Multimedia Tools: The Art of 21st Century Story-telling

There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories. —Ursula K. LeGuin

If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.—Barry Lopez, in Crow and Weasel

 Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts. —Salman Rushdie

No previous generation or time period has had access to the kind of global story-telling and sharing that is now possible thanks to multimedia tools. As people across the planet attempt to make sense of their personal and shared experiences through a wide variety of tools, a new literacy is being built. The TED site, which houses a wide variety of presentations on wildly divergent ideas is an example of the possibilities for discussion and learning that can happen on a global scale. With so many different multimedia tools available in the cloud, students must learn new literacies and manners for interacting in the collaborative learning networks in which they are beginning to immerse themselves. Will Richardson has created the term "network literacies" and says that "acquiring these network literacies is a crucial first step in developing new pedagogies, and in turn, new classrooms and curricula that prepare students for the future." (Richardson, 2010)

The following examples of multimedia and presentation tools are only some of the possible tools available to the learning community. Teachers must begin to model their own learning as they use different tools to share ideas and curricula, so that students can see the immense potential for their own learning.

Animoto - the art of the movie

When I was six years old, I was very clear on my career path. I was going to be a movie star. I knew I had what it took to be center stage. I had no lack of confidence. After surviving high school, I continued to harbour a dream to be in movies. I wanted to be behind the camera, by then. Practicality took root and I finished up with an education degree, but always part of me hungers to share story and vision. Giving myself permission to take the time to nurture my creative side never seems practical, but this summer, I had a valid reason to explore my inner directorial vision.
When I was assigned and then finished a video book trailer for Joanne de Groot's summer class of EDES 501, I was elated. I had tried using Animoto once before as a way of sharing some fun photos of a family get together at Shuswap Lake. It turned out well, but I was frustrated by the limited length. Based on the length provided and no budget for "frills", I couldn't see much use for it.  Animoto had only been around for one or two years at that point and I could see it had potential, but life beckoned and I moved on to other things. To complete Joanne's assignment, I decided to purchase a longer video time, then successfully negotiated permission to use a clip of music from Cirque du Soleil.  I spent days hunting for just the right Creative Commons images. When finished, I had to share the clip with my friends and family simply for the sheer joy of having created something that looked great. The fact that it was relatively easy to make was a bit of a secret - similar to creating a great pie using pre-made crust. I know my teenage nephews were excited by the possibilities presented by this tool. My ten year old may see the benefit if he can put his favourite Pokemon images together with some great music.
While it wasn't real movie making, it involved decision making around editing words to convey a sense of plot and character, choice of music to convey mood and hunting through hundreds of images to find the right resolutions and qualities. I probably remixed the photo order 30 times until I was satisfied. I didn't do the work because I wanted a good mark. I did the work because I was deeply satisfied by the process and wanted it to really generate some buzz to read the book. Like many teenagers posting fan versions of songs on Youtube or creating "fanlit" to expand on their favourite book or manga series, I found it easy to create and share. I also spent a great deal of time ensuring that my final product matched my internal vision, much like the teenagers I know working on manga fan projects.
As a result of the project, a classmate and I have decided to run a contest for our students. The Stellar Book Award for YA fiction in B.C. is an excellent opportunity for teens to select, read and review the best Canadian fiction and non-fiction. Knowing how much fun we had creating Animoto book trailers, we will be encouraging our students to do the same thing for Stellar nominated books. Much like the Trailee awards bestowed by the School Library Journal, we will award prizes for student created book trailers.
We look forward to seeing the results.
Animoto definitely draws out the creative in the individual, but collaboration is the nature of movie-making. Berger and Trexler's suggestions for digital storytelling are essential reading for those about to embark on a project with this tool. The newest backgrounds for Animoto presentations are particularly well-suited to teenagers and dramatic, emotional story-telling. Creating story-boards as a group to ensure plot development or idea development is a critical skill in project presentation in the business world and an area where educators must help students develop stronger skill sets, in my observations.

Voicethread
As a story-telling tool, Voicethread is an excellent place for students and teachers to begin. The more static nature of the images, plus the ability of the story-teller to use his/her own voice (or a group story-telling process) means more control and the ability to focus on specific elements of story development. Voicethread is an excellent tool for elementary age students and students with learning delays who need a simpler tool to work with.
My own process for learning to use Voicethread came shortly after the birth of my granddaughter. Having taken a generational photo of the new baby, her mother, myself and my mother, it was a good time to try a simple description of the photo and my feelings about the arrival of this wonderful little person. The next phase should be to have all the other adults post a comment about their emotions and recollections, but despite having sent the link, the new mom and the reluctant great-grandmother don't seem to want to comment. I do see this kind of single image or small cluster of family images being a great tool for our family to comment on our lives and the changes happening in our lives, particularly as my parents age and we wish to capture some of the stories around photos that are important parts of our family narrative.



