According to Riessman (2008, pp. 12), narrative is the basic human way of making sense of the world because we all lead ‘storied lives’.  This has been true throughout history and across cultures.  Technology, therefore, can certainly add an interesting dimension to the storytelling process, enabling students to experiment with animation, music and different applications.

As I explain to my students, digital storytelling is simply the practice of telling stories using digital tools.  It can be a fantastic topic for them, as it provides the opportunity to learn about the whole process involved in video production.

I made this video to introduce the topic, which covers some quick tips for digital storytelling:

Students then watch the example of a digital story mentioned in the tutorial video:

Following on from this, students choose one of the many biographies (pictured below) that I collected from the school library to use as the basis for their digital story.  By giving learners the task of producing a third person (biographical) digital story first, they can more readily find interesting facts and images to use for their video.

Although there are many great applications out there, I have found Adobe Voice on the iPad to be one of the easiest for learners to use in order to make their first digital story.  Learners quickly get to grips with making good quality digital stories using this app, and it helps them to learn the fundamentals of video editing.

References:

Reissman, C.K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. London & Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications