Digital Storytelling is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories. As with traditional storytelling, most digital stories focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view. However, as the name implies, digital stories usually contain some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music.


Follow these simple steps and you are off on a grand story telling adventure!

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VoiceThread

This is the "gold standard" for K-12 digital story telling! What are you waiting for? Jump in and check it out. The cost....it's free ...of course!

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With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world. All with no software to install.
A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too.
Users can doodle while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation. VoiceThreads can even be embedded to show and receive comments on other websites and exported to iPods/MP3 players or DVDs to play as movies.


external image Xtranormal.png Xtranormal
http://www.xtranormal.com/ Almost in a category of it's own, this tool provides you al of the tools a movie director would have to select a set, actor sound effects, etc and create a movie made from only the dialogue text you type into the tool. Generates a movie you embed and you can then export directly to YouTube.

external image Glogster.png Glogster
http://www.glogster.com/ Create posters with images, video, audio (uploaded or recorded) and apply a wide range of text effects. Be sure to see Glogster/edu for education related
Lots more about Glogster




external image Screen+shot+2011-02-15+at+8.45.18+PM.pngLittle Bird Tales is a nice site intended for younger students to use to create digital stories. Little Bird Tales walks users through each step of creating a multimedia story. Users can upload images, draw images, or record from their webcams. Stories can be written with text or narrated by students using microphones connected to their computers

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Myna is a free web-based audio track mixer created by Aviary. Using Myna you can mix together up to ten tracks to create your own audio files. The sounds you mix can come from the Myna library, your vocal recordings made with Myna's recorder, or audio tracks that you upload to your Myna account. Using Myna you can record and save podcasts. You can then publish them to a free host like Blubrry.

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For a quick and easy way to create simple videos from pictures, sound, text, and existing video clips try Animoto. Animoto makes it possible to quickly create a video using still images, music, and text. In the last year Animoto has added the option to include video clips in your videos too. If you can make a slideshow presentation, you can make a video using Animoto.


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ZooBurst is an exciting free service for creating digital stories. ZooBurst allows users to create 3D pop-up books using nothing more than public domain clip art and ZooBurst's web-based editing tools. Users can view ZooBurst 3D books in augmented reality by enabling their webcams (click webcam mode) then clicking the ZB button present on each story