Digital Storytelling
StoryCorps
I encountered the story of StoryCorps during the holiday season while browsing the merchandise at a local coffee shop. Perhaps it was the spirit of the season or perhaps it was because I was working on this resource, but I read the jacket of Listening is an Act of Love (Isay, 2007), bought the book, and then went on to learn more online.
StoryCorps is the brainchild of David Isay. I would describe Isay as an oral historian. We have no training in the historians' craft, but we have developed a healthy appreciation through working on projects to make the teaching of history a more meaningful experience for students (Cindy received a three-year Teaching American History Grant). My personal understanding of the purpose of oral histories is based in the insight that what we regard as "history" is really an effort to describe and explain the collective experience of many individuals. Each of these individuals may understand a common event differently because the event played out within a different personal context. The historian attempts to integrate these individual perspectives with other sources of data in describing events, but also recognizes the importance of preserving the individual stories. Events matter for nations, but they also matter from other perspectives including families and individuals. There are many authentic histories and each is meaningful to someone.
We use Isay's StoryCorps to describe some of the educational opportunities in podcasting for several reasons. StoryCorps is inspiring and the core principles are transferable. It is easy to explore the project online and the online resources include both finished products and recommendations for practice. We will include links were relevant in the narrative that follows.
A StoryCorps experience goes something like this. You and a "storyteller" walk into a booth equipped with two mikes. You talk for approximately 40 minutes guided in part by questions you have prepared. At end of the session you receive a CD with a recording of the session – a copy of the recording goes to the Library of Congress. More than 15,000 sessions have been captured in this fashion. The first booth was opened in Grand Central Station in 2003. Several traveling booths, airstream trailers, sponsored by the Library of Congress have been roaming the country since 2005.
Some of the resources StoryCorps make available may helpful to educators interested in similar concepts. Some of the biggest concerns probably have less to do with the technology and more with the process. What make meaningful topics and how do you get people to share their knowledge and feelings?
One starting point might be to listen to some of the podcasts and watch some of the videos. You will likely get ideas from this experience. In the process, we suggest you note the categories used to organize the material.
Categories:
* Angels and Mentors
* Discovery
* Friendship
* Growing Up
* Griot
* Huricane Katrina
* Identity
* Romance
* September 11
* Struggle
* Wisdom
* Witness
* Work
The great questions list offers suggested questions grouped by category: .
StoryCorps is very open regarding what they accept as contributions to the project, but are particular about the equipment that must be used. You can rent equipment for a week (rent equipment for $150 per week), but you are not allowed to contribute material collected in other ways.
Similar Projects
There are similar projects, some focused on storytelling in the educational context, you may want to consider.
The Center for Digital Storytelling is another nonprofit organizations focused on personal storytelling.
Digitales: The art of telling digital stories. Digitales is Bernajean Porter's effort to promote digital storytelling in educational settings.
In commenting on his personal motivation and the willingness of people to tell their stories, David Isay concludes - '''All we want to know is that we matter and we won't be forgotten'''. In describing digital storytelling in the classroom, Banaszewski (2002) suggests teachers should be willing to share a story of their own. Here is our personal story.
Resources
Banaszewski, T. (2002). Digital storytelling finds its place in the classroom. Multimedia Schools, 9(1), 32-35. (online version)
Isay, D. (2007). Listening is an act of love. New York: Penguin Press.
Porter, B. (2004). Digitales: The art of telling digital stores. Sedalia, CO: Digitales Story Keepers. (Digitales web site)
Web Sites
Adobe Digital Kids Club: Digital Storytelling.
Center for Digital Story Telling - non-profit organization dedicated to the art of story telling.
Digitales: The art of telling digital stories (Bernajean Porter).
Educational Podcast Network - examples of all types of educational podcasts.
Storytelling guide - Canadian Film Centre resource on writing to images.
StoryCorps - the Isay StoryCorps Project.