EDU221DigitalStoryAssignment

=What will constitute a Digital Story for this class?= For this class, we will use a broader definition of a Digital Story that is more inclusive. The definitions above from experts in the field describe the heart of the Digital Story definition for this course.

As detailed in the rubric below, these are required for your product to be considered a Digital Story: Additionally, you might consider these aspects of good storytelling:
 * Content of the product demonstrates comprehension and application, not simply retelling, of the message or information. Often there's an allegory/metaphor used to tell the story while conveying the information.
 * Information is presented in a story format. You have to define story from a literary point of view (biography, short story, narrative, . . . ) and then defend how your digital product matches that definition.
 * More than one digital medium is used (text, music, narration, graphics, video, etc.) AND each medium contributes to (enhances) the storytelling process. Music playing in the background is not enough--the lyrics or the emotion of the piece must help convey the message of the story or help in the telling of the story. Using clip art that portrays the topic is not enough--graphics and pictures must provide meaning and substance to the story.
 * A good story has characters and character development. Even in an auto-biography, there are characters and the audience learns about the trials and tribulations of the main character through the other people in the story.
 * Most news casts and interview shows are not stories (even though there's a beginning, middle, and an end), because the audience doesn't get to know the characters and there's not much plot.
 * Some commercials can be a Digital Story (short as they might be) if in the process of selling the product, the audience gets to know the character and comes to feel compassion for his/her story. Testimonials are a known successful propaganda technique ([|1]) and the way they work is that the audience can "identify" with the character giving the testimonial.

=Details of Digital Story Project= You will use the art of digital storytelling for one of your projects this semester--as part of your classroom management presentation, team presentation on a technology tool, student sample (either the unit product or the student sample for a lesson in Dr. Grace's class), or Meaningful Engaged Learning product. Whichever project you pick to be a digital story will get graded twice: once for the project itself and once for the digital story. This is not unlike your having two rubrics for your performance task, one for the product and one for the presentation. . . there is some overlap but the focus of each assessment is different.

If you have more than one digital story this semester, you get to pick which is your best. If you were a part of a team that created a digital story, you can count that as your own digital story. A whole team, part of a team, or an individual on a team can use a digital story created by a team.

We are focusing on using story as a way to teach/explain/convey content information. Stories created for the purpose of demonstrating story telling/creative writing capabilities or aspects of the writing process do not work well for this digital story assignment.

Remember, there is a difference between a multimedia project and a digital story. The technical elements are the same--you use more than one medium to create your project (text, graphics, animation, video, photographs, music, sound, . . . ) and to convey information. The end results are quite different because a digital story will channel multiple senses to "listen deeply" to the story being told. The hard part is that you have to determine the answer to this question: "Were you telling a story or were you just presenting information?" Even when information is presented in a creative, interesting, and/or "deep" way, it isn't always a story.

=Rubric & Analysis Sheet= Here's the rubric that will be used to asses the digital storytelling aspect of one of your projects (if you've done more than one digital story, you get to choose which one you want to analyze and present).

Here is the form you will use to justify that your digital story meets the criteria of being a story. You must decide BEFORE you start a project (individually or as a team) that story is going to be a powerful way to convey the message and you must fill out the storytelling analysis sheet and get it approved BEFORE you have 10% of the project done. Approval in the planning stages is preferred, but if you start without approval, it's okay. . . until you've done 10% of the project. Then that project is no longer eligible for the digital story assignment (it doesn't mean you can't continue in your story approach, you just can't count it as a digital story for the assignment).