I came across this article by Bryan Alexander and Alan Levine. It's a wonderful encapsulation of where web 2.0 storybuilding is going and well worth a read. It encourages the use of this type of storybuilding in education, something I heartily agree with. Story building using web 2.0 tools is powerful, of great value in the classroom and offers exciting new models of expression. It's great fun too!

Tom Barrett posted a wonderful little list of Digital Narrative resources today, with a couple I hadn't come across before. PicLit I particularly liked, a great introduction to alternate narrative forms, and great fun!

A fun little web page I came across today. Create a Wired Magazine cover. What story will your cover news tell?

I recently updated the VoiceThread page with some additional information about the Education accounts they offer. The rates are cheap, but I honestly believe that you lose more than you gain. The VoiceThread community is rich and varied, and you forgo comments from these contributors by opting for a close shop. Having said that, the paid accounts offer more accountability, and you don't need email addresses to set up separate student accounts. Either way, it's a great story building tool!

Sumo Paint has been added to the Media Library. It's a wonderful web based drawing program with some impressive features. It's also great fun, and well worth a look.

Etherpad looks like it might offer a new way of building collaborative documents and ... stories. The application is currently in closed Beta, and I'll be watching for its release keenly. I will be looking particularly to see what differences there will be to apps like Google Docs and Zoho.

Lots of updates! I've updated the teaching method section with two brand new pages - Slideshow and Timeline. I've also added new resources added to the Media Library, including some new sources of royalty free audio for your digital story building.

Don't forget, if you find an online application that might suitable for story building, feel free to drop me a line!

A digital narrative that made me laugh, about hamlet no less.

Animoto has recently been updated, you can now include text in your videos. It really is, with this addition, one of the best story building applications I've come across recently. Easy and intuitive to use, and the results look professional and dynamic.

Oh, and I made a promo for TDN using the new feature :-)

There are a number of updates coming on TDN, mostly additional pages to the Teaching Method section, with some great new websites for story building.

For now, I thought I'd point you in the direction of Thinkature ... and wonderful little collaborative space that I'm playing with. Teaching method page coming soon!

A 'new user' page has been added to the website, you'll find a link pops up above the news section on the home page.

A new teaching page has been added for Flowgram. I'd encourage you to explore the story building opportunities this new website has to offer. Great fun!

I've been playing with Flowgram, and really like its potential for digital storytelling. I've found the audio a little clunky to use but otherwise it's a great little app. Load of potential for story building.
A Flowgram page will be added to the Teaching Method section soon.

Oh, and I built a quick website tour of The Digital Narrative with it too.

Animoto page added the Teaching Method list - if you haven't checked it out yet, go and do so now!

Just found Picnik ... the best free photo editor online if you're looking for something straightforward with all the features a standard image editor like iPhoto has to offer. It's been added to the Media Library.

I love Animoto, and now they have released a teaching portal with none of the limitations that their traditional account offers. Great fun and it's free! We'll be adding a page for Animoto in the Teaching Method lessons list shortly.

Storychasers is a new TDN portal for young adults interested in becoming digital journalists!

Will reading and writing remain important?

." ... when we incarcerate teenagers of today in traditional classroom settings, they react with predictable disinterest ..." The Economist: From literacy to digiracy.

Try Voki - the new resource added to the Teaching Method pages.

Spinning yarns around the digital campfire. By David Huffaker

Writing stories using SMS in Finland

Launched! July 10 2008

The Digital Narrative is a new resource for teachers and authors exploring the use of new media forms in story writing.

The website offers a Media Library of free web based applications suited to story telling and exploring narrative structure in new forms.

A Teaching Method portal that includes numerous suggestions for presenting digital storytelling in the classroom.

A list of Resources to other prominent digital story websites and an increasing number of examples of digital stories.

So why Digital Narrative? Why bother?

'When we simulate a media in a computer, we fundamentally change it into something new.' Lev Manovich.

Digital Narrative introduces new ways of telling stories. Stories are our collective memory, they are a path to learning, a journey of expression; they remind us who we are and what we might be. The Digital Narrative offers a new medium for these themes, and a new form of interaction with digital media.

Most importantly, story offers us an extremely effective way of asserting a point of view - a powerful thing, particularly for young adults.

Kind Regards

Martin J