Week 5 - Creating My Digital Story

 Progress on my Digital Story

Last week, we submitted our story core, story map, and current draft of our script and storyboard in Canvass. In addition to all that, I've been putting together my actual digital story in Canva. I decided on Canva because I think it has very high-quality tools and you can do a lot with it. Many of the other tools I've come across are more limited or expensive. This is my first time making a video in Canva, though.

I find it interesting that we are being asked to plan our story in such a linear way. My process is a bit more recursive. I develop chunks of it at a time, and I want to work on the images or media for those parts before I'm necessarily done with the script for other parts. I think seeing my product develop gives me more ideas and helps me integrate everything. I am pleased with my progress so far and am confident I will be ready to present it by week 7. I don't think there is anything I need help with. I still have to create some short video segments and voiceovers and work on transitions and music, but I have most of my visuals in place.


Resources For This Week

Looking at the resources for this week, I found the one that gave ideas of tools the most interesting (Kapular, 2018). I have been playing with some new tools so that I will have a variety of media in my video. I made a GIF using the juxtapose tool by Knightlab.com, which was one of the tools referenced in Kapular's article in our reading for this week. I also got interested in the idea of creating a comic strip from the readings and used Tonytool.com to create a segment of my video. I found that by searching for a cartoon-making tool, inspired by Kapular's article, although it wasn't on that list. Both of those resources are free and easy to use, so I could see using them in school with students. Resources that cost money or have a steeper learning curve are more problematic. Some of the other article links didn't work.


Digital Storytelling in the Community

The authentic audience for my story is likely to be people who have faced similar challenges to the ones I outline, or people who like to see a success story. I'd like to be able to inspire people to find their own success, and also provide information about what I have found useful. It could also be an example of a digital story for someone who was looking for ideas of how to put one together. In working on this story I have expanded my knowledge of digital storytelling in general, and have used features in Canva that I've never used before, such as making a video. I've tried out a variety of other tools as well, such as making a cartoon. I think that everyone has some kind of story to tell, and in this digital age, thinking about creating digital stories opens up some possibilities both in the classroom and also in the community. I could provide opportunities for students to create digital stories, and I could encourage others in the community to do it also or help people who needed help with the technology of it.


References

Kapular, D. (September 7, 2018). Top 30 tools and apps for digital storytelling. Tech & Learning.  Retrieved from:  https://www.techlearning.com/tl-advisor-blog/30-sites-and-apps-for-digital-storytelling\

Juxtapose tool on Knightslab Website: https://juxtapose.knightlab.com/

Tonytool Cartoon Creator: https://www.toonytool.com/#createCartoon


Links to an external site.








Comments

  1. Carissa GNovember 15, 2024 at 8:46 AM

    I am also using Canva for my project. I agree with you...there are a lot of helpful tools that can be used for producing a digital story. I think your plan to use a variety of types of media in your story will really make it stand out. It will be beneficial to others to see how all of those elements can be combined to create a final product.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tara ZavadaNovember 16, 2024 at 4:59 AM

    I can completely relate to your creative process! I have also been playing around with Canva. It's hard to figure out what app to use when you don't know how limited the free version is before it is too late. It sounds like you have a good handle on everything!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Claire MolonyNovember 17, 2024 at 7:55 AM

    I liked the idea of using Canva and have been playing around with it to decide if I want to use it. I also liked the resources Kaapular gave and thought the free ones could be helpful now and in the classroom. I am excited to see how your story turns out!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 1 - Introduction

Image
I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland, and did my first degree at Edinburgh University, but I have lived in California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, since 1996. My husband and I met at university in Edinburgh and ended up moving back here where he is from. We have two grown children. Our son is a computer programmer, and our daughter has followed me into teaching. I am a Special Education Teacher (Resource) at Pittsburg High School, around 40 miles east of San Francisco, California. I have been teaching for around 20 years and co-teaching Geometry for the last few years. I have a General Ed. Math credential in addition to my Special Education one, and have often specialized in math over the years. I am co-chair of my department and a member of the Ed. Tech team which provides support and training for our fellow teachers in Educational Technology. I find the idea of digital storytelling interesting. I'm not entirely sure what my story will be but am considering telling ...
Read more

Week 2 - Reviewing a Digital Story

Image
PART 1: AN EXAMPLE OF A DIGITAL STORY I find myself particularly drawn to The Story of Stuff  video by Annie Leonard. In this series of educational videos, she describes where the stuff that we buy and use comes from, and where it ends up when we dispose of it. In an engaging and lively way, with humor, she educates viewers on the hidden costs to the environment, and some of the political systems involved in producing the stuff we use in everyday life. The introduction is shown here: The simple line drawing graphics help illustrate the points that she makes and help focus the viewer on her main points. There is introductory music but otherwise, it is quite plain, with a white background and no background music. PART 2: EDUCATIONAL VALUE This story is very educational since most people don't think very much about where stuff comes from or where it goes, so it is designed to raise their awareness. I used these videos a number of years ago when I taught Economics to help illustrate ec...
Read more

Week 3 - Digital Story Project Plan

Image
  Purpose of This Blog Post The purpose of this blog post is to share my digital story project plan and get feedback from peers to help me develop it. What type/kind of story will you tell? What is the purpose or impact? I am thinking of telling the story of my health transformation, where I have lost a lot of weight, and also took up running, and am building up my speed and stamina. I would like it to be both informational and inspirational. The picture above is from my most recent 5K race (Monster Mash Dash on October 26, 2024). A year ago I couldn't run for more than a few seconds, and last weekend I ran 3 miles in a witch costume and had great fun doing so! What are the story elements? (Ohler) My story core is as follows Problem: being overweight (my highest was 280 pounds in 2020 during the pandemic, and I’d only got down to 260 after that), I was prediabetic, had lower back issues that had me in severe pain for weeks and even took me to the ER at one point (April, 2023), an...
Read more