There are many things you need to consider before implementing digital stories into the classroom. Below, you'll find a guide to thinking through what it takes to have your students create digital stories for projects.

Priorities and Learning Outcomes

One such thing is weighing your priorities and learning outcomes. For example, if a high quality show piece is a high priority, you might need to have extensive class time devoted to learning the craft. If you're more concerned about content than quality, you might be able to get away with less class time. If you want to knit all your students pieces together to form a cohesive story or series, you will need to consider copyright instruction, hosting multimedia, and archiving. 

Exposure

You'll want to have an idea of what has been done before and learn from the experiences of your colleagues before getting started. Here are some places to look for projects that have been done in he classroom here at Kenyon and in the Ohio 5: 

You'll also want to provide digital stories or podcasts as course content if possible. Having them look at these as unique pieces of writing and discuss multimedia content will better prepare them for creating their own pieces. Giving them a lay of the land is important. 

Preparing Students (and You) for Success

  • Audience: You'll want to consider giving real-world weight to your storytelling projects by providing an audience for your students to create for. Maybe you want them to do PSAs for the general public, re-imagine densely scientific literature for a common audience, or create learning materials for a population of young children. Providing an audience will help your students make the mark. 
  • Scaffolding and Timeline: You'll also want to think about giving them exposure to the act of creating early so they can get comfortable with the technology and the experience of writing for sound (if that's a component). If interviews are a component, getting early practice with technology can be key for success. 
  • Ownership and Digital Sustainability: Think about the overall life span of this project and talk to the appropriate channels that can help you bring your vision to life (more about that below!). Does this project have a one-semester life span or do you want it to live on? Who will maintain it in the future? Who will own that content? Will authors have the ability to remove things later on if they wish? Creating the infrastructure to support your vision is a necessity in making sure the project is successful. 

It Takes a Village

You may just want to do a simple project with your students, or you may have a huge vision that includes a lot of moving parts (and people). Here are some institutional supports for bringing your digital storytelling hopes into reality: