Digital Story Telling with Little Bird Tales
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Digital storytelling is a dynamic and beautiful marriage of narrative and technology that is proving to be a potent force in educational practice (Rossita & Garcia, 2010 pp37). Digital storytelling relies on multimedia elements, including audio, video, text, and images. With easy access to digital tools, digital storytelling is an effective way for students to tell their story. Digital storytelling integrates technology with learning; it is a combination of old and new literacies. In order to tell a story, one must understand their point of view and communicate it. This is possible through digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is more than just creating a slideshow and adding music. It is telling a story, your story, and someone else’s story. It is communicating a life story or an event that changed one’s life. Digital storytelling is influencing others through audio and visual, through a student’s sound and voice.
Digital storytelling is engaging and creative for students across all grade levels, as well as students who are struggling writers to gifted students. Students are able to discover their voice, develop self-confidence, and create a purpose and structure for their writing. Students are able to express their point of views and personal experiences. They can create a conflict through the plot of their digital story to keep viewers attention. Digital storytelling allows the storyteller to communicate their emotions, sadness, happiness, loneliness, love, or vulnerability. The storyteller is able to create a rhythm in their story to capture the attention and interest of the viewer. Most importantly, the storyteller is able to use their voice to tell their story, which is a powerful gift, using the pitch, timbre, and inflection of their voice. Lastly, a soundtrack can be inserted to invoke an emotional response for the viewer to the digital story.
To create a digital story, the writing process begins with the traditional pen and paper. Once the story is composed, the digitized narration is planned along with the storyboard. Personal photos, clip art, and graphics can now be organised and assembled. Once the story is recorded it is ready to be viewed and shared amongst their class, school and perhaps even globally.
Digital storytelling is a creative and exciting accomplishment for any student, regardless of their ability. For a reluctant writer, the possibility of sharing their story in a digitized form and sharing beyond their teacher may motivate reluctant writers to polish, clarify confusing parts, entertain or inform, or, for some, even complete a writing assignment (Sylvester & Greenidge, 2009). At the other end of the scale, digital storytelling is a worthy educational endeavour for teachers who are looking for ways to prepare their 21st-century gifted students for their future (Kieler, 2010).
Digital storytelling can be created using a variety of free software and the finished product can easily be embed into the Ultranet to be viewed by many. Glogster, Story Bird, and Little Bird Tales are just a few of the free Web 2.0 tools which primary educators have access to. Glogster and Little Bird Tales offer true digital storytelling, in the sense that they allow users to add text, audio, visual, video, and images. Both these websites are very easy to use, and students would be able to navigate around them very quickly. Little Bird Tales is a simple website to use, files are easily uploaded and pages are easily added, and the ability to edit is quick and simple. Little Bird Tales offer prompts to save your work and you cannot move on without reminders to save your work. Glogster, despite the fact that it is a poster, is also very easy to use, to navigate around and the editing and uploading of files is simple enough for students. I also like how Glogster has the ability to use the web camera from the computer to take photos or video. Story Bird, I find, can be somewhat dictated by the artwork provided by the illustrators, and do not allow for audio or video. There is also no ability to add your own artwork. It is, however, simple and easy to use, and can provide an engaging and exciting platform for collaborative writing between students.
Kieler, L. (2010). Trials in Using Digital Storytelling Effectively With the Gifted. Gifted Child Today , 33 (3), 49-52.
Rossita, M., & Garcia, P. A. (2010). Digital Storytelling: A New Player on the Narrative Field. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education , 126, 37-48.
Sylvester, R., & Greenidge, W.-l. (2009). Digital Storytelling: Extending the Potential for Struggling Writers. The Reading Teacher , 63 (4), 284-295.
Digital storytelling is engaging and creative for students across all grade levels, as well as students who are struggling writers to gifted students. Students are able to discover their voice, develop self-confidence, and create a purpose and structure for their writing. Students are able to express their point of views and personal experiences. They can create a conflict through the plot of their digital story to keep viewers attention. Digital storytelling allows the storyteller to communicate their emotions, sadness, happiness, loneliness, love, or vulnerability. The storyteller is able to create a rhythm in their story to capture the attention and interest of the viewer. Most importantly, the storyteller is able to use their voice to tell their story, which is a powerful gift, using the pitch, timbre, and inflection of their voice. Lastly, a soundtrack can be inserted to invoke an emotional response for the viewer to the digital story.
To create a digital story, the writing process begins with the traditional pen and paper. Once the story is composed, the digitized narration is planned along with the storyboard. Personal photos, clip art, and graphics can now be organised and assembled. Once the story is recorded it is ready to be viewed and shared amongst their class, school and perhaps even globally.
Digital storytelling is a creative and exciting accomplishment for any student, regardless of their ability. For a reluctant writer, the possibility of sharing their story in a digitized form and sharing beyond their teacher may motivate reluctant writers to polish, clarify confusing parts, entertain or inform, or, for some, even complete a writing assignment (Sylvester & Greenidge, 2009). At the other end of the scale, digital storytelling is a worthy educational endeavour for teachers who are looking for ways to prepare their 21st-century gifted students for their future (Kieler, 2010).
Digital storytelling can be created using a variety of free software and the finished product can easily be embed into the Ultranet to be viewed by many. Glogster, Story Bird, and Little Bird Tales are just a few of the free Web 2.0 tools which primary educators have access to. Glogster and Little Bird Tales offer true digital storytelling, in the sense that they allow users to add text, audio, visual, video, and images. Both these websites are very easy to use, and students would be able to navigate around them very quickly. Little Bird Tales is a simple website to use, files are easily uploaded and pages are easily added, and the ability to edit is quick and simple. Little Bird Tales offer prompts to save your work and you cannot move on without reminders to save your work. Glogster, despite the fact that it is a poster, is also very easy to use, to navigate around and the editing and uploading of files is simple enough for students. I also like how Glogster has the ability to use the web camera from the computer to take photos or video. Story Bird, I find, can be somewhat dictated by the artwork provided by the illustrators, and do not allow for audio or video. There is also no ability to add your own artwork. It is, however, simple and easy to use, and can provide an engaging and exciting platform for collaborative writing between students.
Kieler, L. (2010). Trials in Using Digital Storytelling Effectively With the Gifted. Gifted Child Today , 33 (3), 49-52.
Rossita, M., & Garcia, P. A. (2010). Digital Storytelling: A New Player on the Narrative Field. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education , 126, 37-48.
Sylvester, R., & Greenidge, W.-l. (2009). Digital Storytelling: Extending the Potential for Struggling Writers. The Reading Teacher , 63 (4), 284-295.
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