LAE 6869 Teaching Digital Storytelling

LAE 6869 Teaching Digital Storytelling

Summer 2016 Online Course

May 9, 2016 - July 3, 2016

Instructor: Dr. Kathryn Caprino

Office: 2413 Norman

Email:

Email is the preferred method of communication for this course.

“It is my opinion that a story worth reading only in childhood is not worth reading even then.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Course Overview

We will explore digital storytelling, a wonderful amalgamation of old and new literacy practices. A powerful digital humanities text, the digital story has implications for K-12 classrooms, higher education settings, and a variety of other professional spaces. Intended for educators and others interested in digital storytelling, Teaching Digital Storytelling is an eight-week online course delivered in Canvas. Although class participants will plan for and create a digital story with technology tools, class participants are not expected to be technology experts. Class participants will be encouraged to apply understandings of digital storytelling to their unique classroom environment or professional setting. A fascination with story’s connection to our humanity is the only prerequisite, and students with a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds are encouraged to enroll.

Syllabus Updated: May 2016

Objectives

By the end of the course, you should be able to

(1) define digital storytelling,

(2) analyze digital stories as narratives,

(3) apply strategies to develop story maps and story boards,

(4) consider uses of digital storytelling in educational and/or professional settings,

(5) make use of Web 2.0 tools to create an original digital story for an authentic educational or professional purpose, and

(6) reflect on the digital story composition process.

Required Textbook

Ohler, J.B. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning, and creativity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. (2nd edition).

Technical Assistance

Please contact the UF Helpdesk () with any technical concerns you have throughout the course. Most students create their digital stories in Movie Maker or iMovie, so you might want to make sure you have access to one of these programs early in the semester.

Notes

I have posted some resources about netiquette and participating in an online course on our opening Canvas course.

You will use APA 6th edition when you cite references. You need to cite within weekly discussion post forums and replies, course assignments, final project, and final exam and reflection. See the following website for information on APA formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/

Read assigned class readings so that you are prepared for online discussions and sharing.

Adhere to the directions for completing assignments (including readings and discussions).

Note that all papers written for this class need to be typed in a word document, double-spaced with 12-point font. Online documents must be uploaded in a timely manner. Plan ahead for computer glitches.

Turn in assignments on the assigned due date. 10 points will be deducted for each day an assignment is late. Late means assignments turned in after assigned online due date and time.

Consider your professional ethos when submitting all written work. If you have problems with writing assignments, visit the UF Reading & Writing Center (RWC), located on the mezzanine level of SW Broward Hall. Mechanics of proper writing procedures are important in your written assignments.

Class Attendance and Participation

Class attendance and participation are important elements in your learning for this online class. Late or non-participation in the online forum diminishes the quality of this class for others; therefore full participation is required. Tardiness and non-participation will result in reduced participation forum points and final grade. The instructor reserves the right to deduct points for late assignments. All discussion forums, assignments, final projects, exams, and reflections must be submitted to earn a passing grade in the course.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who need reasonable modifications to complete tasks successfully and otherwise satisfy course criteria are encouraged to discuss with the instructor as early in the course as possible and to identify and plan specific accommodations. Students with disabilities requesting accommodations should first register with the Disability Resource Center (352- 392 – 8565, www.dso.ufl.edu/drchttp://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc) Student will be asked to supply a letter from the Office for Students with Disabilities to assist in planning modifications.

Course Organization

As we prepare to compose our own digital stories, we will read the Ohler (2013) text, explore other readings and resources, analyze digital stories, consider how digital storytelling relates to literacy standards, plan for digital stories, collect and organize materials, and engage in various other activities related to digital storytelling. Each week you will be responsible for the following: 1) Reading the content of the week, 2) Posting to the discussion forum, 3) Replying to two classmates’ discussion forum posts, and 4) Submitting any additional assignments.

Content of the Week: The content of the week includes required readings. Your readings should be completed by Thursday at midnight so you can actively participate in the weekly discussion forum.

