When I signed up for the OSU Digital Storytelling Workshop last summer I had my own little “agenda”. I wanted to learn the necessary software to create digital stories (iMovie and GarageBand). I wanted to learn how to “teach” the process and I wanted to create my very own story. Little did I know how much more meaningful this experience was going to be and what a positive impact it would have on both my personal and professional life.
The OSU Digital Storytelling Workshop was more than just a “class” on digital storytelling and how to incorporate it into the classroom. It was a hands-on, shared journey learning to tell our own stories. Using the 7-elements of Digital Storytelling, the story circle and dynamic use of pictures and video I was able to experience the power of telling a story firsthand. Script-writing, storyboarding, adding narration, images and appropriate soundtracks became a rich adventure when shared with the other participants in the group.
I came to the workshop thinking I would learn software, digital editing tools and the basics of digital storytelling and ended up being given the remarkable gift of telling my own story through the support, encouragement and feedback of the others in the group. I am now an advocate for Digital Storytelling as an unequaled tool to enhance a class, change lives and create meaningful connections with others.
Beth Anderson is a Reference Specialist in the Student Technology Assistance Center at the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library at Wright State University. She teaches the course EDT110: Creating with Multimedia.