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=Resources for digital storytelling projects:=

A starting point for any educational uses of digital storytelling should be aligning to standards--there is a summary of the [|ISTE NETS standards for creating video projects], based on Adobe's free curriculum for their video suite. Although seemingly high level for an elementary classroom, they are still helpful to review as a framework for any DS project.

A [|storyboard] is an essential tool for building a project. There are many templates available, this one is based on Dr. Helen Barrett's work.

It's easy to get caught up in the "techie" parts of creating digital stories. I think it's essential to remind one's self constantly that the exercise is always about student expression: helping students to develop the creative and imaginative tools to communicate their knowledge and understanding to others. Whether it's sharing personal stories which have emotional resonance -- the continuing vision of the [|Center for Digital Storytelling], and many other practitioners -- or using digital stories in a looser sense where they become part of "writing across the curriculum" projects in other disciplines, the process always a story at its core. I had a good lesson in applying a framework too rigidly when I began spearheading a digital storytelling project with the [|Watsonville Charter School of the Arts]. I outlined the classic digital sotrytelling approach, where the first step is to write a script that becomes the text for a voice-over to a story.Several of the teachers said, "We're an arts school. We might want to have students start with a piece of art they've created, and then write from that." With that caveat, I'll also share the Center's "[|Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling]," as summarized by Dr. Barrett. There's a much fuller discussion of these elements on the [|Center's website].