Digital storytelling goes beyond text on a page. It uses a variety of interrelated technologies and approaches to tell a story.

Technology provides a wonderful way to explore a story. For instance, T.S. Eliot's Waste Land has been brought to life on the iPad. It takes the original text and enhances the experience.

How can your students tell stories in new ways through using technology?

Cathy Day created an interesting assignment called No Word Allowed. She asked students to write using a tool other than Microsoft Word using the features or powers of storytelling available in the media.

Check out the Twitter Mystery written entirely in Twitter. It was performed almost like a play because the postings were done "live".

Let's explore ways that technology can be connected to digital storytelling through maps, news, comics, artifacts, generators, and tools.

Think of ways to combine maps with storytelling. Use Google Maps. Tell a story about where you went today and what you saw.

The N.E.R.D.S. book series is a great way to connect reading with a sense of place. Check out the NERDS Teacher's Guide. Get students involved in creating maps to go with their own stories. They may be stories written about your local area with familiar locations. Or, students can write about places they are learning about in class.

Many authors incorporate real and fictional maps into their projects. Read Developing the Fictional World through Mapping. It provides great ideas for connecting fiction writing with maps. At How to Draw a Map and Making Sinusoidal Maps, you'll learn how to use graphic tools to create a map.

Check out a series short stories written collaboratively in Google Maps called DARTING and Mr. Plimpton's Revenge is a travel story, and Taste is a series of food stories.

Read some interesting ideas related to creativity and Google Maps like What would Proust do with Google Maps? and How to Read Google Earth Like Proust.

Explore a Google Maps creative project assignment. Think about how you might adapt it for your own use.

Map Creators

• Google Mapmaker
• MyGreatMaps and MapMaker 2.0. Perfect for elementary and middle schools.
• National Geographic MapMaker Interactive
• National Altas Mapmaker
• Old World Map Maker. Great for elementary school. Create an "old world" map.

Weave historical or current events into writing through the use of cover stories. Use TimesMachine or Newseum to kickoff a creative writing activity. Ask students to put themselves into the story and incorporate factual information.

Use historical newspapers from Chronicling America or Illustrated News to write about how a family might react to a news item.

Also use Magazine covers for inspiration such as Mad or Life. What would your parents, grandparents, or great, great grandparents be reading?

Go to the Freedom Riders Glogster example to see how newspapers, video, and photos can be incorporated.

Also look at other countries such as the British History library.

Graphic novels and online comics are a fun way to learn and share ideas.

Comic Creators

• Pixton. Use the free version or consider the school version. Check out the Digital Citizen example.
• Bitstrips. Need to sign-in to save.
• Cartoonist from Creaza
• Chogger
• Comic Creator
• Comic Master
• KABAM. Restricted to the story and theme provided.
• MakeBeliefs Comix. You can print or email your comic. No storage.
• Professor Garfield. Provides characters for stories.
• Strip Generator. Sign-in required to save and publish. Print without sign-in.
• ToonDoo
• Witty Comics
• Write Comics
• Blabberize. Animate a photo and add your voice.

Use online science comics and activities to jumpstart student activities.

Use graphic memoirs like Fun House (preview in Google Books) to jumpstart an autobiographical project.

Combine maps, news clippings, and comics to create your own story. Use The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt for ideas. You can do the same for any time period such as the Civil War.

• Civil War Map
• Civil War Photos
• Gettysburg Address Audio

Increasingly, books are providing artifacts or connecting objects to a story. For instance, 1776 by David McCullough comes with documents and maps. Cathy's Book and Personal Effects: Dark Art come with evidence packets.

Think about ways to connect artifacts to writing activities. Explore Skulls by Simon Winchester, an iPad interactive book where you can explore skulls. Explore other cool resources and images include X is for X-Ray for iPad.

Incorporate museum artifacts into a story or work of nonfiction. Explore the Transmedia Indiana project for sample rubrics and materials. Watch a video of this project focusing on Indiana history. Go to the Transmedia Indiana website.

Explore local or national museums for artifacts such as the Smithsonian Museum Artifacts and Artefacts Canada. Use artwork from Google Art.

