Digital Storytelling

In what has become an annual summer event for me, I spent the last few days right outside of our nation’s capital at Discovery headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. As usual, it was a great opportunity to reconnect with my colleagues from both coasts, my neighbor Steve Dembo (who I almost only see when we’re on the road), and DEN STARS, old and new, from around the country.
We offered a 2 hour version of the full day “Lights, Camera, Education!” workshop and our STARS rose to the occasion. After a little more than an hour of “this is what you would have done if we had the time,” they had less than an hour to plan, shoot, and edit their door scene. With so little time, creativity just burst forth. Inspired by Steve’s “Social Networking/Web 2.0” morning keynote, one lady got through her door by Plurking a friend to come open it from the inside. And another, perhaps camera shy team, filmed a lonely water bottle trying to get back into the refrigerator with the love of his (her?) life. Happy ending! See the YouTube embed at the end.
Yesterday, before I jumped on the Metro and headed to Reagan airport, I was able to join a group that went over to the Discovery production studios just a few blocks away. As usual, the red carpet was out. I took a little detour to peek into the editing suites and was invited into one where the man at the controls was working on a promo for Renovation Nation.
Rejoining our group at the main stop - the green screen studio, we had a crash course on chromakey and lighting before taking turns in front of the camera where Ted Koppel, among many others, works. It is amazing how much thought and equipment goes into getting it just right (perfect actually) and how closely we can mimic almost all of that with our students. It was also inspiring to see the educators in my group take to the green screen stage, step in front of the camera, and make on the spot clips thanking school boards and administration for their support. They also welcomed students back for the year and one even wished her son and his growing family well as he prepares to deploy for Iraq.
Wish I could have stayed through today to see everybody’s final projects. Boom-de-ah-da!
Now, the water bottle and the door…

ScreenNation’s first ever challenge closed barely a week ago and the winners are already announced as they prepare to open the next challenge in the coming week or so. There was a wide range of entries for this one giving us very creative perspectives on a diverse group of towns. Some students focused on their schools’ service to the community while others, like “Kenya Water Project” and a student’s volunteer service award based on a chess tournament show us projects with an international impact. By chance, the top three entries cover the country from coast to coast in very different ways.

First place and camera kit winner, Union, NJ, starts out as a traditional 1st person view of a life lived in what might seem to be a neatly trimmed small town celebrating its bicentennial. Not! As our host digs a little deeper, we find the roots go back to the Revolutionary War and even include a historic first with George and Martha Washington.

Oakland, CA claims its fame from the creative slang that’s its inhabitants have been sharing with the rest of the U.S. for over a generation. As an educator with a linguistics background, this tickled my etymological funny bone. A street interview style with quick edits and no transitions lets different speakers expand on or finish each others’ thoughts. And what an appropriate use of text to clarify the spoken word!

Decorah, IA uses a drive through tour of town to illustrate its proud Norwegian heritage and the legend of the Nisse. Though this Nisse fellow sounds suspiciously like a renegade leprechaun to this great-grandchild of Irish immigrants, his ubiquitous presence as house guardian in town definitely makes him unique and forms a common bond among all who live there.

Check in often at ScreenNation for ongoing opportunities to share and learn. 13-18 year old students are contributing to an ever growing collection of film making how-to’s along with fictional flights of fancy. And watch for the next challenge which will be hosted by a well known celebrity.

A few years ago I introduced Marco Torres at our Illinois conference as a fellow Spanish-speaking Irishman and have resurrected that joke on occasion. This week it just so happens that Marco and some of his former students are out here in Boston presenting at and documenting the Building Learning Communities Conference. I almost referred to his alumni as “kids” because I’ve kind of seen them grow up on film, but after watching them present and handle interviews I can see why they are now his partners at Alas Media. Anyhow, I sat down at their table after lunch to finish off a cup of coffee and visit a little. A couple of minutes after pleasantries were exchanged one of the young men looked at me and then asked Marco, “Is this Joe the O’Torres Joe?” Looks like my old play on his name (Mark O’Torres) has come full circle right back at me. As usual, Marco had some great technical tips and insights into storyboarding. But what really sets him and his alumni apart is their emphasis on empowering students to help shape their world and those of their families and community.

And talk about changing the world - the founder of kiva.org closed yesterday’s sessions with her inspiring story (even made Oprah) of getting loans into the hands of third world entrepeneurs by accepting backer investments as low as $25. More than a million dollars is dispersed through their organization every two weeks. Here’s a pre-Oprah interview. Check it out and maybe even write out a check.

Just back from my 24 hours in the Saugatuck Dunes state park reconnecting with my class and team mates from St. Augustine H.S.’s class of 1968. And, as was always the case, when I took my shoes off just now, there was sand. Back in the day, there was sand in the locker room, sand on the gym floor, some say even in the food. I’d come home to Chicago for holidays and summer and my mom would complain about sand in the washing machine. It was a constant presence and reminder of that idyllic place on the other side of Lake Michigan.
     
