Digital Storytelling Final Project EDUC 533

 

Digital Storytelling Final Project - EDUC 5333

 

Project Plan  

“The Rise” is a personal narrative about overcoming a shattered dream that can be used to educate people about being resilient amid a tragedy and the impact sporting activities have on individual mental health.

The Story Elements

v  Point of view: 1st-person & 3rd-person

v  Emotional Content: The emotional content will resonate with the general audience's personal life, evoke memories, and build empathy.

v  Dramatic Question: The introduction and images used.

v  Tone: enthusiasm, melancholy, despair, optimistic

v  Pacing:  A well-timed progression of the narrative to create that rhythmic flow.

v  Soundtrack: soundtrack will be used throughout the story to create an emotional atmosphere and to enhance the theme or concept of the story.

v  Economy/Story Length: The story is estimated to be navigated within ten minutes.

The story development tool used to craft “The Rise” digital narrative comprised of the story core, the Dillingham visual portrait graphic story map organizer, the script and a story table to organize the ideas and enable the creator to follow a sequence to develop and effective story.

Educational Use

The digital narrative will be used at the 5^th-grade level to inspire students to persevere amidst challenging situations, embrace change, and be open-minded. Use their talents and skills to impact on the lives of others. Narrative writing, Identifying Themes, Social Emotional Learning lessons of Empathy, Coping Skills, and Perseverance are instructional opportunities that can be derived from this story.

Content Standards Addresses- New Jersey Student Learning Standards fifth grade ELA

 

RL.CI.5.2. Determine the theme of a literary text (e.g., stories, plays or poetry) and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

W.NW.5.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

1. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
2. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
3. Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.
4. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
5. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Student Standards Addressed-   

Empowered Learner: 1.1d Technology Fundamentals

Students understand fundamental concepts of how technology works, demonstrate the ability to choose and use current technologies effectively, and are adept at thoughtfully exploring emerging technologies.

Knowledge Constructor: 1.3.c Curate Information

Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.

Creative Communicator:

1.6.a Choose Platforms or Tools

Students choose the appropriate platforms and digital tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.

1.6.d Customize the Message

Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

Global Collaborator

1.7.b Multiple Viewpoints

Students use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts and community members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoints.

1.7.c Project Teams

Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

Tools to use

Hooksounds will be used to incorporate background music and sound effects to match the concept of each scene; Unity and or Screencastify to create the video, and images from Canva and Unsplash for uploads.

DST Rubric

Purpose:  This rubric will assess the final projects for EDUC 5333.  This template is collaboratively developed within a peer feedback group and will be personalized by each student to focus evaluation to address the specific goal(s) of each student.

 

Personal DST Goal:  To motivate others to view challenges as opportunities for growth and to discover strength through various art forms, such as sports, to elevate them to their next level of achievement.

 

