Tales from the digital classroom: engaging staff with digital stories to enhance learning and teaching

Jak Radice School of Health Studies / CED

Maureen Readle Centre for Educational Development (CED)

Dr Caroline Plews School of Health Studies

Overview

• Why use digital stories?

• Creating the digital stories

• Digital storytelling examples

• Discussion

• Activity

• Plenary

Caroline Plews – the Lecturer’s viewpoint

Caroline Plews – the Lecturer’s viewpoint

Summary

Our search for a cost effective methodology has resulted in strengthening the

collaboration between patients, teachers and learning technologists.

Maureen Readle – the Learning Technologist viewpoint

Maureen Readle – the Learning Technologist’s viewpoint

Creating the digital story v1

Training staff

Aim:

• Train academic staff to create movies

Strengths:

• Relationship between academic and service user

Issues:

• IT skills

• Time

Software used:

• PhotoStory 3

• Audacity

Creating the digital story v2a

Recording video

Aim:• To video service usersStrengths:• Quicker to produce

contentIssues:• Learning to use camera

and editing software• TimeSoftware used:• iMovie• Pinnacle VideoSpin

Review

Academic & Learning

Technologist

Creating the digital story v2b

Partnership

Aim:• To work with academic staff to

create movies

Strengths:• Academic released from

production • Academic drives content• Learning technologist provide

production / creativity skills

Issues:• IT skills• Time

Software used:• PhotoStory 3• Audacity• iMovie• Pinnacle VideoSpin

Record

Academic & Patient

Transcribe

Administrator

Select

Academic

Create

Learning Technologist

Example 1 – audio only

Linda’s story:the effect of bipolar disorder on her

family (audio clip)

Example 1 – audio + images

Example 2 – video

The student experience

“You can only guess what is feels like from a book but when someone can tell you because they experience it,it then sinks in better to understand

and appreciate.”

“Very much more interesting and thought provoking than reading

in a text book”.

The great majority of students regarded listening to a service user as providing knowledge additional to that which they might gain from text books.

Evaluation summary

“Hearing it from a service user makes all the theory we learn make sense.”

“The personal stories are very

interesting.”

“Had time to understand experience from

patients’ perspective because we are ‘outside’ of clinical setting so can reflect on what we have

learned.”

“More understanding and a lot of knowledge was gained through Susan’s personal experience.”

Discussion:

Value of digital stories for staff and students

• Audio file vs Movie• Value of digital storytelling to the learner

• Digital storytelling in other subjects• Client voice in the classroom

10 mins

Discussion:

Activity:

Activity:

Creating a storyboard

• Create a storyboard from a short transcript (work in pairs)

• How would you illustrate your story?

10 mins

Plenary:

Plenary:How might you use digital storytelling

in your subject?

Put your ideas onto a post-it andadd it to the post-it wall