Dr. Barbara L.

Pittman
Further Reading:
Digital Storytelling :Tips and Resources (PDF) . A comprehensive document from an D!"A!S #earning
$nitiative presentation.
The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling. From the !niversity of %ouston& this comprehensive site offers a
variety of e'amples& methods& and tools for designing assignments. 'amples are arranged (y discipline.
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
)hat does it loo* li*e in practice+
Digital storytelling presentations may (e entirely video& delivered as a ,le or posted online. -thers
may (e mostly te't& interspersed .ith images and video that invite the reader to e'perience a variety
of digital formats. Students search in a variety of online places& as .ell as in traditional print research
resources for the components of their arguments and compile the material into a format that is
generally accessi(le as a digital ,le. The resulting presentation may (e completed in a .i*i or (log or
on a hosted .e( site. ven in a document& students can insert images and lin*s to videos and su(mit
the document electronically. Students .ould (e instructed a(out the percentage of material that may
(e in video or image format& for e'ample& and .hat percentage in te't.
Digital Storytelling
)hat is it+
Digital Storytelling is simply the use of digital tools to tell a story or present any *ind of report or
information that re/uires a coherent thread. The term story has (roadened to include reports of
research or presentations of informative content0thin* documentary& for e'ample. !sing tools that
ena(le te't& image& audio& music& and video challenge our ideas a(out coherently developing and
organi1ing information that .as once only presented as te't. Attention to ho. readers2vie.ers .ill
follo. the information is a *ey component in developing such a presentation.
%o. does such a method ,t into my course+

$n a .riting3intensive course& digital storytelling provides a rene.ed focus on composition and

audience

Reports that .ere once only te't can ta*e advantage of the visual aspects of the discipline4
scienti,c reports& for e'ample& could (e a video of an entire la( e'periment& narrated (y
students

Photos of shapes or architectural spaces in .hich mathematical concepts are evident can (e
e'amples in a pro(lem3solving research presentation in mathematics

$n general& digital storytelling pro5ects are more li*ely to (e shared .ith a class than traditional
print assignments that are only shared .ith faculty
Fall 2011