Components	Excellent 90%-100%	Good  75%-85%	Fair  60%-74%	Needs Improvement 0-59%
Evidence of Planning	20 -18 points Complete and detailed evidence of planning throughout the entire storyboard, including sketches, rough draft sequencing, pacing, script, images, sources, music, and sound.	17-16 points Evidence of planning through most of the storyboard, including sketches, rough draft sequencing, pacing, script, images, sources, music and sound.	15-14 points Evidence of planning through some of the storyboard, including sketches, rough draft, sequencing, pacing, script, images, sources, music and sound.	13-0 points Little to no evidence of planning, including minimally completed sketches, sequencing, pacing, script, images, sources, music and sound.
Technical Quality (Sound, Visual Clarity, Editing)	20 -18 points High-quality visuals and/or sound with smooth, seamless editing; no distracting technical flaws.	17-16 points Good technical quality with minor flaws that do not disrupt the storytelling.	15-14 points Mixed technical quality with noticeable issues in sound, visual clarity, or editing.	13-0 points Poor technical quality with multiple issues that distract from the story.
Personal Narrative	20 -18 points Story is clearly told, conveys why events are important and how they affected the author, expresses the author’s thoughts and feelings throughout, and includes many relevant sensory details.	17-16 points Story is mostly clear, conveys why some events are important and how they affected the author, expresses the author’s thoughts and feelings, and includes some relevant sensory details.	15-14 points Story is somewhat reason behind importance of events and how they affected the author is lacking, author’s thoughts and feelings are not well expressed, includes few relevant sensory details.	13-0 points Story is not clear, importance of events and how they affected the author is missing, author’s thoughts, feelings and/or relevant sensory details are not included.
Media application	10-9 points Media is used thoughtfully and effectively to enhance the story's mood, setting, and themes.	8 points Media elements are generally well-chosen and support the story, with minor issues in quality or relevance.	7 points Media usage is inconsistent and does not consistently add value to the story.	6-0 points Media is poorly chosen or irrelevant, detracting from the storytelling experience.
Citation	10-9 points All sources are cited completely and accurately in the credits. All copyrighted material, if used, is identified individually.	8 points Most sources are cited completely and accurately in the credits.	7 points Some sources are cited completely and/or accurately in the credits.	6-0 points No sources are cited in the credits. or, Google images have been cited as the source.
Impact on Audience-PG	10-9 points Strongly engages and inspires the audience to take action or shift perspectives toward growth and achievement.	8 points Engages the audience, fostering some level of inspiration or new perspectives.	7 points Limited audience engagement; impact is moderate.	6-0 points Fails to engage or inspire the audience; little to no impact.
ISTE Educator Standard 2.6.d - Model and Nurture Creativity	10-9 points Demonstrates exceptional originality and innovation; the story is highly creative and engages the audience with fresh ideas.	8 points Shows originality and creativity; the story includes some unique ideas but may rely on familiar themes.	7 points Displays limited originality; the story relies heavily on common or predictable ideas.	6-0 points Lacks originality; the story is overly simplistic or copied from existing works without adaptation.

 

Self-assessment Rational:

Criteria	Rational
Evidence of Planning-20	The planning was thorough, and the elements were evident.
Technical Quality (Sound, Visual Clarity, Editing)- 17	Technical features are good; however, a few images could be more visible.
Personal Narrative-20	The concept and message of the story were conveyed.
Media application-8	The media elements used support the story. However, more Sprite characters could have been incorporated.
Citation- 10 points	All sources are cited accurately, and copyrighted materials are given credit
Impact on Audience-PG 9 points	Engages the audience to persevere amidst challenges.
ISTE Educator Standard 2.6.d - Model and Nurture Creativity- 8 points	Slows originality and creativity; however, it’s a familiar theme.

 

Story Planning

The Story Core

Problem: A shattered dream due to an unfortunate accident that impacted the athletic team.

Transformation: Volunteering and participating in athletic meets to assist in nurturing young talents.

Solution: Persevere amid disappointment by making a positive impact in young people's lives that will transform their lives in years to come.

 

Visual Portrait of the Story Map

 

The Script

It was late December in 1991, and I felt ecstatic after leaving a track meet. There was a buzz of excitement and laughter in the bus as my friends and I conversed about the competition, but little did I know that my dream of becoming an athlete would be shattered when the vehicle that I was traveling in crashed and one of my teammates, Dezerine jumped through the window in fright. The resulting impact of the incident caused the dissolution of the school’s promising track club, on which my hopes of becoming a professional athlete were built.

For several years after, despite not having achieved the athletic career I had hoped for, I would frequently attend track meets and athletic championships during college, many of which I participated as an official marshal, volunteering in roles to ensure the success of these meets and the fulfillment of the dreams for the young athletes participating and building future careers for themselves. It has always been my joy to see young talents being nurtured and built and progressing through the various levels of creating future careers, many of whom would later excel on the national level, and a select few even progressing onto the global stage to build international careers.

