Digital Storytelling
The Storyline Online website, a literacy development initiative from the Screen Actors Guild of America, is a collection of short stories narrated on screen by actors (some of whom each of you will recognise, depending on your era!). The stories take between 5 and 10 minutes each to tell, and feature animations and images from their respective book illustrators. They are charming and captivating, and very educational in that subtle way that means students don’t notice they’re learning until it’s over!! Each story has a downloadable worksheet of ideas for activities to accompany it. This is the educational application of the multimedia internet at its very best. Bookmark it now…but be warned, when you start watching you’ll need time – it’s addictive!
The SAG website states “In 2001, the SAG Foundation was given a generous grant by Verizon to create digital videos featuring professional actors reading quality children’s books. These imaginatively produced videos fully captured the intricate illustrations, colors and textures of each book. Storyline Online also features supplemental activities for each book developed by an early literacy specialist. Together, the videos and related curriculum strengthen comprehension, verbal and written skills of English language learners worldwide. Available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, free of charge, Storyline Online ensures that every child who has access to an Internet connection can be exposed to a story.
International Children’s Digital Library 
The largest digital collections of children’s book, ICDL contains over 4,400 books in 54 languages representing 64 countries with applications for the iPhone and the new larger screen, iPad.
Jing
Do you need to quickly snap a picture of your screen or record a video of an onscreen action? Jing is the solution; it’s free software that adds visuals to your online conversations. Include it in an email, Website, or IM.
Storybird
Do your students like to tell stories? Storybird will help them to create short, visual stories. You can save them, share them and (soon) print them. Use Storybird’s beautiful watercolor illustrations to tell your story.
No comments yet.