1.) Digital Media in Museums- As one of my colleagues noted, there are more and more museums that feature digital media as an integral part of their exhibitions. I have been to many museums that feature videos, music, sounds etc. in their exhibits and it has done nothing but helped to make my experience more immersive and informative. I think this also ties into Visual Literacy, because a large part of a visit to a museum deals with our ability to be able to process and interpret what we see.
2.)Social Media Networks- This is a obvious one, but I think that it is a bigger part of our lives than we actually realize. In this day and age, we are very connected to our social media networks, and are so concerned with how we portray ourselves to the digital world- so much so that some of us even strive to create falsified versions of ourselves to seem more interesting. We find out current world and local events through these networks, and most importantly, we are able to keep up with the lives of those who are most important to us. While some may say that social networks only help to hinder our ability to form real-life connections, I think that, in its best form, it allows us to become more invested in those real-life relationships. (Global literacy anyone? Social media networks help us to remain connected with people all around the world. In doing so, we can understand their perspectives and their nuances without even being aware of the process. For example, my friend in Antigua can post pictures of herself at Carnival, which is a massive cultural event, and I would have a small glimpse into her culture.)
3.) The Deli Scanner Thingies in the Supermarket- (Am I reaching here?) At its most basic level, digital storytelling involves a storyteller, a medium and an audience. With that definition in mind, I think that there is a wealth of situations that apply to this interpretation, even all the way down to ordering your sandwich meat at your local ShopRite. I don't know about anyone else, but I find it so fascinating that now, more and more, technology is applied to streamline the simplest of tasks. I do find that sometimes this is annoying, but it is still nonetheless cool that instead of me waiting forever for my order, I can tell someone the "story" of what I want to eat, and it can be received and understood by someone else.
4.) Google Docs- Have you guys ever used this thing? It's super cool. Google docs allows a group of people to edit or add to a document in real-time. Not only can you edit a document with other people at the same time, you can see the additions that each person in the group makes to the document, and it will always be updated to its latest form. I think that an important aspect of digital storytelling is the ability for more than one person to participate in the narrative, and Google docs is an excellent example of this.
5.) Time and Place Stamps- Okay, this is the one that slapped me in the face, and led me to write this post. Just now, I was scrolling through the pictures on my IPhone, and the new OS update categorizes your pictures in this really cool way. When you first open up the application, the first category is "Moments," which is organized into days and weeks. If you go further, the next category is "Collections," and if you back even further, your pictures are categorized into years. I suggest that everyone with an Iphone check out the "Collections" category, because it does indeed tell a story. If I look in the section titled, "September 12-27," I see myself at a lot of evernts, and I see a lot of pictures of food. Obviously that was a good two weeks for me. (Food is good. Always good.) If I look at October 2-November 16th, I see tons of pictures of my nephew, and pictures from when I went apple and pumpkin picking. Thus, time stamps and even the pictures themselves are a cool method of digital storytelling. From that little feature, I can look back on the memories and the experiences that I've had, and can see an instant replay of my life.
The photo app also has another cool feature, which is a feature that is not only limited to the IPhone; I've seen on many phone and web applications. This feature is the ability to aggregate your photos into a live map. Each time you take a picture, the app will place a dot on a map, indicating where the picture was taken. If you zoom out, and look at all of the places where you have snapped a photo, the map will undoubtedly tell a story. For me, I have many pictures in Albany, the Bronx, Connecticut, Texas, and in the Caribbean. This may mean that I like to travel, but it can also mean that I attend school in one place, and have family in all of the others (which is the actual story). I think it would be so cool to see other people's maps, and to try to figure out their story.
What do you guys think of this list? Do you have any more examples of Digital Storytelling?
Brittany, I like the part on social media. It is really sad some individuals of our generation try to create totally different personalities of themselves on online communities just to capture the attention of others. I see that happen all the time. Social media also helps to sow seeds in the lives of those we truly care about so it is definitely a plus in my humble opinion.
ReplyDelete