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October 7, 2025

Amber H.: Kenya is Not a Single Story

  1. Sign in and stow your phones out of sight. Log into a Chromebook and complete the WYAW activities.

  2. TABLE GROUPS: With your group, discuss the question drawn from the readings for today.

  3. A little history of digital storytelling from StoryCenter formerly known as The Center for Digital Storytelling (:01 to 5:16) Let's hear from Joe Lambert about some groovy artists and community activists wanting to tell their story to the world and a powerful example of the first "official" digital story that we'll discuss. What is your response? NOTE: This is storytelling by adult makers/tellers.
    [Video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcf1WwVJPc&t=19s]

  4. Joe Lambert from StoryCenter (formerly the Center for Digital Storytelling) developed Seven Elements of a Digital Story.Another researcher/practitioner of note is Bernard Robin at the University of Houston.

    Lambert has multiple editions of the book, (Digital Storytelling Cookbook, 2003; Digital Storytelling Cookbook, 2010; Seven Stages: Story and the Human Experience, 2013; Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community, 2018). What do these elements look like and how might you assess digital stories using this framework as a guide?

  5. More Digital Stories: Format: Two things that worked well for you in the story.

  6. Topics for digital stories have ranged from.... dealing with anxiety and depression, coming out, sexual assault, growing up with a disability, being bullied in school, living with addiction, the death of a parent, and oppressive relationships.

    A digital story can be about almost anything as long as it is a story you feel needs to be told and has a personal component/investment. It can be as revealing as you are comfortable with and you decide who (besides me to grade it) views it. Permission can change at any point in the process.

  7. Overview of Personal Digital Story Assignment
    • Finished story link from WeVideo (copy/paste on reflection)
      PLEASE do not upload a file or link to another source (e.g., not Google Drive or OneDrive)

    • Script (due earlier)

    • Reflection - follow the guidelines!

    • Rubric - required elements

  8. WeVideo Studio Time. Log into WeVideo https://www.wevideo.com/ with your class gmail account - let's do this!
  • You'll use your script from last Thursday's WYAW to do a practice run OR you can choose from one of these additional topics: 1) My Beloved Pet 2) My Fabulous Hobby
    • Start a new video making sure you're using the Full Featured Editor
    • Look for images and video that can illustrate your story either from your own collection or from the provided "goodies" in WeVideo
    • Add them to your timeline and edit them by changing the size of the media object
    • Practice moving more than one item on the timeline
    • Recording narration and adjusting volume
    • Adding music and adjusting volume
    • Adding titles over an image or video
    • Finishing and getting the published link

  • REQUIREMENTS for this practice run. NOTE: This is to show you and me that you know the basics of WeVideo before embarking on your "big story/project".
    • Title
    • At least 3 images
    • At least 1 video
    • Credits
    • Music
    • Narration

Start thinking about a personal story you want to tell. THIS IS A PERSONAL NARRATIVE not an instructional video.

The focus is on one of the topics below but within this broad topic, it can be a personal story of your choice. There are some "must haves" including visuals, narration, duration (between 1:30 and 4:00 minutes), and a title and credits. Otherwise, you can also include - video, sound effects, music, and animations. Want to try out chroma key (green screen) - go for it!

DIGITAL STORYTELLING ASSIGNMENT:

      A story of challenge or change - an event or other circumstance that has shaped who you are as a person

      Tell your teaching journey story - the how and the why.

      		Who do you love? A story about a person who has had a significant impact on your life past or present. (No dogs allowed.....)
      challenge
      nodogsallowed

This assignment has three parts and ALL will be submitted in Canvas:

  1. A link to your personal digital story from WeVideo once it has been "Finished" and published. DON'T link to your editing/timeline environment.

  2. Your script for the project using the StoryCenter 4Cs format: Connect, Context, Change, Closure. (DUE earlier than final project)
    TIP: Keep your script to ONE page.

  3. The personal digital story reflection using the designated word template for in Canvas under Assignments
    (filename: "personal_digital_story_reflection.docx").

  4. You can see all the requirements for this assignment and how you will be assessed by viewing the rubric in Canvas