Digital Storytelling in Higher Education

Digital stories combine computer based elements such as images, text, audio narration, video clips and music to tell stories.  They convey a particular point of view about a specific topic, usually in a movie file of less than five minutes.  They're personal, and they're powerful.

CETL has created an online interactive tutorial on creating a digital story in Adobe Premiere Elements.  These technical instructions were developed in combination with training and best practices specifically for our new Digital Story Program for faculty and staff taking place during Spring and early Summer 2012, and to support the increasing number of faculty and staff assigning digital video production to students in courses. The tutorial is useful for anyone creating a digital video with soundtrack and still images, and to prepare students for editing video as source material.

Dr. Lisa Larson, CETL Coordinator of Instructional Development, invites students, staff, and faculty to use the tutorial this semester. She will be gathering feedback throughout the semester from users on any suggestions for improvement, and appreciates any feedback you can provide.  Please forward feedback to her via email at llarson@uwsuper.edu.  To discuss assistance available for developing a digital story contact her via email or phone at 715-394-8051.  

Examples of Digital Stories

Dr. Karl F. Bahm, Professor of History in the Department of Social Inquiry at UW-Superior, has developed the following digital story about Bosnia with technical assistance from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL): Travels  in a Bleak and Cheerful Land ...Or How Bosnia Tempered My Pessimism About History With Optimism About People.  Student Ezra Riley, a senior majoring in Spanish and International Peace Studies, produced A Visit to Bosnia, a digital story with a similar theme.

Notable digital story projects from around the world include: 
   - Capture Wales Project
   - Sonke Gender Justice Network, South Africa
   - Cows and Fish: Stories from the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society

In higher education, digital stories are being used to: 
  - communicate faculty interest in and excitement about their discipline
  - convey faculty research experiences
  - share staff experiences on campus projects
  - document student learning along with student reflections on their learning

For more examples, see:  http://telr.osu.edu/storytelling/stories.html

Who can create digital stories?

Study Abroad Course Instructors
Help support the Global Awareness component of the campus Liberal Arts Initiative by telling the story of your leadership of study abroad experiences. Encourage students to create a story about their study abroad experience upon return.

Service Learning Instructors
Create a digital story about your service learning project. Have students tell the story of their service learning experience digitally.

All Faculty and Staff
Create a story about how you became involved in your discipline or field of specialization. Tell the story of your own intellectual development in the field or what got you hooked on your research topic.  Have students tell the story of their learning during a major project or their college career.