Digital+Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is:
"the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories. As with traditional storytelling, most digital stories focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view. However, as the name implies, digital stories usually contain some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music. Digital stories can vary in length, but most of the stories used in education typically last between two and ten minutes. And the topics that are used in Digital Storytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one's own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between." (University of Houston) [| http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/]

1. PicLits - PicLits lets students choose a picture, and then draw from a word bank to create a sentence or story to accompany the picture. 

2. Domo Animate- Story animation tool. 

3. StoryBird- Students can create stories by using the artwork provided.  4. Mixbook Create digital scrapbooks and greeting cards and combine with your own photography. 

5. Animoto - Students can create 30 second videos that combine images, songs, and text. Simple to use. Teachers should sign up for an educator account, which permits the creation of longer video projects.

6. [|ZooBurst-] Create virtual 3D pop-up books.

7. Myths and Legends Enjoy popular myths and legends stories made by others, or create your own.

8. Shidonni - Draw a character, then animate it. There are other projects here as well.



9. Smile Box - Commercial site for making greeting cards, digital scrapbooks, and more.

10. Kerpoof - another student favorite! 

11. StoryJumper Create your own picture books from a library of clipart. Allows creation of teacher account, who then can create secure account logins for students. No charge, but they do provide publishing student creations as printed books for a fee.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">12. Creaza <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5;">Free account lets you create comics, mind maps, and movies from a limited set of "tools" or templates.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">13. [|Voice Thread] - <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">Upload images, video, documents, etc. into a presentation, and then record your voice or type your commentary to accompany each item. Share with others, who then can add their comments to your voicethread. This is a very versatile tool and can be used for all types of storytelling or online presentations.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">14. Graphic Novel Creator- Comic Master Allows you to create your own short graphic novel!

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<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">15. Stage’d Animated comic creator where characters appear on a "stage." Finished animations can be shared by copying the unique link to the animation.

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<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">16. ePub Bud - publish ebooks for ebook readers.

17. Little Bird Tales <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">This is a great site for elementary students looking to create a story, add their artwork, and even record their voice. And it's completely free.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">18. Zimmer Twins Create your own animation! This is easy and fun.



<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">19. Fotobabble Create talking photos and slideshows.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">20. Picture Book Maker

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">21. Nota - collaborative workspace that allows users to create, share and collaborate on presentations with virtually any form of online material.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">22. My Story Maker Storymaking program hosted by the Carnegie Library. Gives students scripted choices and has a narrated "helper," which makes it great for younger students.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">23. Xtranormal - Animated comics for older students only.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">24. Do Ink Now only available for the iPad.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">25. Bubblr! Choose photos from flickr and then create comics by filling in the speech bubbles. <span style="color: #a0410a; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">

26. Map Story <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">MapStory empowers a global community to organize knowledge about the world spatially and temporally. With MapStory, people of all kinds turn into Storytellers who can create, share, and collaborate on MapStories and ultimately improve our understanding of global dynamics, worldwide, over the course of history.

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Sites to get students writing:

<span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">27. [|What-if questions for stories] <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">28. [|The Story Starter Jr]. <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">29. [|The Story Starter] <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5;">30. <span style="color: #a0410a; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5;">PinBall-bounce ideas around




 * Here are a few more resources to get you started:**

[|Center for Digital Storytelling]

Cogdogroo Includes lots of information on types of stories and how to get started.

50+ Ways to Tell a Digital Story Offers a plethora of web 2.0 tools, sorted by purpose, type of media supported, and functionality for your convenience!

[|One in 8 Million] New York Times' collection of digital stories from around the country. Note: not all of these stories are appropriate for our younger students. Please view them yourself before sharing with a class.

The Story of Movies Presented by the Film Foundation in partnership with IBM and Turner Classic Movies. Go beyond "read-the-book-watch-the-movie" and use film to teach history, model critical thinking, and implement new teaching strategies.

Digital Storytelling Wiki From ISTE, this site provides a huge selection of digital storytelling resources.

Jason Ohler's Storytelling Resource page Nationally-recognized as a digital storytelling in education expert, Jason has shared his presentation materials, handouts, digital storytelling sites, and more.

Create movies using primary source images at Primary Access. You can create iconographic films as well as storyboards and rebus stories.