Digital Storytelling in the classroom - Implementation

In my previous post I said that I would use this in the classroom. That is definitely true. However, I just realized that I have been doing it already, albeit in a limited sense. I would like to use this more often and I would like to use this as alternate means of evaluation as well. I think there is a definite inherent value in doing this especially for students. As they do this they will use higher order thinking skills. Not to mention that they will be engaged and involved in their lesson.

Below are two videos that I have put together (one for this course and the other last November) and samples of some of the videos that my students have done. I put these videos on youtube. The ones that my students did I set them for private viewing (to satisfy legal privacy issues).

I put together this video that I will probably use in my class when we do singing worship in Bible class. Many times we like to sing in class but we can't always get the musicians in the class to play. In class, we'll find videos on YouTube and sing along with the music. I found one YouTube for the song, "Here I am to Worship", but I didn't like how that looked, it wasn't visually appealing to me. So I decided that I would make my own. Here it is. Since I'm a Mac user, I put this together using Apple's Keynote and iMovie.

I made this video in November of 2012. My tribute to Fallen Canadian Soldiers in the Afghanistan conflict. I am deeply saddened by the lives lost and deeply grateful for our Canadian soldiers that do a job that no one else will do. This video contains actual combat footage that I found online. I used Apple's Keynote and iMovie. I have debated whether I should use this in school for Remembrance Day assembly. Because of the combat footage, I might only use it for upper level students, Gr. 7 and above.

Below are some of the videos that my students have made. I'm wondering if perhaps they could be considered digital stories.

This is a video students did advertising a pair of shoes for health class...for our Advertising unit. These students filmed and edited this using an iPad.

A video from Health class...for our Mental Health and Wellness unit. This video was done by ESL students. Content is a little lacking but I think they did a great job anyways. Made me laugh. This video/story was filmed using a  student's mobile device/smartphone (Samsung Galaxy I think) and then edited using iMovie.

A video done by students about what Christmas is really about. Students went and shot their own "on-the-street" footage and also found similar "on-the-street" footage from others on Youtube. Afterwards, they compiled it all together and edited it and this was their final result. This was then used at the school's Christmas concert. Students used video cameras to capture footage and then edited using iMovie.