Archive for the ‘Other People’s Stories’ Category

 

Emerging from Chaos

Friday, August 3rd, 2012

This digital story is by Celina Byers, who is originally from Brazil. She tells the story of learning English as her second language.

She introduced herself and her interest in digital storytelling like this:

I am a lucky person! I love my job: what I do for work, where I work, and with whom I work… One morning towards the end of last year I was talking to my director about the increasing requests we are getting for instructional video production and the need for me to update my video production skills to effectively coordinate my team…

We talked a little about how to go about it and she posed me a question: how would you feel about refreshing your video skills through the exploration of digital story telling? How cool is that? I took the lead and found the digital storytelling certification offered by UC Denver and the CDS… Therefore, here I am taking this course and will be completing my certification by the end of the summer….. I am loving it!!

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What’s in a Name?

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

Mustafa  Sakarya is a colleague I met through my Digital Storytelling classwork at UC/Denver. This is a great story that anyone who has ever been teased about their name can relate to!

introduces himself like this:

It was tough growing up with my name in Wisconsin and Illinois.  Got beat up a lot, made fun of.  I escaped into my own fantasy world of day dreaming and drawing.  In 7th grade I began a daily journal that became an obsession – my one true friend that was always there, ready to listen.  I started making films with a Super 8 camera – they were silly things.  After college I made vague, experimental videos for ten years.

I truly believed that all I could ever be was an artist, or a poet – that I had no other skills.  Then time caught up.  Children happened – a mortgage – a Masters in Library Science – suddenly I’m a librarian at Mercy College.  How could I salvage the creative side of my soul?  Then I found out about digital storytelling.  Could this be my savior?  I enlisted the help of a fellow enthusiast and creative soul, Matt Lewis.  The ball of fulfillment kept getting bigger.  Students and faculty keep climbing on board this amazing vehicle.

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A Slave’s Voice

Monday, July 30th, 2012

This digital story was created by 8th grade American History teacher Daniel Medina. It is a great example of how students can adopt a historical voice and point of view to illustrate an important issue.

Daniel was a student with me in “Digital Storytelling in the Curriculum” at UC/Denver, Summer 2012. This is how he introduced himself:

“When I scrolled through the course catalog I noticed an interesting class called Digital Storytelling in a Curriculum. I thought to myself, “That sounds pretty cool, a class the focuses on personal narrative using technology.” As an 8th grade American History Teacher I believe this can go a long way in the classroom by engaging students and allowing them to approach learning in a variety of ways. I am excited to see what this course has to offer because I currently use storyboards for many of my ELL students. So I figured, “I have to see what this course is about!” On a more personal note, I feel like the course could benefit my ministry, as I am a Youth Pastor at our church. Storytelling plays an important role through the Bible and the testimonies that people have to share.”

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Learning to Listen

Saturday, July 28th, 2012

 
I have been taking an online class at UC/Denver called “Digital Storytelling in the Curriculum.” The author of this digital story called “Learning to Listen,” is Matt Lewis. He introduces himself this way:

“About a year ago I took the stage in front of about 30 people to tell a 10-minute story I wrote and developed in a workshop the weeks prior. I loved the energy of the room before and after the performance. I loved hearing all the other stories. In the weeks prior, I relished in the art of crafting stories that could be told with universal themes, connections to people, and reflections on life. I found myself devouring stories from the Moth, This American Life, and Risk! story podcasts. I’m hooked on storytelling!

Since then my colleague, Mustafa Sakarya, and I have been waving the storytelling flag all across campus at Mercy College. We say that learning must include learning FROM life. It’s a process of deep reflection, meta-cognition that can only happen after you’ve told someone about an experience. Building opportunities for this into classroom activities and assignments continues to be a fun and rewarding journey.”

 

Posted in digital storytelling, drama, improv, listening, magicmacguffin, openonline, Other People's Stories | Comments Off on Learning to Listen

Digital Argument

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

Sometimes researching court cases is the more effective way to meet a legal challenge, as Scott Smith shows in this engaging digital argument.

Scott Smith has created a lively digital story for his 8th grade American History class that demonstrates how DST can be used to put forth an argument.

https://sites.google.com/site/smithclassinc/Home/american-history-class

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Colonial Feminist

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Bethany Cornish has created a digital story told from the point of view of an American colonial feminist and activist, Penelope Barker. This is an example of how a digital story can be created to highlight and personify any historical figure in any field of learning.

Penelope Barker circa 1773

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