analyze and synthesize information as well. All of this supports higher level thinking. Here are two different Digital Storytelling web 2.0 tools to choose from. Pick one of the mediums and create your own Digital Story to share with us:

Zooburst
http://www.zooburst.com/

ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her own 3D pop-up books. Using ZooBurst, storytellers of any age can create their own rich worlds in which their stories can come to life. 

 

Storybird

http://storybird.com/

Storybird is the original diva of digital storytelling.  Choose from a large variety of artist-created backgrounds and images to create a life-like story book. Go go www.storybird.com or TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME and watch this tutorial. 

To complete Exercise 3: Digital Storytelling:

• Watch the Zooburst and Storybird video intros and pick the one you like best
• Set up an account with either Zooburst or Storybird
• Watch additional tutorials as needed from the website and sample a few digital stories from the website's gallery
• Create a digital story and post or embed your link to your blog
• Post to your blog about your experience. What do you think? Could it apply to you and your classes? Would you use it? Explain.
• Post 3 comments on 3 different recruits' Exercise 3 blog posts.

Tips:

• If you create a Storybird, sign up for a teacher/class account
• In Storybird, you will also need to click "Menu" and then "Publish this Storybird" and a final "Publish" before you can view the embed code which is labeled "Embed & badges."