Techszewski

Me, My Research, and Digital Storytelling

For the last year and a half I've been collecting information related to digital storytelling. I left the classroom to find out how to use technology to help students improve their storytelling skills. My time at Georgia Tech has not taught me much about technology and narrative, as I had hoped it would, but instead about the properties of interactive digital spaces, video games, and the benefits of working on group projects. 

I search the web often for anything related to digital storytelling. There are many threads that will hopefully hold my thesis together. My links are organized by my particular interests in improving digital storytelling practices in education. I Google using variations of 'digital storytelling:' multimedia storytelling, interactive storytelling, digital literacy, online stories. There are a handful of sites where people have gathered online resources that cover everything related to story and digital, but there isn't one that focuses on helping teachers implement digital storytelling in a comprehensive way. That will be Where In the US is Digital Storytelling? arriving soon, I hope.

I thought of breaking down the Digital Storytelling Is...TypeList into a few categories:

• software/digital media tools
• resources for teachers
• stories online

But they're all so related, that it I think it's more useful to post a bunch of them and then sort them later in the Where In the US is Digital Storytelling? site.

Flash in the Pan?

I've had a revived interest in mastering Flash this week. Ever since my great idea of creating interactive CDs for ........ (can't give that away) I've wanted to get back on track with my three Flash projects started last year that I really want to work on. I thought that if I posted where I'm at with each my goals for the next month that that would either set me up for embarrassment at how little I accomplish or actually help keep me focused.  Most of this stuff isn't online or part of my portfolio. I guess I need to clean it all up if it's headed in that direction.

1. A Place at the Table

Part A
Interactive Timeline

• Get flv video to work, look at Love and Diane from last semester
• Import, edit, convert interview footage from last semester
• Make all images clickable or at least enlarge in separate movie clips

Part B
Introduction scenes

 

• Combine swf from Part A or load it into this one
• Delete temp timeline
• Adjust timing of Scene 3

2. A Map of My Life

• Complete image slideshow mc
• Check all links on Family theme
• Improve img quality
• Check all journal entries

3. Where in the US is Digital Storytelling?

• Make short list of people to highlight
• Make link clickable in mc
• Collect data for each person/organization