Reconnecting with guys I hadn’t seen since the day we graduated, people who stood up in my wedding, and the few who have stayed intermittently close over the last four decades was a lot like that sand: always there in varying degrees and turning up in the darnedest places and at unexpected times. Hair has changed color and disappeared, weight has come and gone (mostly come!), and eyeglasses are now part of everyone’s wardrobe. Except for 1/2 a brick a sharp eyed classmate spotted, our brand spanking new school and dorms are demolished and gone. The “old” building that we thought would dry up and blow away in time has been lovingly restored. The 600+ acres of dunes and Lake Michigan shoreline we had all to ourselves are now a state park. Yet it was like we had just rolled out of bed in the dorm, finished prayers in chapel, or completed our “house job” for the day (everybody had an assigned daily chore) and were released from evening study hall. A word, a phrase, a line from a song, a synapse fires igniting a chain reaction. Someone starts a name, a sentence or a story and another finishes it. Sand!

Or more like speaking of speakers. I stopped by my local Costco today to pick up a few things for my 40th H.S. reunion and my two upcoming conference trips. I’ve been using Logitech’s Pure-Fi Anywhere powered speaker system for presenting with my laptop the last couple of years. They are rechargeable battery powered and can fill a 100 seat meeting room decently. I jumped at the chance to get another set this spring when they went on sale for just $99. Hold the presses! Costco was selling them for $69 when I walked down the aisle today. So, if you’re looking for good speakers for presenting or for the classroom that can also double as your iPod/MP3 player hi-fi, give them a look. In the mean time, my newest set will be blaring the class of ’68’s playlist in the Saugatuck Dunes today, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “We shall overcome…” Though I think the 60’s is taking on a whole new meaning for us grandpas (it was an all boys school).

Just in case you weren’t able to meet the door scene guy (AFI’s Frank Guttler) in person  at the DEN reception in San Antonio, you can see him in action on a NECC webcast. Look for “AFI Screen Education Center: Digital Filmmaking in the Core Curriculum,” Wednesday at 1:30. Due to copyright concerns for this webcast, Frank had to leave out his usual Hollywood illustrations of movie points that we all easily recognize, but he still builds a compelling case for visual grammar and using video with students in the core curriculum. Use the manual and video clips available on ‘streaming for just minutes or hours to get across some movie making basics and then build on the writing process to concentrate on your particular subject matter.
Research backs it up: students take charge of their own learning, make use of 21st skills they already have, and they tend to retain material at a deeper level. You’ll see interviews with students, teachers, an administrator and Hollywood professionals, a preview of upcoming challenges with the stars (just 5 days left to get in on this first one), and a tour of ScreenNation (including a couple of extra features). Frank also highlights a few videos in different genres posted by students on the ScreenNation site in his AFI blog.

Couldn’t make it to San Antonio? Use these webcasts to bring NECC 2008 to you - especially Hall’s “It’s in Your Pocket: Teaching Spectacularly with Cell Phones.” Humor, hard facts, audience participation, fair warning, it’s all there!

As NECC 2008 gets smaller in my rear view mirror and I read others’ reflections on their days down there, I am reminded that there is so much more to San Antonio and its surroundings than the Alamo. From the hunter-gatherer tribes who were continually victimized by their more warlike neighbors to the German immigrants who left their mark and names everywhere, there’s a richly layered history to the region.

And I bet that your own town has an interesting story to tell too. Your middle and high school students have just nine more days to share that information with the world via the American Film Institute’s ScreenNation Home Town Challenge. Do it not just for the Sony camcorder kit and the eternal fame of being the first ever ScreenNation challenge winner, but also to hold up what’s good and interesting about your alma domus for the world to see. Look over the current entries and learn from all the other videos in many categories on ScreenNation.

Photo through Creative Commons from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhaymes/

Started the day with Arnie Abrams’ Digital Storytelling for All Ages. A kindred soul when it comes to the scope of digital storytelling! Movie trailers, commercials, book reports…

Who Can Make a Video in 10 Minutes? You!  Went back for more with Rushton Hurley. I’ll be signing up for his newsletter after this one.  Gems from this session http://www.piclens.com/ for sharing/presenting pictures and  http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/ for free sound effects.

Then lunch with Frank Guttler, a quick preview of his presentation, and off to set up for his session  AFI Screen Education Center: Digital Filmmaking in the Core Curriculum. It was great to see all the educators present nodding in agreement with Frank and the students, teachers, and administrators who appeared in the videos. I goaded Frank into showing his Google Teachers Academy application video at the end and then he turned the tables on me by showing an interview AFI did with me last year. His is a milestone in simplicity combined with a strong message. Mine is a testament to good editing when you’ve got a talking head hemming and hawing for twenty minutes. Some great new features are available on ScreenNation that will get their own post very soon. You can see Frank’s presentation at the NECC webcast site as well as all the keynotes, at least one of Hall’s sessions, and many others.

