Monday, March 1, 2010

Take Six: Elements of a Good Digital Story

This article was more of a guide to getting started with creating a digital story. It really goes into detail about the different elements digital stories should have. Also included was a checklist to guide the creators of the stories to see what they have or need to have in their stories.

However, this article may lead to be confusing to some that may not have background information on digital storytelling and why it is so important and beneficial. A good idea would be to show this to students AFTER reading "The Art of Digital Storytelling".

The Art of Digital Storytelling

by Bernajean Porter

This article was based on the core elements of creating an effective digital story. Porter explains and stresses that "telling stories together about things that really matter has an extraordinary effect on people". This is extremely important, especially when creating a digital story. One of the most important aspects of the story is not only the content, but the voice of the story as well.

A good digital story doesn't just tell what has happened, but the audience and readers may (or should) actually feel what is happening in the story. Through emotion, feeling, and connecting, digital storytelling is a very creative and sometimes challenging process.

I especially liked this article where it mentioned an example of a story transformation. A story was written, and then later 'beefed' up to really change how the readers would feel about the person telling the story (or the person in the story).

This article also mentioned the six elements of good digital storytelling:
1. Living Inside Your Story
2. Unfolding Lessons Learned
3. Developing Creative Tension
4. Economizing the Story Told
5. Showing Not Telling
6. Developing Craftsmanship