Pedagogic Tools and Guides

Digital Story Telling

Digital storytelling (DST) began at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in California, USA, and is now a worldwide phenomenon. In Britain DST has now been used extensively by the BBC to capture the richness of people’s lives.

Digital stories are "mini-movies" of images and sound, created and edited by people using cameras, computers, scanners and their own photo albums. This technique of combining stories and new technology means that anyone can easily create a story.

The use of digital storytelling in education is in its infancy but seems to offer a useful tool in assisting reflective learning, investigating and recording the student experience.

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Digital Story Telling Projects @ the University of Gloucestershire

Enhancing Students' Learning Experiences Through the Use of Digital Storytelling
Phase 1 of The Higher Education Academy / JISC Higher Education e-Learning Pathfinder Programme

Indicative References:

Linking Two Dynamic Processes to Promote Deep Learning

Tech Head Stories

BBC Capture Wales

Centre for Digital Storytelling

Powerhouse Museum, Design Hub - Sydney. True Design: a digital storytelling project

Digital storytelling in Education

Educational Uses for Digital Storytelling

Center for Reflective Community Practice

HEAcademy Resources database for Learning and Teaching Methods

Visual diaries

Oxford Brookes University Visual Diaries

Skills development:

Reflection

Cowan, J. (1988) On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher: Reflection in Action. SRHE & Open University Press

Dewey, J.  (1933)  How We Think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Boston: D.C. Heath.

Lewis, E (2007) Assessing Creativity in an Unhelpful Climate Creativity or Conformity? Building Cultures of Creativity in Higher Education Conference University of Wales Institute Cardiff January 2007

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall

Moon, J. (2002) A handbook of reflective and experiential learning theory and practice
 
Schön, D, A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York. Basic Books.

Schön D., A. (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner. London. Jossey-Bass

Storytelling as learning

McDrury, J. and Alterio, M. (2003) Learning through Storytelling in Higher Education: Using Reflection and Experience to Improve Learning. Dunmore Press Ltd.

Abrahamson, C. E. (1998) Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool in Higher Education, Education, 1998

Ethics and Copyright Issues

Copyright and Oral History

Technical resources for creating a DST used @ the University of Gloucestershire

At the University of Gloucestershire (a predominantly PC based institution) we currently have two methods for creating digital stories, both of which rely on a XP/Vista platform. Links are provided below with links to ‘How to’ guides.

• Photo Story 3 — a free Microsoft download
  • Creating you first photo story
• Windows Movie Maker (which comes with XP/Vista) in conjunction with a free a audio editor and recorder — Audacity with LAME - an MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) encoder
  • Creating a DST with Windows Movie Maker and Audacity (36Kb Adobe PDF)

Claire Hanson & Jo Lonsdale 
December 2007

For more information on the Centre for Active Learning contact:
Barbara Rainbow, CeAL Administrator, Tel: +44 (0)1242 714683, E-mail: brainbow@glos.ac.uk
Sonia Chilton, CeAL Administrative Assistant, Tel: +44 (0)1242 714615, E-mail: slchilton@glos.ac.uk