Prior Knowledge:
Previous to this experience I believed digital storytelling had to do with telling a story (such as a picture book) through digital media. In a way I was correct. Digital story telling does express a story, but as Wikipedia states, it is "a short form of digital film-making that allows everyday people to share aspects of their life story." Wikipedia also states that "digital stories are short 2 to 3 minute multimedia movies that combine photographs, video, animation, sound, music, text, and often a narrative voice."
The Process:
In the past I have used iMovie to create a short slideshow with music running as it panned through the pictures. I wanted to incorporate these skills, but also try applying the skills I learned while creating my Podcast. Creating the audio file was a lot easier this time, and there were fewer issues with the program. I did have to record the narrative voice twice, as the first time the entire audio clip did not export properly from Audacity. I used my USB headset and microphone to record the narrative, and exported the file into a usable .mp3. Once the file is exported, I double clicked it, and it automatically is added to the iTunes Library.
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| Adding photographs |
The next step was to collect photographs to accompany my narrative. For the purpose of this inquiry-based investigation, I focused my digital story on my first three years of teaching. I consider my life to unfold in chapters, and those these chapters are completed they are certainly not forgotten. I had to hunt through three different computers to find all the images I wanted, but I managed to collect enough photographs to fill a story 3 minutes long.
iMovie has some wonderful features, as it will connect directly to the iPhoto library, and the iTunes library without having to dig around. Once I had all the photos selected I dragged and dropped them from the iPhoto tab into the iMovie Project window. In the project window, I was able to move the photos around to the order I wanted and delete photos that did not fit the story. I also dragged and dropped the Digital Storytelling.mp3 from the iTunes library and simply laid the audio over the images.
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| Adding Music |
This is the point I hit a small snag, I had more images than audio time. As digital stories also incorporate music into the media, I thought I should also try this. At this point I thought about the purpose of this digital story. My purpose is to express my time with my two classes and my first three years of teaching. In a way this video is a tribute to my students and the two First Nations bands I worked with. I thought adding, "Will You Remember Me" - by Sarah McLachlan would be fitting. I did not actually have this track, so I went to the iTunes store and bought a copy of the track. Thank you iTunes Store.
Once the track was downloaded into my iTunes library, I could use the same function and drag and drop the file over the rest of the images. iMovie will cut the song off to the point where the photographs end. This is a nice feature, as it saved me from having to fiddle with the length. I did try to fade the sound off on the last track, but for some reason the song just stops.
I watched the story run through it's length, and honestly got a bit emotional (good or poor choice of song, I'm not sure). As I was previewing, I noticed some of the slides were not fading the way they should. iMovie has a built in feature, the 'Ken Burns effect.' "The Ken Burns effect is a popular name for a type of panning and zooming effect used in video production from still imagery." (Ken Burns Effect, Wikipedia, 2012). In iMovie I can adjust where the panning begins on a slide and where it ends. Two of the slides initially had heads cut off. I also adjusted the order of three slides so they better fit with the audio tracks.
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| Exporting to QuickTime Player |
With all the editing completed, I had to export the project. Usually the Export option is located in the File menu, however, in iMovie it is located under the Sharing menu. The file was exported and is now available in a .mp4 file.
Classroom Application:
I can see digital storytelling being used in two ways:
1) As a tool to help instruct lesson materials. Students, especially auditory and visual learners, often respond better to movies. If teachers could apply digital stories to their lessons students may be more likely to retain key information. For example, in Social Studies 8 students learn about the Middle Ages. If digital stories were created about the fife system, demonstrating how it impacted individual lives students may connect to the content.
2) Students create digital stories. In September students are getting to know their classmates, and their teachers. What a great way to start the year off, with digital stories by each student. Students could collect images of their lives and incorporate them into a digital story using music, audio and/or other creative expressions. Students could also use digital stories for presentations.
The digital story I created was using Audacity, iMovie, and iTunes. Students could use Power Point, MovieMaker, or VoiceThread to create their own digital stories. Their life stories and their imaginations are the limit.
References
Digital Storytelling. Retrieved
Ken Burns effect. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Burns_effect
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