The second Voicethread I created was, again, for Joanne de Groot's course in Resources for Children and Young Adults this past summer. We were assigned an illustrator review and I selected Patricia Polacco. Because this required more images, it also required more significant scripting to demonstrate an understanding of the images and the illustrator. As a group, we chose a wide variety of presentation tools, but I found Voicethread to be ideally suited to this particular project because of the sequence of images I wanted to present. A more animated presentation would not have allowed for detailed investigation of the static images in the various books by Polacco. This is also something for educators and students to consider when choosing a presentation tool. This tool is well suited to presentations where students want to have the opportunity to share without necessarily being in front of a group. It eliminates the fear of stumbling over words, simply because a recording can be deleted and redone until satisfied with the results. I know I redid some sections of my Polacco presentation two or three times, until I was satisfied with how it sounded and ensuring that it made sense. It still wasn't perfect, but I believe that authentic voice is perfect in its imperfections. 




When creating my Voicethread, I wish I had some of the support resources listed in Berger and Trexler's text. I found Bill Ferriter's wiki to be hugely helpful and look forward to sharing the rubrics and the Student Training Guide with staff and students. Particularly, I find myself in the role of instigating "unrestricted learning" as described by Richardson. Students are seeking tools to share their learning and given limited choices by teachers, seek out alternatives from their peers or trusted resources. Word has gotten out that I am knowledgeable about Web 2.0 and interesting methods of sharing learning, so students seek me out for suggestions. While I share ideas about tools learners might be able to use, I always have to qualify my recommendations with the proviso that students seek permission to use a new tool with their subject teacher and that they have a possible draft or story board to show how they will use the tool. It is unfortunate when teachers reject the ideas out of hand simply because it isn't on their "list" of acceptable presentation tools. Frequently, I remind my colleagues that I have access to a wide variety of rubrics to help with assessment, but fear and the status quo sometimes rule the day.

Prezi

One of the tools which teachers and students at my school are beginning to use more frequently is Prezi. I have been encouraging the use of this tool for the last two years. I first encounted it through my husband's work on a project for an educational technology course at UBC. He created a great presentation, which we have both edited and expanded on as a demonstration tool. Mark did the initial work on this project, but I quickly mastered the use of the Zebra tool, which is the editing circle with stipes. It has taken me a lot longer to get used to the idea of a large canvas, much like a poster, with ideas spread out on it. Prezi requires a much more spacial mode of thinking, as well as the ability to recognize when zoom in/zoom out can be useful. In many ways, it is much more like Animoto (with a presentation focus) simply because of the more animated movement and the ability to embed videos easily. Naturally, we focused on a topic that we've become expert in - Down syndrome. Our goal, as always, is to educate in a fun way and dispel some of the myths that continue to exist about this genetic anomoly. As a personal tool, Mark and I have both found Prezi to be more effective and engaging than slide presentations, and our teenaged nephews were excited by the possibilities when we demonstrated this tool to them. In the coming year, our soon to be eleven year old son will also get a chance to create a presentation and we'll demonstrate this tool to him as well, although it is likely he'll require more support than a teenager might.
http://prezi.com/0btocwytfjgp/view/#1

More recently, I prepared a Prezi for a girls' workshop day called "Me 2 Me," which was designed for our school's grade eight and nine students. This presentation was on Web 2.0 tools and cyber safety. Many of the girls at my school want to learn more about technology, but struggle to use the technology they have at hand in a safe way. The day was very successful and the girls, who are now in grade nine and ten, continue to come and ask questions about the tools demonstrated that day. What I continue to find, though, is that when working in Prezi, students frequently seek assistance in working with the Zebra tool and the linking tool. It is not as intuitive as the tutorials make it look, but surprisingly, students (for all of the love of Youtube) infrequently seek tutorials on how to use various Web 2.0 tools.

Technogurlz Rock the Future! on Prezi

Slideshare

For students who are seeking a web-based platform for a tradition slide presentation, two sources prove to be helpful. Google documents has a presentation format that allows learners to create simple presentations. The tools are limited, but it does allow for uploading of Microsoft or Open Office slide presentations. A better tool, though, is Slideshare. I discovered this tool when creating the podcast for this course. I was seeking statistical data about podcast listeners and creators and happened across a useful Slideshare presentation. When I realized that it was a site that was both an aggregator and editor, I was very impressed. For presenters needing to be able to easily access their materials, it makes much more sense to be able to work in the cloud, rather than carry around a program and editing suite. While I create slide presentations on an irregular basis for work, I rarely use slide presentations as a personal tool. I am reluctant to use this tool on a personal level because of the large number of overly emotional presentations that are forwarded to me as a parent of a child with special needs. I appreciate that some families like to share the images they've created of their child, complete with music, quotes and inspirational moments. I do not feel the same need to share these kinds of presentations with others. My experience has been that sharing is best done with those only in our immediate family and circle of friends, rather than the world at large.

