The Provost’s Office invites faculty to participate in a 2-day digital storytelling workshop facilitated by Daniel Weinshenker and Ryan Trauman from StoryCenter, in Berkeley, California. Snapshot Stories, August 1-2, 2017, will introduce Muhlenberg faculty to the the possibilities, practices, and tools of digital storytelling to support and deepen integrative learning, faculty student collaboration, and global education. This is the third in a series of three Digital Tools Workshops supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to support the integration of digital tools into the curriculum, particularly in HDGE and MILA courses (read more about the grant initiative here). This workshop builds on faculty interest and participation in the 2016 Story Matters workshop, which helped several faculty design and implement digital storytelling assignments for their courses in public health, history, sociology, languages, media and communication, sustainability studies, and other fields. For faculty who attended last year’s workshop, this Snapshot Story workshop goes deeper into the methods, techniques, and pedagogical applications of digital storytelling. One faculty participant from last year noted:
I would love an opportunity to attend a workshop where I can build on the lessons from the Digital Storytelling where I design/create specific material in class. Sort of a Digital Storytelling Part II where I come in with all of the necessary parts (pictures, video, audio, etc) and create media that I can use directly in a class. This way I can fully integrate the workshop lessons into actual class specific material while having access to technical support.
This workshop is also designed for faculty who have not previously explored digital storytelling, providing both an introduction to the practice within higher education and meaningful hands-on opportunity with tools for producing digital stories. We specifically highlight digital tools that are accessible and supported on campus by the Digital Learning Team and student Digital Learning Assistants. Summarizing a strength of last year’s digital storytelling workshop, one faculty member noted:
One of the most useful aspects of the workshop was simply having the time to play around with the technologies after being introduced to them. Often times I hear about digital programs that can be a great tool in the classroom but I never have the opportunity to work with the program directly. The great thing about this workshop was that I was able to play around with the tools with a knowledgeable support staff right next to me.
Faculty from all disciplines interested in exploring the possibilities of integrating digital storytelling into their courses are encouraged to participate. Faculty will receive a $500 stipend in support of their participation and efforts to develop a digital storytelling assignment or element in a course. Beyond the workshop, Muhlenberg’s Digital Learning Team and Digital Learning Assistants are available to partner with faculty on crafting digital storytelling assignments and to support students in their digital storytelling projects as well.
To ensure that faculty participants of all levels of technical ability and comfort have the support they need throughout the workshop, and to provide a hospitable space valuing both telling and listening to stories, participation is limited to 16. To register for the workshop, please complete this short form. To learn more about StoryCenter’s work, please visit www.storycenter.org. If you have questions about the workshop or digital storytelling, please contact Lora Taub-Pervizpour, Associate Dean for Digital Learning at lorataub@muhlenberg.edu. For questions about the Mellon funded initiative, please contact Professor Jim Peck.
Workshop schedule
Day One:
9 a.m. -10 a.m. Introductions
Why Digital Storytelling? Why at Muhlenberg?
Why in Higher Ed?
10 a.m.-11 a.m. Seven steps of digital storytelling and writing prompt
11 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Writing Prompt
11 a.m.-12 p.m. Storycircle. Break into groups for story sharing and feedback.
12 p.m.-1 p.m. Lunch
1 p.m.-2 p.m. Voice recording and mini tech tutorials in small groups.
2 p.m.-3 p.m. Work time for completing Snapshot Story
Day 2:
9 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Ice Breaker and Finish Up Stories
9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Plagiarism/Copyright/Ethics/Assessment discussion
10:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Sample assessment assignments in small groups
11 a.m.-12 a.m. Community of Practice and where to go from here at Muhlenberg
12 p.m.-1 p.m. Lunch
1 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Small group breakout. Develop implementation plan/share with mini-group
1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Dissemination and faculty/community engagement
2:30 p.m.-3 p.m. Show Snapshot Stories
About the Workshop Facilitators
Daniel is the Rocky Mountain/Midwest Region Director for StoryCenter. Daniel has been telling stories and helping others to find and tell their own for more than 20 years. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Daniel taught creative writing during his post-graduate writing work at the University of Colorado. In 2000, he took a workshop with Joe Lambert, caught the bug, joined our staff and established an office in Denver. He specializes in exploring the impact that the stories we tell about ourselves have on our identity. Daniel developed and currently manages our Nurstory initiative, and has also done considerable work with museums and radio/television broadcasters in the Denver area. He is a recipient of Colorado Public Television’s Independent Media Award. BA, English and Creative Writing, University of California, San Diego; MA, Creative Writing, University of Colorado, Boulder; MSW (in progress), Metro State University.
Ryan is a Chicago resident and full-time lecturer in the Columbia College Chicago English Department. His scholarship and creative non-fiction have appeared in Computers and Composition Online, Kairos, and the North Dakota Quarterly. Ryan taught for six summers at the Digital Media and Composition Institute at Ohio State, and two of his video essays have been screened at the SSML Midwestern Film Festival. After taking one of our workshops in Denver nearly ten years ago, he began working with us and facilitating digital storytelling in locations around the country. Ryan blogs sporadically at his informal, professional blog, New Media Scholar. He also hosts and produces the Masters of Text podcast with his frequent collaborator, Ames Hawkins.