The Wonderful World of Digital Storytelling

Doesn't "Digital Storytelling" just sound like an amazing concept? For educators who are trying to keep up with the fast emergence of technology in today's world, Digital Storytelling is a must!

 Not only is this a fantastic way to implement technology in your classroom, it also includes the following student literacies:

 • Digital Literacy – the ability to communicate with an ever-expanding community

to discuss issues, gather information, and seek help.

• Global Literacy - the capacity to read, interpret, respond, and contextualize

messages from a global perspective

.• Technology Literacy - the ability to use computers and other technology to

improve learning, productivity, and performance.

• Visual Literacy - the ability to understand, produce and communicate through

visual images.

• Information Literacy - the ability to find, evaluate and synthesize information.

In researching Digital Storytelling for my activity plan, I learned that there are 7 essential elements in Digital Storytelling. I included these 7 elements in my storyboard for my movie...

• Point of view: Outlines the point of the story and the perspective from which the story is told.
• A dramatic question: Sets the tension of the story by identifying issues to be resolved.
• Emotional content: Engages the audience through common emotions and themes (love, pain, humor).
• The gift of your voice: Helps the audience make meaning of images.
• The power of the soundtrack: Sets the mood of the story.
• Economy: Balances the auditory and visual tracks of meaning.
• Pacing: Sustains the attention of the audience by establishing and modifying the rhythm of the story

Digital Storytelling is a modern expression of a long time past time. With Digital Storytelling, students are encouraged to intertwine a story with images, video and almost anything they can imagine.