As a result, my initial Slideshare is a work tool. Destiny Quest is a two year old addition to our Follett suite of tools, but has received little attention from students. I am hoping to encourage a more social and personal library experience for students and felt this might be a good starting point for orienting students. It was easy to integrate Follett's PDF screenshots into the slides and with music or voice-over, this is the start of an interesting tutorial to be embedded in our school website.
Destiny Quest slide presentation

For the teaching staff and students at my school, this particular site will be of particular use. Students have not yet embraced the idea of using a program called NX Client which allows them to access our school server and work directly with their school files. As a result, students frequently create a presentation in Open Office format, save it as a Microsoft Powerpoint, then email it to themselves to work on at home. By uploading their presentation into Slideshare, they will be able to work on it both at school and at home. Editing may continue to be an issue, though, as most students do not seem to want to download Open Office and use it at home, even though it is free. For staff, ease of access to presentations both for actual presentation time and for evaluation purposes will make Slideshare very popular. Also helpful, will be the ability to gather all the presentations in one location. Students can ensure their own privacy with simple choice between public viewing or private only, then can access their presentation and ensure that the teacher has a link or downloaded version.

Slideshare's incredible power comes primarily as a tool for learner's to explore what makes for great presentations. It is currently running a contest called The World's Best Presentation, in which Slideshare members can vote on presentations that have been entered in the contest. There are a wide range of professions, topics,  and languages for learners to study. Teachers should be reviewing presentations regularly for both pedagogical and professional skill-set reasons. Between students and educators, rubrics to evaluate presentations can be created to ensure that students have exemplars to work from when creating their own projects. Richardson challenges us to "seek and embrace diversity in the connections, not in race, gender, or location so much as in including voices and viewpoints that are different from our own." (Richardson, 2010) This tool certainly provides the opportunity to learn from diversity.

Vuvox
This is an interesting tool that I have just started experimenting with. Having watched some of the sample presentations, particularly "Donna's Brain", I can see the huge potential of this tool. Donna's Brain is a piece created by a reporter as a support to a news story. It includes interviews with a stroke victim and the doctors who treated her. It is supplented with brain scan images and  photos and links to support information for women to understand what symptoms may indicate a stroke. This format, like Prezi, allows for movement through images and text, but the use of video that can be embedded into images makes this quite impressive. I found it easy to upload images and audio into and it is easy to file materials into library or link to Flickr, Picasa or SmugMug. The feature allowing automatic placement is simple to use and allows for editing, should you not like where images have been placed or which images receive larger sizing. Text is easy to place and edit and music attachment is also simple. The limit for a free account is a five minute segment, so for users needing something longer, a pro account would be more useful.
I can see my family finding this a very fun way to share family photos and information, particularly my brother, who is beginning a digital photography business. For my children, this would be an easy tool to learn to use to create a slide presentation with strong images that could be sent to a teacher or shared digitally, rather than using it as a support for an oral presentation.
I can see this being an excellent advocacy tool to be used with staff and administration. With images of the library, screencast presentations embedded into the story and links to statistical evidence, it would be very compelling. Likewise, this would be amazing as a means of presenting a point of view on a controversial topic. I can see this being a great introduction for students in grade nine as a skill builder in preparation for learning to organize thinking for essay-writing. Using an outline to build the presentation would ensure all the points a student wanted to make could be covered. (As a support tool for the planning portion of Guided Inquiry process, Vuvox would be very interesting.)

Conclusions
Each of the tools I've included in this post enhance digital storytelling. Ultimately, the sharing of personal understanding and meaning-making is what we ask of life-long learners. Howard Gardner talks about the Five Minds of the 21st century. When discussing the Creative Mind, Gardner posits that true large C creativity requires discipline (but not too much focus on the discipline), synthesis and a robust personality that see mistakes and risk taking as part of the learning process. When a learner is able to take a multimedia tool and create something that demonstrates not only personal learning, but completely engages viewers/listeners in a way that encourages questions and thoughtful reflection, then perhaps a small c creative process has been realized.
Encouraging learners to share learning in a new way is a frightening process for both the educator supporting the process and the learners. It is the messy part of the Inquiry process where learners define what needs to be part of the presentation and how it will be presented. Learners need supportive environments to ensure that the risks inherent in telling a story or presenting new learning are not out of balance with the rewards. Scaffolding the "how-to" elements as part of the learning need to be taken into account when planning projects.
As I've discovered, starting with the story in mind (after considerable reflection and reading, image collection and music selection, not to mention story-boarding) helps create a multimedia project of which one can be proud.
I may not be standing behind a camera yet, but beginning the process of using multimedia tools is preparing me to think more like a director. Instead of interpreting in front of the camera, I'm ready to synthesize behind it and share with the world.

Works Cited

Berger, P & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web 2.0 tools for

      learning and teaching in a digital world. Santa Barbara, CA:

      Libraries Unlimited.

Ferriter, B. (n.d.). "Voicethread." Retrieved from the Digitally 
     speaking wiki: http://digitallyspeaking.pbworks.com/w/page
     /17791585/Voicethread
     

Gardner, H. (2010). "Five Minds for the Future." 21st century skills:

      Rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree

      Press.

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other power-

    ful  web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin

   Press.

Richardson, W. (2010). "Navigating social networks as learning tools."

     21st century skills: Rethinking how students learn.  

     Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.