Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is a way for students to use the computer to create a digital slide-show.  Students select a series of pictures, and add narration and music to tell their story.  Digital Storytelling is fun, easy to learn, and can be used to meet a number of different goals.

Digital storytelling encourages students to…

• express their creativity
• build confidence
• take “ownership” of their learning
• involve their personal culture/experience
• differentiate based on their strengths and interests

Learning Outcomes

• working in steps to complete a project
• working in drafts
• copyright issues and publishing work online

Technology Outcomes

• working with multiple programs
• working with different file formats
• saving a work in progress
• edit and review
• save as… (type)

Photo Story 3

Photo Story 3 is a free program from Microsoft that allows you to quickly and easily create a picture slide show.  Photo Story is very easy to learn, for teachers and students alike, and can be used to create a professional looking presentation.  With Photo Story you can add narration and background music to your slide show, and apply a number of different transition effects.  When your project is finished, Photo Story creates a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file, which can be viewed using Windows Media Player, or burned to a DVD.

download Photo Story 3 from Microsoft

While the demos and materials I provide use Photo Story 3, the concepts and learning outcomes that go along with digital storytelling  apply to many different uses and applications. The student worksheets and teacher planners can easily be used or adapted for other programs.