For National Literacy and Numeracy Week 2011, students had the opportunity to choose a book listed on the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s shortlisted books list or a personal favourite to base their digital story on. Examples of digital stories were created to help students get started. The students and teachers from all of these schools hope their efforts will inspire you to create your own digital stories and share them with Australia via our gallery, by sending us the URL and a brief blurb that describes your story. Remember, if you don’t make a digital story, you can still send through a brief recount of your activities and photos.
For full instructions for sharing stories see FAQ’s
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Family Forest The year 3 and 4 students from Canterbury South Public School innovated on the literary devices used in the text Family Forest and created their own clever ‘play on words’. Family Forest digital story example. Activity ideas for Family Forest. |
Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot The Hassall Grove Public School Years 5 and 6 students used the main idea from Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot and through the digital story share their own brilliant plots. Violet Mackerel's Brillaint Plot digital story example. Activity ideas for Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot. |
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Whoever You Are Year 2 students from Windang Public School used Digital Stories to retell the story of Whoever You Are emphasising the main theme of the book. Whoever You Are digital story example. Information about Whoever You Are. |
Mirror Secondary students from Edmund Rice College, Wollongong, interpreted the theme in the wordless picture book Mirror and made connections to their own school community as well as globally. Mirror digital story example. Activity ideas for Mirror. |
What is a digital story?
In the simplest terms digital stories give students the opportunity to use technology to create stories using a variety of multimedia tools including graphics, audio, animation and web publishing.
As a rough guide you should aim for:
- 250 words
- 10-15 images
- 2-3 minutes long
- Copyright of images + audio *Compiled by Susie Pratt 2010
Many things can inspire your digital stories. The books selected from the Children’s Book Council of Australia shortlist are rich with themes relevant to students’ lives (such as friendship, families, difference and similarities) which will generate insightful discussions in your classrooms.
Our Digital Storytelling Guide (Digital Storytelling Guide RTF 91KB | Digital Storytelling Guide PDF 617KB) will help you get started, and guide you through things to consider as you begin, such as:
- What is the key message of your digital story?
- Do the visuals clearly match and emphasise different parts of the narrative?
- Do extra audio elements add to the narrative of the story?
More Information
For more helpful information on Digital Stories, check out the following links:
- University of Wollongong Digital Storytelling Guide
- Country Areas Program (CAP). This site contains useful information plus stories created by children in primary and secondary schools. Country Areas Program (CAP) Digital Storytelling Information
- Centre for Digital Storytelling
- Queensland University of Technology Digital Storytelling Information
- An Introduction to Digital Storytelling
- Digital Storytelling in Plain English
- Making a Digital Story