Story or Storytelling?

Bernajean Porter tweeted a link yesterday to an article she wrote about digital storytelling. Here's why this is not just another article to read. Let me explain.

WebQuests and Digital Storytelling have been two of my interests for many years.

Americans Bernie Dodge and Tom March, from San Diego State, created the WebQuest method in 1995 and Dana Atchley has been credited for starting the Digital Storytelling movement back in 1993 which was later adapted and refined by Joe Lambert in the late '90s.

Why these two examples?

Well, as many of us who work with teachers and students do as early adopters, we try the latest method with the hopes of engaging and motivating teachers and students to go deeper in their daily school work and have a meaningful learning experience. But do we really get it? [read me]

I remember my first WebQuest attempt back in 1999 being no more than an electronic scavenger hunt. Bernie Dodge's method requires higher order thinking and transformation of knowledge. I remember my first digital story was really just a retell of a story about my Grandfather. Bernajean talks about living in your story and lessons learned.

So what do Bernie Dodge and Bernajean Porter have in common?

Well, they articulate in various ways, through websites, podcasts, articles and books, just what it takes to create a WebQuest or Digital Story. They talk about what is required to go deeper. These two methods of communication require a deeper understanding that, for me, didn't happen right away. After all, I was trying to make sense of it from books, podcasts, articles and the exemplars offered having not sat in on a session by Bernajean or Bernie.

Bernajean explains the elements of digital storytelling very well in the article above. For me, this is good timing as I prepare another resource for the provincial level. For many of us who will be attending NECC in D.C. this is also good timing before our "Birds of a Feather" meetup with Bernajean next Tuesday.

So, if you want to "go deeper" when you create a digital story, I suggest you read Bernajean's article or better yet, listen as she explains the process . Bernajean explains the difference between stories and storytelling.

If you are like me, you'll need it repeated over and over again to get it just right.