Incorporate generators into stories. Involve students in creating artifacts and materials to go along with their stories.

Image Generators

• HugeBigLabs - create lots of fun visual images with photos like magazine covers and movie posters.
• Movie Clapper Board Generator - Creates a movie clapper image.
• Newspaper Generator - Creates a newspaper front page.
• Redkid - Sign Generators
• TiltShift - Turns a photo into what looks like a miniature world.

Create a mystery using a word cloud. Use key words, can you name the book?

Create a clickable word cloud that tells parts of a story out of order. Use SpeakingImage or Thinglink to create hotspots on a word cloud.

Word Cloud Generators

• Wordle
• ABCYa. Great for young children.
• TagCrowd
• Tagul
• Tagxedo
• WordOut
• Word Mosaic
• Word Shift
• You Are Your Words
  

ReadWriteThink Generators

• Book Cover Creator
• CD Cover Creator
• Comic Creator
• Cube Creator
• Letter Generator
• Persuasion Map
• Acrostic Poems, Shape Poem
• Postcard Creator

E-card generators are a great way to provide students with a quick way to share understandings.

• Reading Rockets E-Cards

Use the "make your own" project websites like Scholastic's Make Your Own.

There are many online tools for storytelling. Many of these allow students to export their work for sharing on content curators such as only2clicks. For instance, using the Kerpoof website students can write stories about inventions.

Storytelling Tools

• Storybird. A teacher version is available so teacers can set up student accounts.
• Art of Storytelling. Experience, tell, and picture a story.
• Boomwriter. Read, write, compete and get published.
• Dog's Life. Write a comic-like story.
• Kerpoof-Story. Very easy to use Tell a Story feature.
• Kidsspace. Easy to use library-sponsored tools.
• Myths and Legends. Contains images and animation options.
• Littlebird Tales. Uploade images and record you voice on each page.
• Picturebook Maker. Create picturebooks with limited images.
• Simplebooklet. Create documents of different sizes.
• Storyjumper. Create your own book.
• Storymaker. Simple and free library-sponsored tool
• Tikatok. Try for free.
• ZimmerTwins. Both still and animation.
• ZooBurst. Create your own popup book.

Content Curation Tools

• Scoop.it. Create a topic, add static and dynamic content, and add descriptions, questions, or interaction. Embed widgets and display video. Explore an example called Read Science!, Endangered Species, and Hunger Games.
• Bagtheweb. Try the education version. Check out how a fifth grade class is using this tools with the topic of Lewis Hine.
• Clipboard. Clip and organize information.
• Curated.by. Focuses on Twitter and other existing social media.
• Keepstream. Focuses on social media particularly Twitter.
• Only2Clicks. Very easy to use. Check out Joyce Valenza's page.
• Paper.li. Create your own online newspaper.
• PearlTrees. Organize visually.
• Pinterest. Organize into categories. Example: Fibonacci
• Qrait. Organize social media feeds and URLs.
• Redux. Focuses on video curation.
• Storify. Focuses on social media.
• Themeefy. Create a slide show of ideas and resources.

Read Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado then use the Kerpoof movie maker to create a tall tale. Share it on a content curation site.

Animation Tools

• GoAnimate. Try the free version, then consider the subscription option for more resources. Check out the school version and the lesson gallery.
• Domo Animate. Simple and easy to use.
• Kerpoof-Movie. Very easy to use Make a Movie feature.
• Tate Movie Maker. Go through the process of creating an animated movie.

Movie Tools

• Animoto. Combine photos, video clips, music, and audio into great multimedia projects.
• Masher. Combine video, music, and photos.
• YouTube Video Editor. Combine and edit videos from YouTube.
• Creaza MovieEditor. Online editor.
• Vizlingo. Enter some words and choose images or clips to go with the words to create a short video.
• YouTube Create Videos. Provides a great list of online video makers
• Turtlepond Video Maker. Use existing video to create a short movie.

How do you use maps, news, comics, artifacts, generators, and tools to help students tell stories and communicate understandings. How could they be used?