CAIS Workshop So Many Tools, So Little Time, November 20, 2008: Digital Poems and Stories Presented by Bill Sullivan

Mindset for Technology Classroom Management Digital Samples Story Prompts Seven Elements & Storyboarding
I-Movie Directions Links & Ideas Search Tips Copyright Information Great Source

Adjusting Students' (and adults') Mindsets When Using Technology in the Classroom

Adjusting Mindsets:

return to top


Classroom Management:

return to top

Some digital samples:


Prompts for poems and stories:

return to top


Seven Elements of a Digital Storytelling

The Center for Digital Storytelling set an interesting criteria that incorporates the aspects of multimedia. Because multimedia presents so many different ways to present a story, as useful guideline such as this one will help channel and focus students' energies and ambitions.

They have synthesized these seven elements as a way to channel diverse backgrounds and approach the digital storytelling process with a good general guideline. I have had students make I-movies, and I will now begin criteria conversations with these seven elements. The fun begins when you open the floor to students to create the class standards before the project begins.

In the interest of time and convenience, click here for a boiled down version of CDS' seven elements:

  1. Point of View
  2. Dramatic Question
  3. Emotional Content
  4. Gift of Your Voice
  5. Power of Soundtrack
  6. Economy
  7. Pacing

Brainstorming and Outlining a Digital Story

Click here for a great storyboard outline (pdf file) designed by John Lambert.

return to top


Directions for I-Movie. Before we begin, it is good to sit back and evaluate some I-Movie skills and techniques that you probably already possess. We will be operating moves in a click and drag environment. We will also be working with the Palette and Timeline, so it is important that you understand those features as well as the concepts of importing (images, sound, etc) and Sharing (sometimes referred to as export in previous versions of I-Movie).

return to top


NB Links and Ideas to prompt reflections and conversations:

General Discussion on Digital Storytelling:

Other Multimedia Links:

return to top


Search Tips: try these links on the web to gather multimedia images, files, etc, for your digital story:

return to top


Copyright Information:

return to top


Great Source: I began collecting much of the above information from John Lambert, Dana Atchley, Nina Mullen, The Center for Digital Storytelling: They have a great web page in which they present the fundamental steps with the metaphor of a cookbook and display a great movie example as a type of recipe as a goal for the showing the multimedia potentials. This center and subsequent Digital Storytelling Association has been at the core of the digital movement for some time.

Bill Sullivan; last updated November 19, 200 return to top