Weekly Discussion Forum Posts and Replies: Forum discussions are intended to help you make sense of the assigned readings for the week. Make an initial post in which you respond to the week’s readings in a few sentences and ask two open-ended, thought-provoking questions by Thursday of the week at 11:59 p.m. Respond to two classmates’ posts between Thursday and the end of the instructional week (Sunday at 11:59 p.m.). I expect that your responses will include asking questions of each other, respectfully challenging, and/or agreeing with the ideas being discussed, soliciting and providing evidence for claims, and generating more questions toward disturbing the status quo where necessary. Your postings will be assessed for originality, timelines and critical thinking quality. Points will be deducted for lack of APA citation. Please include a reference within your post if you cite materials other than the Ohler (2013) text.

Additional Assignments: Additional assignments are denoted on the course syllabus, and rubrics will be provided within Canvas.

Weekly Schedule

One of the challenges of online courses is pacing oneself through a given week. This schedule will help you pace yourself to meet weekly deadlines.

Monday/Tuesday

1. Read others’ comments to you discussion posts from last week.

2. Read weekly overview on syllabus.

3. Begin readings for the week.

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

1. Finish all of the required reading for the week (no later than Thursday)

2. Post your original response to the discussion forum by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.

Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday

1. Engage in discussion about the readings by responding to two classmates’ posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

2. Submit any other addition assignments.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE ONLINE COURSE SHELL, AS INFORMATION WILL BE UPDATED THERE.

Before the Course: Introductory Canvas Post to Classmates

Purchase Ohler (2013) text.
Update your Canvas profile with picture and brief introduction. Building a community is so important for online courses.

Week One: May 9 – May 15

Introduction to Digital Storytelling

Learning Goals: Define digital storytelling, explain digital storytelling’s applications in relation to educational or professional contexts, and create writing territories list.

Complete Weekly Readings 1) Read the entire syllabus, including the portion below the schedule of classes. 2) Familiarize yourself with the course Canvas shell 3) Read Ohler (2013) Preface and pp. 2- 47.
Read What is Digital Storytelling? (http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=27&cid=27). You may want to bookmark this site and refer to it throughout the semester.
Compose Discussion Forum Post 1 by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
Reply to two classmates’ discussion forum posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
Upload Writing Territories Assignment to Canvas by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Week Two: May 16 – May 22

Digital Storytelling and Standards

Learning Goals: Explain how digital storytelling aligns with standards, and assess a digital story according to Ohler’s (2013) digital story assessment traits.

Complete Weekly Readings 1) Ohler (2013) text pp. 48 – 91.
View at least 5 digital stories from the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS): You may want to bookmark this site and refer to it throughout the semester.
Begin to think about possible ideas for your own digital story. The ways in which the stories are organized on the CDS site might help you think about ideas.
Complete Discussion Forum Post 2 by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
Reply to two classmates’ discussion forum posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Week Three: May 23 – May 29

Story Core and Story Mapping

Learning Goals: Apply Ohler’s (2013) story core to a digital story, and create a story map of a digital story.

Complete Weekly Readings 1) Ohler (2013) pp. 94 – 114.
Begin to narrow down original digital story ideas. View Emily Bailin’s TED talk “The Power of Digital Storytelling” (
Complete Discussion Forum Post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
Reply to two classmates’ discussion forum posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
Submit Story Map Assignment to Canvas by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
Submit Project Proposal for Original Digital Story Assignment to Canvas by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Week Four: May 30 – June 5

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Learning Goals: Finalize idea for original digital story, and create story core for original digital story. Consider Ohler’s (2005) levels of character transformation in relation to digital story.

Complete readings 1) Ohler (2013) pp. 115 – 157
Examine digital stories on the Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling site and the CDS site for inspiration.
Review Final Digital Story Project Requirements.
Complete Discussion Forum by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
Reply to two classmates’ discussion forum posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
Submit Story Core for Original Digital Story Assignment to Canvas by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
Begin script for original digital story.

