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Digital Storytelling Teachers Group at ECOO 2010
Creative Commons Photo Credit: Andrew Forgrave 

As I prepare for my latest digital storytelling session at the end of the month with teachers at a school-based professional learning group, I've been looking back to the many sessions and resources collected over the years.

In 2009 I was alerted via a blog post by my friend and fellow digital storytelling influencer Gareth Morlais about a book that was ground-breaking at the time. Story Circle: Digital Storytelling Around the World. The book claimed "the world's first comprehensive account of personal digital storytelling in several countries".

Imagine my surprise when I saw listed on page 41 my very first large-scale school project. A project that took a group of 4 or 5 digital storytelling teacher facilitators to 8 different schools over a period of 6 months to introduce digital storytelling to student writers' groups. This was back in 2005 and 2006. There is an explanation in the book on page 45 that only 55 digital storytelling projects were completed in elementary schools at the time of writing. Our target group was grade 4, 5 and 6 students.

Fast forward eight years and although the names and the faces of participants have changed the storytelling has not. You see, the particular brand of storytelling I help people with is personal storytelling. You know the ones, where you tell the story from something in your life. It could be a memory of someone close to you, a first meeting, a special place. Participants often arrive at the session with a completely different story in mind. As participants open up and start talking about their stories, folks often adjust their story or completely switch to something more personal. Oh, there is often safety in telling a story that is not too personal. I started that way. But the stories that go straight to the heart are the ones that move us and sometimes make us cry.

So I look forward to the end of the month because I never know what type of stories I'll have the honour of listening to. I do know that I'm always moved by personal stories. And always have been. 

Fish Stories

Creative Commons 2.0 Flickr Photo by: CaliforniaDFG

We've all heard our share of fish stories. Recently I had the pleasure of listening on two separate occasions to two different fish stories told by two different men in their '80s.

The first was on the plane back from Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. I had the pleasure of sitting next to an octogenarian whose adventures made me tired just listening. He'd flown an hour and a half north of Vancouver to fish with his sons and grandsons for Chinook Salmon. The way he described the fishing outings was detailed and he was quite proud that his fishing gang brought in the most fish for the week. The thing I noticed most was he was quite content and happy in his retirement at 80 years young. He said, "I don't do shuffleboard or any other of the retirement crowd things, I just do what I want and go where I want, when I want."

The second conversation was just this past Saturday at our local landfill. I was adding to the pile when a smiling gentlemen walked up to me and after the requisite jokes about the dump and landfills in general, we started to "talk story". I had mentioned I'd spoken with someone about salmon fishing and he said, well I have a story for you. He told the story of being flown by float plane to a remote fishing camp with guys from work on the west coast near Alaska. By the time the story was at its mid-point he was using his hands and body to describe the 132 pound halibut he'd caught. He'd been fishing for Chinook salmon in the morning and the guide took him up-river to fish for halibut in the afternoon. As he told the story I could visualize the situations he was describing. At the end of the story he said that while he shared his catch with his fellow fishermen, he didn't get to have any because his freezer had a power outage and he lost the entire portion of his catch! He smiled at the end of the story and said, "Oh well, at least my fishing buddies got to have theirs."

It donned on me this morning that both of these stories would make terrific digital stories. Lasting memories for the grandchildren to enjoy perhaps and illustrated by photos and voice.

Choosing Your Story - Turning Points

It can be difficult choosing a topic for your very first digital story.

It helps to see a few examples ahead of time to get the feel for how a digital story is structured. But still, it can be difficult. Especially if you have several stories to tell.

Narrowing down a topic that lends itself well to the digital storytelling format can be a challenge. It helps to choose an event or a particular situation and write about it.

We tried an exercise this week called "Turning Points" -- a variation of Joe Lambert's exercise he talks about in his book. For 5 minutes or so, participants write about turning points in their lives.

Many stories this week took shape as personal narratives that included a specific turing point. I have to admit, this is the part of the story I listen for. As much as I like the build up to a turning point because it provides the viewer with valuable background, it is the turning point and the story after that where you find out the details of the rest of the story that pleases me most.

Twice in my session this week I was pleasantly surprised by how authors crafted their turning point and shaped their story. One completely took me off guard as it was not the way I thought the story might go. I think this is what makes the stories very listenable. Just when you think the story is going in a particular direction, wham, it changes and you are "let in" on the rest of the story.

I'm also in awe and have great respect for participant storytellers who let their audience in on very personal stories. We talked this week about stories that may be 'not too personal'. I know the feeling. We try and write what we are comfortable writing but there is always a story to tell that may be just too personal for public consumption.

