Digital StoryTelling Resource Links
This is a collection of resources related to digital storytelling of various kinds: audio, video, animation, and others.
Overview of Digital StoryTell;ing
These are links to resources developed by others related to digital storytelling. Video storytelling can be complex or simple. It provides a powerful way for students to communicate what they have learned and engage others with the topic.
resources for digital storytelling
<Technology Resources>. A list of software and cloud-based services for digital storytelling, learning technology, information dissemination, and other uses.
Free Music Software. The following sites provide free music to use in digital stories and online. Be sure to read the copyright instructions on permissible use: <Free Music Archive> — <Freeplay Music> — <Creative Commons> — <CCmixter> — <Royalty Free Music> — <Internet Archive>
Free Digital Images. The following sites provide free images to use in digital stories and online. Be sure to read the copyright instructions on permissible use: <Google Images> — <ARTstor> — <Unsplash> — <Stocksnap.io> — <Pixabay.com> — <Public Domain Files> — <Wikipedia Creative Commons> — <Internet Archives> — <Pics4Learning.com>
<Image Resizer Software> Useful for reducing the size of images that may be required by some digital storytelling software programs like Animoto.
<Photo Editing and Infographic Creation. Adobe Spark> (free for basic version). Variety of purposes including easy creation and editing of infographic images. <Online tutorial available>
<Zamzar> Convert documents, images, music, videos, audio, and eBook formats among many different options. (Example: convert mp3 to aiff music format).
<Student Digital Story Samples> Sample of student-created digital stories using an iPad or iMovie for class assignments. <Samples #2> <Samples #3>
<Frequently Asked Questions> FAQs about use of iPads in general and digital storytelling in particular by College of Education and Human Development, UMN.
<Educational Uses of Digital Stories website> maintained by Univ. of Houston
Animoto Digital StoryTelling Software
Animoto is a cloud-based software that allows combining of digital images, short video clips, text, and music to create beautiful digital stories..
<Animoto Home Web Page> Animoto allows easy integration of images, short video clips, music, and text to create digital stories. Free account to make 30 second videos. Personal account $30/annually for up to 10 minute videos.
<Examples of Animoto digital stories by classroom instructor and students> These videos were constructed using the Animoto cloud software. The instructor videos were upgraded to HD level.
<Examples of Animoto digital stories by David Arendale of his vacations>
<Animoto license for up to 50 students for twelve months> Educators can receive free group license for up to 50 students to have free unlimited access for six months to make videos that last up to 10 minutes. Must follows directions to be eligible for this limited time offer.
<Video Demo for Creating Your First Animoto Video> This video is less than three minutes and does a great job of all the steps to create your videos and sharing them with others. This video is from the official YouTube channel maintained by the professionals at Animoto.
<Animoto Youtube Channel with How to Videos from the Company> These are the official YouTube videos that demonstrate how to get the most of your Animoto account. Some videos demonstrate features that are only available for business users who pay a higher annual fee for additional features.
<Sample Animoto Personal Music Videos> These Animoto music videos were created by the course instructor to remember vacation trips and other events. They are intended only as a sample of how Animoto could be used. It is so much fun.
yvond (formerly known as GoAnimate) Digital StoryTelling Software
<Yvond Home Web Page> Yvond is a cloud-based software that allows easy-to-develop short, animated stories composed of text by the user that is combined with choices to animate and move the animated characters. Different paid plans: Individual account Free limited trial, Three month, $18; One year, $58 — School plan Free limited trial (click on button in upper right corner of splash web page), Annual plan depends upon number of teachers and students. Student license can be reused with different students following semester. $150+ — Business or nonprofit plan $80+ monthly. More features in comparison to the individual and educator plans. Collection of assorted Vyond video tutorials. These YouTube videos were made by assorted individuals. They range in their quality. So a simple YouTube search for "GoAnimate tutorials" and see what is selected. Collection of assorted Vyond videos. The following collection was gathering by using the Google search term “Go!Animate”. Caution, objectionable language may appear unexpectedly in some of them.
PowToon
<PowToon Home Web Page> It is a dynamic alternative to Powerpoint with animations and cartoons. Drag-and-drop to create presentations. Drag-and-drop to create presentations. <YouTube overview video of PowToon>
DigitalFilms
<DigitalFilms Home Web Page> Unleash your creativity and make your digital film for free! Choose a background scene, characters, animated actions, dialog, introduction, and ending credits.
Wideoo
<Wideoo Home Web Page> Make and share awesome videos online. Start from scratch or use our awesome, easy to edit templates to capture your audience and bring your brand to life. All plans include YouTube export, unlimited audio and images import, and access to template galleries. Free to create 45 second videos. Special discounts for education.
Common Craft
<Common Craft Home Web Page> This is included to provide inspiration for another type of digital storytelling. The videos use stop-action animation with whiteboards and paper cut-outs to illustrate the topic. This style of animation has been used by teachers and students for class presentations and assignments. The developers of this style of explanation animation have published an enhanced ebook with video tutorials and samples on how to create similar animations for use in the classroom by teachers and students. <https://www.commoncraft.com/art-explanation> To make it even easier to create the animations, thousands of cut out images can be downloaded under one of the annual license plans. Go to YouTube and use search term “Common Craft” and many videos will appear in the list that include Common Craft-produced videos, videos made by high school teachers and students demonstrating how to produce videos, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCl1zoxs3Zo> and videos made by students to explain various education topics.
Comic Life
<Comic Life Home Web Page> 30 day free trial. Purchase for $30 Works on Mac or Windows PC. Make a stunning comic from your own images. Packed with fonts, templates, panels, balloons, captions, and lettering art.
StoryMapJS
<StoryMapJS Home Web Page> a free tool to help you tell stories on the web that highlight the locations of a series of events. It is a new tool, yet stable in our development environment, and it has a friendly authoring tool. It has two significant, related features: (1) Gigapixel can tell stories with large photographs, works of art, historic maps, and other image files. Because it works best with pixel-dense files, we call these "gigapixel" StoryMaps. Learn more. (2) SnapMap is a tool to help you quickly create a StoryMap. It places your 20 most recent geo-tagged Instagrams on a map that can be shared instantly. You can also edit it in StoryMap's authoring tool, adding media from other sources.