Chapter 12

To say the least, Chapter 12 was a challenge. When I first read the chapter, it just looked like a long list of things to do. I did not really see the value of following a check list when I felt the end product was already in my head. I felt like Ohler was talking about me when he said,

"Don't be surprised when students don't want to spend a lot of time with this step. Often they're in a hurry to get on the computer and translate their ideas into media. But the reality is that creating the list will save them a good deal of time while helping them develop good planning habits"
Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (p. 150). Kindle Edition.

I thought to myself, "How did he know?" Even after contemplating this, I was struggling with the value in the process. I decided to go to the Face-to-Face session and see if I would be inspired...

Ta Da! I was inspired! I had this great idea to do a video all about my journey to Rome and how I decided to go with my best friend. I wanted to start putting it together right away. This was not Professor Rodriguez's plan.

He made us write out everything. This whole process was seeming pointless until he asked us to draw our story map. I looked in the packet and traced the outline for the VPS model. It then came time to fill it in. I had to think, a lot more than I thought I would; I realized I hadn't developed the tension, the questions or the process of resolution. Drawing the story map forced me to actually break down my idea into concepts and not leave it as just a blur of pictures.

When I went to create the story board, I organized my pictures to support and illustrate all the great ideas I had fleshed out in my story map. This process was a lot easier having a guide! Even adding the text seemed very natural when I knew what the text was supposed to be doing in each slide. Each sentence has a purpose to illustrate an idea that was in my story map.

Bottom line: this process is important!

This being said, I do think the process can be adapted to each individual situation. For younger children or large scale projects with complex plots, the process Ohler describes is perfect. When we began to create the story board, I was frustrated by the idea of having to draw on paper the images I already had on my computer. I decided to slightly modify the assignment, combining media gathering and story boarding, by creating a story board within iMovie. I then took a screen shot and added my text. My media is now uploaded, in the right order, and ready to go!

 

In the end, while I may have bent the rules slightly, I developed enough respect for those rules to not break them.