Week Five: June 6 – June 12

Learning Goals: To finalize script and storyboard for original digital story.

Complete readings 1) Ohler (2013) pp. 158 – 170.
Complete script for original digital story.
Submit Storyboard for Original Digital Story Assignment to Canvas by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Week Six: June 13 – June 19

Learning Goals: Apply peer and instructor feedback to digital version of original digital story.

Complete readings 1) Ohler (2013) pp. 172 – 225.
Provide peer feedback two classmates.
Select digital tool for composing final digital story (e.g. iMovie or Movie Maker). Familiarize yourself with these tools. Look at online tutorials if you are new to these tools.
Consider peer and instructor feedback as you begin digital version of original digital story.

Week Seven: June 20 – June 26

Learning Goals: Consider media grammar in relation to teaching and composing original digital story. Think about issues of copyright in relation to digital storytelling.

Complete readings 1) Ohler (2013) pp. 226 – 275.
Complete Discussion Forum by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
Reply to two classmates’ posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
Continue developing original digital story.

Week Eight: June 27 – July 3

Learning Goals: Publish original digital story. Offer feedback to classmates’ digital stories. Reflect on the process of creating a digital story.

Submit Original Digital Story to Assignments and to Discussion Forum Week 8 by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
Submit Storytelling Reflection by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
Reply to at least two classmates’ digital stories by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Graded Class Assignments

Participation (10%): All assignments and posts should be completed and required documents uploaded to the course website in a timely manner. Be sure to ascertain the correct due dates and time for each activity in this course. Students who submit more than one assignment late and do not participate actively in the forum discussions will not receive an A in this class.

Weekly Discussion Forums Posts and Replies: (20%): Actively engaging in course material is essential to your success in this course. We can learn a lot from one another from meaningful posts and replies. The quality of your weekly discussion posts will be assessed. You will reply to the initial post, ask questions to your peers, and reply to at least two classmates’ posts each week. I will notify you if the quality of your weekly discussion forum posts and/or replies needs to improve.

Assignments (40%): The assignments for this course are designed to help you think about yourself as a writer, to analyze digital stories as mentor texts, and to engage in the important planning aspects of digital storytelling. Rubrics will be provided, if applicable.

Final Project (20%):  Your final project for this course is an original digital story. Whereas the planning of the digital story is paramount in this course, the actual delivery of an original digital story is also important. You need to make sure you consult campus experts or experts at your workplace if you have specific technology needs. A rubric will be provided.

Final Exam and Reflection (10%): The final exam will assess your knowledge of the central goals of the course and your ability to write articulately about the craft of digital storytelling and how you may implement digital stories into your educational or workplace settings. You will also be asked to reflect on your own writing process throughout the digital story composing process. A rubric will be provided.

A Note about Plagiarism

Any writing that you do in this course must be entirely your own work. You must document in APA style, all sources of information that you use for every assignment, including those retrieved from the Internet. You are strongly advised to purchase a current APA style manual (6th edition) if you have not already done so, as APA style is required in most College of Education courses. You will give credit to all sources you consulted for your digital story at the end of your digital story.

Develop a note-taking system that works for you when reading information to be used later in a paper. Paraphrase and summarize from original sources as you take notes. If your notes are not copied word-for-word from the original source, but are put into your own words instead, you are less likely to plagiarize.

Grading Scale

Final Grade: A grade in this course is determined using the grading scale below. However, the final grade will be assessed based on the completion of all assignments and your class participation.

A = 93 or above A- = 90-92 B+ = 87-89 B = 83-86 B- = 80-82 C+ = 77-79 C = 73-76 

C- 70-72 D+ = 67-69 D = 63-66 D- = 60-62 E = 59 or below

The syllabus is a work in progress and is subjected to change to meet the needs of the course. Instructor will notify students of any changes.