In a reflective mode, however, I often suffer the bittersweet mood of reflecting on how my own career came to a sudden end as a result of that terrible accident that ended not just my career but so many others of my fellow schoolmates, some of whom suffered lasting injuries which end their aspirations, and for myself despite not having any serious injuries continue to suffer the recurring mental effects of considering what could have been, had this accident not occurred.

But in the depth of my despair in the stillness of the morning, I have come to realize success in sports can be achieved on many different levels, not just through a professional career but through active participation on a personal level in some of the ways I continue to participate, ensuring young careers are continued to being built, and facilitating ways in which sports can serve to build healthy and therapeutic lifestyles for those who do not participate on a professional level.

I have come to realize, in particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of sports on a healthy lifestyle on the mental health of young children and also adults in warding off illnesses such as depression, and its effects of maintaining active bodies and minds that are major contributors to healthy living.

The power of moving on and not letting the disappointments of the past keep you down was a defining moment along my journey, you too, can find ways of recovering, transforming oneself, and overcoming the tragedies of life, how best to conquer such challenges than to make a positive impact on the lives of young minds of the scholars whose lives I continue to transform year after year.

 

Story Board

Digital/Visual Storytelling in your Community

 

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards framework is one of the components of curriculum instruction that enable educators to transform and enhance the teaching experience of students as they engage with technology to delve deeper into content. In creating the digital story, ISTE student standard 1.1 Empowered Learner proficiencies 1.1a Learning Goals, 1.1c Feedback to Improve Practice, and 1.1d Technology Fundamentals were addressed.

Sharing different aspects of the digital story development via my blog page, discussion board, and assignments submission in Canva for peers and lecturers to provide feedback is evidence that supports meeting the proficiency of the ISTE standard Empowering learners: 1.1c Feedback to Improve Practice.

Proficiency 1.1d Technology Fundamentals was also addressed using different application software, such as Canva to create the storyboard, Audacity to record voice, Hooksounds for sound effects, transitions, and Unity for compilation. Resources were also used to peruse other technology tools that were tried out for potential use within the classroom when teaching digital stories was also part of this proficiency.

Setting a personal goal for the digital story enables me to evaluate the progress made weekly, reflect, and make necessary adjustments to improve the overall outcome of the story, which correlates with proficiency 1.1a Learning Goals.       

Digital storytelling has the impact of supporting community members to become empowered learners in many ways, as highlighted below. Families of different cultural backgrounds can share stories portraying different concepts and themes, thus creating a diverse platform to inspire their audiences. This can also build global connections utilizing different modes of digital tools and applications to share these stories.

Social Emotional Learning is embodied through the use of digital storytelling by community members in that they can hone in on developing empathy through the character, express emotions, and foster self-awareness through their narratives. Community members can use different software and digital tools to convey these emotions.

Staff and faculty can collaborate to share digital stories created by themselves or students that can be used as resource materials in curriculum instruction. These digital stories can also be vetted by their colleagues, and feedback can be provided. Also, ideas can be shared to enhance digital storytelling.

Educators embody digital storytelling as an instructional activity to facilitate students' learning opportunities and develop their expressive abilities. Digital storytelling promotes authentic learning as students express their personal stories to targeted audiences, which lends itself to self-reflection.

A student-centered pedagogy in digital storytelling can be used to develop multimodal literacies, especially with lower-grade students, multilanguage learners, and students who are encountering reading challenges.

Students' writing skills are improved as they are engaged in the writing process to revise and edit the scripts of their digital stories before publishing. Using digital storytelling in curriculum instruction will promote student engagement as they create their stories, their critical thinking is enhanced as they go through the process of putting their designs together to be in sync with the story concepts.

New skills are garnered through utilizing different technology modalities to produce digital stories. There is also access to a broader audience to connect with, as digital stories can be published on various media platforms.

Digital storytelling plays a significant role in our daily lives as it is used through different media to convey information, whether it is historical information, personal narratives, expository or biographies. It is accessible to be used by a global audience and incorporating it into curriculum instructions to empower the diverse student population to tell their stories will enhance their learning opportunities. 

