Mulitmedia & Digital Storytelling

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What is Multimedia?

It is a way of displaying information with the use of computers to present text, graphics, video, animation, and sound in an integrated way (webopedia). One example of multimedia would be combining a website with video, audio, or text images. Another way? Digital Storytelling!

Digital Storytelling

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Oh the power of storytelling! As we all know storytelling is when people can share their experiences and can create a more powerful learning experience. Digital storytelling is not much different from this. It is a craft that uses the tools of digital technology to tell stories about our lives and if done properly, it can be a powerful, evocative, and emotional way of communicating themes and stories (techsoup).

Here are a few ways/programs that you can make your own digital storytelling with:

·         slideshows (powerpoint, keynote, sliderocket, photostory)
·         digital pictures (paint.net, photoshop, gimp, iPhoto)
·         animation
·         video (iMovie, moviemakes, animoto, stupeflix)
·         digital books
·         audio (audacity, garageband)
·         podcasts
·         other (SMARTnotebook, prezi, blabberize, storybird, comic life, xtranormal)

Here are some tips (provided by my ICT professor) to creating an effective and "good" digital story:

·         don't use all the bells and whistles, unless they have a purpose
·         use legible fonts, sizes and keep amount of text low
·         watch clashing colours
·         be consistent
·         don't overdo the bullets
·         smooth transitions
·         video: have slow movements, don't zoom in/out too much and use a tripod
·         sound: watch volume
·         sound quality: use a microphone

One word of caution when creating digital stories... beware of copyright! This applies to both sound (music) and images. Two great ideas (that my professor shared) to avoid copyright issues is to, 1: use your own/create your own pictures and music or 2: use the pre-downloaded stuff on the multimedia programs.

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Creating a digital story can be a fun experience and can create a great product! You can tell a simple beautiful story, be clever, be funny or be creative while using a combination of audio, images and techniques. Need help getting started? Here are some examples of digital stories, 4 inspiring examples of digital storytelling, and educational uses of digital storytelling

The sky is the limit, have fun! Next time I'll share my experience creating my own digital story!

Until next time... JD