Life is story with many turning points. I'll never tire of hearing stories. Now, if I could just muster up the gumption to write my next digital story.

Digital Storytelling on iPad

It shouldn't make a difference but it does.  

I had been providing digital storytelling workshops for several years to teachers and students before I treated myself to my first Centre for Digital Storytelling workshop in Denver three years ago this summer. I remember starting with the story circle, writing my narrative and then we were all given white MacBooks and had an hour or two instruction on a particular video editing software. We were all using the same technology to assist us in telling our stories. 

But what if you don't know what to expect  technology-wise when invited to facilitate a session for a particular group? You can have the most engaging session where stories are told that would make you cry, but the technology can make or break a session for some participants. Imagine getting your story out and then not being able to follow through because the technology is a barrier. 

Could a mobile device be the answer? After all it is a device that most people are familiar with in the form of a phone. Joe Lambert has started using iPhones in his DS sessions. And in a couple of weeks the session I'll be guiding will have all participants using iPads and iMovie. Will it be the answer? Perhaps. At least we'll have a set of common problems to solve. 

Most of the sessions I conduct are for first time digital storytelling participants. I find they are amazed at the power of story. In fact the sessions are quite transformative for many. With the help of iPad at my next session I hope all will be successful. 

After all, the technology shouldn't make a difference, but it does. 

Digital Storytelling - Pixie for iPad

I'm always experimenting with new applications that will give me the opportunity to provide the participants in my digital storytelling sessions a chance to stitch together their stories.

Tech4Learning's new iPad app., Pixie, may just be my next good find.

If you are a reader of this blog you know that I favour personal narratives. There is nothing more satisfying than guiding students and adults through the process of creating their own digital stories.

With Pixie for iPad the task of stitching a story together is very easy.

1. Importing Images

Pixie for iPad allows access to your camera roll. Right away, if you are taking photographs or have access to scanned images, you're in business. As well, since all your images are available to you through your camera roll, the process of importing them into your story is a snap.

2. Stickers for Photographs

It took a little searching in the stickers panel of the app. but I was able to find photographs. Depending on the story you are telling these photos may come in handy if your participants have difficulty finding suitable photos for their stories. Also, I'll have to check with the folks at Tech4Learning about copyright.

3. Voice Recording

If you click on the Options panel, you are able to record your voice on a slide by slide basis. I'm impressed with the recording quality. I did have a little trouble with a scratchy sound coming through if I was handling the iPad. But I solved this by placing the iPad flat on the table in front of me and I was able to record a clean track. I'm not sure yet whether voice can be recorded over multiple slides. I'll keep trying to see if I can do this. Oh, and there was a gym class going on two doors over and the sounds of children playing did not come through in my voiceover recording.

4. Transitions and Timing

This is something that may be a challenge for some. You can set the timing for each slide by the second and there is a short list of transitions. I picked fade as the less 'transition distraction' is the way to go, so as not to distract from the story.

5. Background Music

Still reading? Good. This feature is a beauty. There are about 20 to 25 sound tracks to choose from! I selected 'Gentle Guitar' and had a soothing guitar playing in the background while my voice told the story. Lovely! While I could not find a way to adjust the duration of the background music, just not having to find music is great. Pick the mood you need to set and you're off.

6. Exporting Video

Pixie for iPad has a number of options to export your story. The Export Video option provides three ways to export: Camera Roll, App., or Email. Camera Roll is likely the best bet, although I haven't tried it yet, I will when I get finished the sample you see above. In a school, it may be difficult to get video from the Camera Roll from an individual device but we have solved this by using a cloud service.

I'll be using Pixie for iPad and other solutions for the months of May and June this school year. I find the end of the year is a perfect time for students to write digital stories. They have an entire school year to look back on and their writing skills have matured.

Writing About Moments

I had a special experience with the lower school teachers at Collegiate School on Friday this week.

It was one of those workshops where barriers come down, trust and honesty are evident and when 30 minutes after the session ends, 80% of the participants are still enjoying the showcase and celebration of their stories.

They wrote about relationships and places, triumphs and natural disasters. But mostly they wrote about moments in their lives.  There's a deep sense of feeling and knowing as the listener is transported into a particular moment.

There is something special about hearing a person's digital story spoken aloud for the first time in a group setting. Applause, tears, heads nodding knowingly and sometimes silence, a 'knowing silence' - - that time when the only thing to do is sit there and soak in what you have just heard. And then realize you just had the privilege of being in that moment with the writer.

Thank you Collegiate teachers for writing about your moments and sharing them with me.