Multimedia Story

Link to the story: https://youtu.be/-95xM6W-6Z0

 

Reflection

The “Digital Storytelling: A Method for Engaging Students and Increasing Cultural Competency” article cited several implications based on the impact of digital storytelling on students' cultural awareness and the development of technological and research skills. Some of these are mentioned below.

It is imperative that educators do an assessment of students’ level of competence with the use of digital tools and software applications prior to commencing digital storytelling projects as this will alleviate the time spent on compilation.

Another implication of digital storytelling is investment in social issues and motivation. Students become culturally aware of social issues and or motivated to share these stories with a global audience as they work collaboratively with other stakeholders. This enables students and their communities to make connections with diverse cultures, share ideas, and make adjustments to their digital stories, thus allowing students and their communities to be respectful of one’s culture and be change agents of societal issues.  Students can also demonstrate their creativity by using various digital software applications to develop their stories.

Communication skill development of students is enhanced through presenting their story ideas, progress made, and adjusting information as they work in groups with their community members to produce a final product.

Digital storytelling promotes continued learning opportunities to preserve and showcase cultural awareness and history within targeted communities or a broader audience. It also extends beyond educational institutions and provides working opportunities for students as they collaborate with organizations to share their stories.

As an educator, the digital storytelling course has enabled me to improve Language Arts and Social Studies curriculum instruction delivery by making the learning experience of students authentic, engaging and extending learning beyond the classroom. As I reflect on how I can share the knowledge that I have garnered from this course, it gives me a sense of excitement to support educators and students in my community to create digital stories that are personal, relevant, and meaningful.

 Conducting meetings within grade-level planning with colleagues to inform them of the importance and benefits of digital stories within instructions or for personal use, as well as the elements and developmental process, are key components.

It is also imperative to highlight that digital stories need to be relevant, ensuring that they have themes and concepts that resonate and impact their audiences. Providing that opportunity that will make connections, evoke emotions, engage, and stimulate curiosity.

 I will serve in the capacity of technical support personnel to assist students and educators in becoming knowledgeable of how to use various digital tools and software applications that will enhance the quality of the video and integrate with the theme of the stories created.

Students will be encouraged to work collaboratively and provide feedback to their peers throughout the process of creating digital stories. Opportunities will be provided for them to also select topics of interest or write personal narratives that will engage them to think critically as they research ideas to incorporate into their stories.

Incorporating digital storytelling in instruction will provide a platform that students can be exposed to from an early stage, which will develop their skills as they matriculate in life to produce content that is of high quality. This will also modify their perspectives and audiences of what types of stories to create and publish.

 

References

Grant, N. S. and Bolin, B. L. (2016). Digital storytelling:  A method for engaging students 

and increasing cultural competency. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 16(3), 44-

61. https://drive.google.com/file/d/15AM25me5rrm9KEZnaEU-naxAZ7wCjOJ5/view

International Society for Technology in Education. (2017). ISTE Standards For Students: A Practical Guide for Learning with Technology. https://iste.org/standards

Long, B. (2013) Digital Story Evaluation Rubric. Retrieved from: https://gjamissen.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/digital-storytelling-assessment-rubric-2012-2013.pdf.

New Jersey Department of Education. (2023). New Jersey student learning standards for English language arts (NJSLS-ELA). https://www.nj.gov/education/standards/ela/2023/5.shtml

Ohler, J. (2023). How to make a story. Retrieved from: https://storyconcepts.blogspot.com/Links to an external site.

Ohler, J. (2013). Table 4.1 Digital Story Assessment Traits. Retrieved from: https://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessmentWIX.cfm

Robin, B. (2006). The educational uses of digital storytelling. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 709-716). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). (17 pages) https://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/articles/Educ-Uses-DS.pdfLinks to an external site.

Images Retrieved from: https://www.canva.com/search?q=sory%20boardLinks to an external site.

University of Texas (Austin) (n.d.) What is a rubric? Retrieved from: https://ctl.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/build-rubric.pdf