Week 7: Digital Storytelling

This week we learned about digital technologies and how to make our own digital stories. The difference between analog and digital information is that analog is when information is electronic, magnetic, or vibration sensitive, whereas digital information is converted from its original source to a numerical system. Digital photography for example, captures light onto Charged coupling devices and then converts it to numerical data. The advantages to digital photography are that it allows people to take more pictures, eliminates the processing costs, it's easier to manipulate the pictures and digital pictures can be seen immediately.

Videos are electronic storage of moving images. Images are captured and then converted into numerical data just like digital pictures and then they can be transferred to a computer where they can be edited. Videos can be compressed if needed, but they are noticeable worse quality than in their original format. PDAs are another handy tool. They work like computers, but are much smaller and are handheld, like cellphones, palmpilots, or personal organizers.


All of these technological tools can make a difference in the classroom. Now that digital photography is so easy, teachers can take pictures of field trips, for class books and even show before and after pictures to demonstrate improvement that was made. Videos are also helpful. They enable kids to see real- world examples and understand what they are learning. A lot of times, students are able to apply what they have learned better, if they can visualize it. They also allow multilple classes to work together on projects or discussions. Digital photography and video projects are also great ways to enocurage kids to show their creativity!


This week, we also saw different ways to make digital stories, such as animoto, goanimate and imovie. I chose to use animoto and will be putting pictures together with music to tell the story of my trip to the Galapagos.

I chose this clip because the guy does a really good job of explaining what digital storytelling is and how easy it is to do it. You don't need fancy programs and anyone that has access to a computer can tell a digital story. He also explains how many different forms digital stories can take, such as emails, websites, tv, internet, or even in classroom projects or office meetings.