Closing keynote with Idit Harel Caperton had some great footage of Elliott Solloway. Loved his “good ideas come from the soul” line.

Dinner with Brad and Laura, Hall, Lance and Martha, Ann Truger et al. Barbecue, River Walk, mariachis… as my buddy Larry Anderson says, “It’s awlll gooood!” (And if you’d like to get an idea of how Larry would actually say that, watch Podcasting & Podcatching for the Absolute Beginner on the NECC webcast page.)

Now the only thing between me and Disney World with the grandbabies are conferences in Boston, Silver Spring, and Lincolnshire, IL. Looking forward to all of ‘em.

Here’s what I saw/did on Tuesday -

Great keynote done talk show style with NBC’s Lester Holt.

Special Effects: Creating Movie Magic in Student Projects www.cpsb.org/presentations. In addition to showing some easy ways to get special effects, he really drove home giving students as many assets as possible to help them build their stories. He was able to run teams of students through to a finished project with only 7.5 hours of contact time.

Seeing Is Learning: Integrate Digital Pictures and Sound into Lessons I was especially interested in fixmymovie.com here.

Wish I had seen Soundtracks that Sing: Getting Beyond the Surface in GarageBand

It’s in Your Pocket: Teaching Spectacularly with Cell Phones finished the session portion of the day off with a bang. Our own Hall Davidson had the huge theater he was in in his pocket after his first few slides and especially when he started accepting text messages for stories and real time polling. Presentation should be up on his blog or the Discovery speakers’ bureau page soon.

Relaxed at night by reconnecting with old friends at the IL Computing Educators reception, catching up with the AFI’s Frank Guttler (the door scene guy!), singing happy birthday to the DEN, and finally ended up listening to great music and enjoying fireworks at the Atomic Learning get together. Relaxing wore me out!

Day 2, actually, because we spent Sunday out at Enchanted Springs Ranch with a great bunch of STARS. (Thanks for the post and Animoto, Martha)

Rushton Hurley packed ‘em in for his Very Cool Tricks for Using and Making Videos. I couldn’t get into the filled to capacity room, but I was at least able to stand in the back and hear and watch.

Would love to have seen Charlene Chausis do Off Task: Web Sites and Web Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed. The door guard was completely unimpressed with my close Illinois ties to Charlene and would not relent to even opening the door to the closed presentation room. Had to console myself by sitting on the floor outside and sharing her presentation wiki with the plethora of other people who couldn’t get in.

Sat in on Roger Wagner’s HyperStudio 5 presentation. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the announcement of HyperStudio’s (re)birth a year ago was premature. He was “chagrined” that they had promised a fall delivery after LAST year’s NECC and may still be months away at this point. We did get thumb drives with a good beta version on them, however, and I can’t wait to give it a try.

Wes Fryer did a great job on Digital Storytelling With Minimal Clicks: Improving Reading and Writing Skills. Did you know a typical video project takes 3-400 clicks of the mouse button? Students can tell great stories with pictures and their voice in just a few clicks.

Never Lecture in Class Again with Video Podcasting had a novel approach to teaching chemistry. Students watched the lesson at home and then did the “homework” in class along with their peers and with the teacher’s help as needed.

The digital storytelling Special Interest Group got off to a great start. Microphone was passed around and many people shared ideas. Stop in over at http://digitalstorytelling.iste.wikispaces.net, catch up, and maybe add your voice or story to the conversation.

Stopped in at the Tech & Learning magazine reception (formerly Technology & Learning) to toast Jo-Ann McDevitt as she moves on in her career. She will still be a force to be reckoned within the edtech publishing industry in her new role.

Got to reconnect with many friends from around the country and the world at the Apple reception. Gary Atkins, my roommate from last year’s Apple Institute, gave me a great tip on music software to get my granddaughter started on her piano. Will be checking that out at the Sibelius booth. Spent a little time talking with this year’s ISTE Outstanding Teacher, Carol Anne McGuire. Congratulations and good luck in your new job, CA! Big announcement from Apple was iTunes U. for K-12. Go to the iTunes store, click on iTunes U, and look for the K-12 resources at the bottom. (Remember it’s PC and Mac) Is your state sharing there?

And then to end the day, I had a quick preview of Hall Davidson’s Tuesday spotlight presentation (It’s in Your Pocket: Teaching Spectacularly with Cell Phones) while he was taking a “break” at 10 p.m. I didn’t know cell phones could do all THAT! Good thing we ban them in schools (grin). Stop by the Cockrell theater at 3:30 to catch it. Better get there early, I hear there are only a few thousand seats.