Lesson Plan

I think that if I were to incorporate Digital Storytelling into the classes that I would teach I would allow the students to discover where the ideas for certain artistic styles came from. I would first have the students each select a specific artist to research. The students would then go onto the Internet and research everything that they could use to make a similar product that the artist did.

For example, let's say a student wanted to create something in the style of Pablo Picasso. I would first recommend that they investigate Spain in the year 1881. Use the programs that we used this semester to transport the class back to 1881 digitally. This can be done with any number of storytelling effects. If the students wanted to visually go back, they could. See what life was like in Spain in 1881. See the images, and compare them with the images of Spain in the present day. This would allow them to see culturally the differences between Picasso's Spain and the Spain that exists today.

I would also expect the students to research the paintings and art of the the individual that they had chosen. These can also be reproduced digitally, either in a program like a Microsoft Paint or simply by scanning the picture into the computer. Study the technique that was used to create the masterpieces, write some kind of summary on how the painting or the art was created. What styles were used to create the piece? This could be done in an outline form, or as simply a paragraph.

The final thing I would do with this project is I would have the students create a piece, themselves in the style of the chosen artist. Upon completion of the piece, I would have the students just write a simple paragraph about their experience doing this.

Rubric:

Since grading artwork is a very subjective thing, I would allow the students to grade each other on the work. If the effort put forth by the student is exceptional, the grade would be an A. I think that being an artist, I can tell when someone is really trying to produce quality work, and when they are not. If all sections of the project are completed an A will be given. For each missing element, a letter grade will be docked.

My You Tube Video

This was such a fun class tonight!!!!!!

App Review

For this class, I needed to find an application to review. I was really intrigued by the different modes of storytelling. Being an actor, I use different characters and different voices to create different emotions. The App that I found was a voice changer application that you can find on iTunes. It is called Voice Changer by Hurryforward Ltd. This costs $0.99 and allows the storyteller to create new character voices.

I was a little timid when I first found it because there were a few reviews of it that said it was a pretty "cheesy" app, but for only 99 cents, I figured it was worth a shot. I would say that for overdubbing on audio files and on presentations, this application is awesome. It is also great in storytelling with elementary students. It is only 1.2 MB big, so it won't take up much memory. It will, however provide you with many good times, laughs, and options to create a unique and individual story,

Digital Storytelling vs. "Original" Storytelling

While all of the glitz and glimmer of the digital age looks and sounds really cool, I tend to go back to traditional storytelling. I think that although it is "slow" and not considered what is cool, the traditional form of reading a book allows your mind the creativity to expand. This is what we should be focusing on, now. Digital media allows us to make our stories better, but what I have found through this semester is that the "meat and potatoes" of the story needs to be a solid foundation, or the effects and glitter of the digital storyteller will not be enough to make the story worth hearing.

Am I alone in thinking this way? I honestly don't feel so. The more I think about it, the more this makes sense to me. While I do appreciate the advances in the art of storytelling, nothing beats an imagination. I was recently playing with my nieces, and I found that their love for the written word is what drives their love for stories. Sure, we all love watching movies and seeing the stories played out in a few minutes rather than reading them and "seeing" the story unfold in hours or days. Times have changed. Everything needs to happen faster and faster. Does this need to happen to storytelling to allow it to survive? All paths appear to be pointing in that direction.

What is the potential?

I know I may be beating a dead horse, but I think that the art of storytelling has only chipped away at its full potential. The resources that we have now can only make storytelling a more impressive art form. I am thinking from the point of view of children that I have worked with at the Variety Club Camp. These children were not able to organize their thoughts into a cohesive pattern, and so the point that they were trying to convey sounded muddled and unclear. I think that with the technology that we use in our digital storytelling, plus the computer "savvy-ness" of children nowadays, their potential is limitless.

If a student has difficulty conveying orally, visual assistance is there to help. All things are possible, we just need to figure out ways to work with the technology that we are given, to make new and improved stories. I don't know how far the art of storytelling can go, but I know that it has a long ways to go.

Digital Storytelling

The more I think about it, the more digital storytelling and the use of certain types of technology can assist in the education of the students that I work with more than any other kind. I believe that the use of a SmartBoard or the use of another kind of digital device will allow not only the students to work on academic goals, but social , and more important, physical goals. I have found that although the technology may not have been made for such teaching, all students can benefit, not just the "physically capable".

Throughout the readings, and the different projects, I have found that a student's creativity can only be increased exponentially. I think that any kind of technology, as long as it's used in the appropriate manner, can only be beneficial to a child.

DIgital Storytelling

I am finding this class to be very difficult. As an artist, and an educator, you would think that this would be the perfect marriage of both. I am finding that this is not so much the case. While I am having fun doing the specific projects, creatively, there are several ideas that are floating in my head on ways that I could make things more aesthetically pleasing, without compromising the quality of the project. I think that the most difficult thing that I am encountering is organizing my thoughts and putting them down onto paper or onto video.

I hope that I am not the only person who is feeling this way. I think that if we have the ability and the techniques to allow students different ways to tell stories, we should try to dig as deeply as possible to get the maximum amount of creative juice out.