[MUSIC] Lesson 1. Recognize the characteristics of an educational digital story. To do this, you should review other digital stories that people have created and shared on the web. And one of the best ways to find example digital stories is to go online to sites such as the Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling website. When you watch other people's stories, you may want to use a checklist of items or make notes as you're watching the story. Obviously you want to know what the topic is. It helps to consider who created it and whether it was created by educators or students within a classroom environment. You will also want to know who the intended audience is, and what the main purpose is for the digital story. As you're reviewing these stories, you should be thinking not only about what others did, but also in terms of how this information might help you as you plan to create your own digital stories. You want to make sure that when you're watching other stories, as well as when you're creating your own, that they make sense. That the information is presented in a clear and organized manner, and that all of the technical details are as good as possible. You should consider if the audio is of good quality and if the volume is loud enough for all of the words to be heard. If there's music in the story, you want to make sure that it does not overshadow or drown out the narration. For educational digital stories, teachers should consider the educational content and the value of digital stories that students will watch. Or if students are creating their own digital stories, teachers will want to make sure that the information in the story is accurate and that it contains educational material relevant to the instructional goals of the classroom. And perhaps the last thing to consider, but still an important one, is what kinds of things might be done to improve the story? Focusing on Lesson 1 in order to recognize the characteristics of other people's digital stories will almost certainly help you as you start to create your own educational digital stories. Lesson 2. When creating a digital story, Identify the audience and develop the script accordingly. This is very important even though it sounds like common sense. You should really think about who you are developing this story for. Consider the purpose of the story and make sure that it is appropriate for the intended audience. As I often tell my students, a digital story should be a good story first before it can be a good digital story. Reading the script of what you plan to put into your digital story should give the reader, as well as yourself, a good idea of what the story is about and why you are telling it. Good stories generally contain an interesting introduction, a logical middle, and an end with a great conclusion that ties everything together. All of the technical elements, such as text, images, and music, should complement the theme of the story. You should try to make certain that the script contains at least one dramatic idea or question that presents the point of the story that you want your viewers to understand after they watch it. Lesson 3. Add a personal viewpoint to your script. It cannot be overemphasized that digital stories are most engaging when they reflect the personal nature of how the story teller feels about a particular topic. If you're an educator trying to motivate your students with a digital story you created, you want your passion for the content to be expressed in that story. And if you're an educator trying to teach your students how to create their own digital stories, then you want them to express their passion for the content that will be presented in their story. You want to encourage your students to present their ideas for a digital story first through a script written in their own words that's personally meaningful to them and that demonstrates their understanding of the content. As my students work on the scripts for their digital stories, I allow plenty of time for them to write it in their own words and with their own points of view. I also believe that it's okay to paraphrase from other sources, although scripts should primarily contain the storyteller's own words. Occasionally, quotes can be used, as long as the sources of the quoted material are cited. I believe that a record should be kept of all the sources that are included in the script. And all digital stories should include a credit slide at the end that includes references to all cited works. Whether they're quotes, images, video clips, music or any other content that someone else created and has been used in the final version of the digital story. Lesson 4. Provide supportive feedback to the scripts of others. We use a technique adapted from the Center for Digital Storytelling, called story circles, where small groups of people get together and read the draft version of the script that they've written for their digital story. And then, each member of the group gives feedback to the person who's sharing their script. This is a really helpful technique that can be done in face to face settings, such as a classroom or workshop, or virtually, with one or more people giving feedback to others through e-mail or an online discussion forum. So no matter how you create the story circle environment, it is usually very helpful to the person who is getting the feedback. And sometimes, giving the feedback to others can provide us with ideas that will help us with our own scripts. But one of the things that you should consider when providing feedback to someone else's work, is that most people want to be friendly and nice and respectful of other people's work, and not say unkind things. But because of this, some people will say things to each other, like, I really liked your script and I think you did a great job. Or, you have selected a really interesting topic, and I can't wait to see how your story turns out. Well, these are nice comments, but they're not very helpful, because there's nothing in these comments that can be used to improve a script that would then improve the final digital story. It's much more helpful to say specific things like, I think you did a good job, but I don't understand a particular point in your script, where you used a certain word or a phrase. And perhaps you could provide a definition, or some additional context that would help the viewer understand what you're talking about, or what your main message is. So, yes, please try to be respectful of other people's work, and even friendly. But also provide comments that you think are actually helpful, and aren't just nice things to say to encourage people. We all would appreciate and benefit from constructive feedback that helps us create a better digital story. That's the kind of feedback we should both give and hopefully receive. [MUSIC]
