Presentation Tools: Digital Storytelling by Carlos Bulling

     What is digital storytelling? Is it a CGI character reading from a children's story book? It could be! Digital storytelling is a broad description that usually encompasses an animated video, which may include images and sounds, as well as narration (Shelton, 2016). You may have worked with digital storytelling programs or noticed animations you may have seen on YouTUBE narrating events in history, or in a music video, or even film credits. With this in mind, what separates this activity from watching tv? According to Catharyn Shelton et al., a lot! In her paper, researcher Shelton mentions, "A number of experimental studies have examined interactive video features’ relationship to learning outcomes. Delen et al. (2014) demonstrated learning gains when students were able to select video chapters to skip or re-watch, while Merkt and colleagues (2011) demonstrated learning gains when electronic indexes were made available to support further investigation of content in the video"(Shelton, 2016). In this manner, having chapters in a video helps, and by replaying the videos you can catch up and make sure the information sticks, unlike a live lecture where you may have to ask permission to record from your professor. Also, perhaps it's faster than reading for those who struggle going through books, perhaps an instructional video on YouTUBE works much better!

    How can I go about creating digital stories? One such program is known as Adobe Spark. Using Adobe Spark is easy. Simply pick a template (which is what I recommend), or you can start from scratch, then, add photos and video from your own device (or you can use their Creative Commons image search feature). After those two steps, the next ones are adding voice narration and working with the video. The voice narration feature is easy, simply hit the record button, while the importing video feature might take some time if you need to trim the video or continue it across multiple slides. Next you fill the slides with any suggestions from the Adobe Spark program, adding in details. Finally, you can add a theme from the 32 available, and then tweak the colors and other options by customizing the theme. Last but not least, add music from the selection of tunes available or include your own. Finally, you are ready to share your digital story (Dove, 2017). On a final note, Adobe Spark is now known as Adobe Express, and it is available for free on Google Play for Android and other mobile devices, the App Store for Ipad and Iphone devices, as well as for the desktop! For the desktop, see the Microsoft store for Windows PCs.

    How far does digital storytelling go? It can go to national parks, one of them including Pole Mountain, in Wyoming. Locals and visitors to the park were invited via email to create digital stories, which were used from data off of Zoom interviews, edited, and turned into informational digital narratives! Location information was mapped out, along with areas where the stories took place, and users were encouraged to submit photos from the part of the park they were at, so these could be edited out of the Zoom videos and made into digital stories. All of this was done with the purpose of conserving the parks, after incidents during the global pandemic in 2020 saw national and state parks fall into disrepair. Other than conserving the parks, the purpose is also preserving them - in the process phrased "Sustainable Recreational Management", or, sustainable development. These storytelling tales from park visitors and local stakeholders enabled managers to interpret data from the stories for discussion purposes. It also allowed the storytellers to share amongst themselves and create a conversation amongst the community (Budowle et al., 2022). In the end, projects such as these are a great way for those working on digital narratives indoors, to suddenly find themselves outdoors, and create change! Surely, it's a motivator to work on digital narratives when it gets you outside and engaged in your community and assisting your environment!

References

Budowle, R., Sisneros-Kidd, A. M., Stefanich, L., & Smutko, L. S. (2022). Narratives of Place: Integrated Digital Storytelling and Story-Mapping for Sustainable Recreation Management. Journal of Park & Recreation Administration, 40(1), 154–174. https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.18666/JPRA-2021-10985

Dove, J. (2017). How to create powerful presentations with Adobe Spark Video. Macworld - Digital Edition, 99–104. https://login.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login?auth=shibboleth&url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.palomar.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=120980912&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Shelton, C., Warren, A., & Archambault, L. (2016). Exploring the use of interactive digital storytelling video: Promoting student engagement and learning in a university hybrid course. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 60(5), 465–474. https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.1007/s11528-016-0082-z