Digital Storytelling

This was our first week back at Brock and it was really nice to see everyone again and share our stories from our practicums.  In tech class today we had an incredible presentation from Alan Levine (http://cogdogblog.com/) who is leading the charge in the use of Digital Storytelling.  Alan presented to us through another awesome Elluminate live session and we discussed several different ways to tell a digital story, many of which Alan lists on this wiki site, http://50ways.wikispaces.com/.  We discussed where you get inspiration for telling a story and it was really interesting to see different peoples ideas.  Some told stories about historical figures or their last vacation.  I know for sure as a history teacher I will be using Digital Storytelling in my classroom.  During my first practicum I told the story of the Illiad to my students. We sat in a circle and each read parts of the story in a traditional storytelling setting.  However, I am sure if I could create an amazing Animoto video or Bitstrips story, the story of the Illiad would come alive without having to show them Brad Pitt's abs.  Alan has also created some really cool games by using Flickr.  My favourite is Pechaflickr where you get random pictures and need to tell a story based on the pictures.  I can think of so many uses for this game in the classroom as well as at home.

Thanks again Alan, you have really opened up my eyes and given me a great set of tools to help make learning a more interactive and fun experience!