Developing products that involve multiple digital media platforms requires a different type of planning than students typically use when creating text-based products. As a result, teachers often require students to create a storyboard to help them plan and organize media and ideas prior to creating the product. Storyboards are excellent tools for organizing events as they will appear in a product and help creators clarify which media and effects will be used in a particular segment of the product. However, using only a storyboard as a planning tool for a project may not be effective in developing the content of the product to meet the intended purpose. University of Alaska educational technology professor Jason Ohler suggests that students use story maps at the onset of the project as a tool for planning the content of the product before collecting media and planning the media elements of the product.
Planning Tools: Story Map and Storyboard In an article titled, “The World of Digital Storytelling” (2005), education technology expert Jason Ohler said he noticed that when his students were developing digital stories, they would start with an idea, create a storyboard and then develop the multimedia product. He was never quite satisfied with their products, though, because he found that the stories became weaker as the technology became more powerful. However, Ohler found that when he required students to include an additional step—story-mapping—prior to the development of the storyboard, the focus moved away from the power of the technology to the power of the story. The same phenomenon is applicable to the development of informational/expository or persuasive types of multimedia presentations. When developing multimedia digital stories, Ohler suggests the following process, which applies to all types of multimedia products, including movies. Following these steps helps ensure that students have a well-developed story line or message.
Students should:
Generate a project idea.
Develop a story map and script.
Collect media elements.
Develop a storyboard.
Create the multimedia project.
Storyboard vs. Story Map Storyboards and story maps have different functions in the planning process of a multimedia product. In his article on digital storytelling, Ohler described the difference as follows:
Storyboards do not capture a story’s central conflict, structure and elements of transformation, which we must help students identify if they are to write stories with depth…. A story map is a one-page diagram showing how the essential components of a story are incorporated into the overall flow of the narrative. In addition to helping students think about stories in terms of theme and character development rather than simply as a series of events, story maps enable teachers to quickly assess the strength of a story while it is still in the planning stage and to challenge students to strengthen weak story elements (2005).
Story maps—for all forms of multimedia (narrative, informational/expository or persuasive)—provide a method for fleshing out the intended message. Storyboards, on the other hand, provide a method for organizing media content and planning how they will flow together into a single product.
Story Map A story map is a graphical organizer that diagrams the content. It depicts the beginning of the story or presentation, events that rise to conflict, tension and the climax of the story or presentation followed by resolution. There are a number of methods for creating a story map using concept-mapping software. Ohler uses a technique he adapted from storytelling expert Brett Dillingham called the “Visual Portrait of a Story” diagram. A blank example of the diagram can be found at the following website: http://www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/VPS.pdf.
The eMINTS staff has adapted the story map diagram for use with narrative, informational/expository and persuasive presentations. These planners include prompts for each key element of the map. Examples of these adaptations will be provided during the professional development session.
Typically, a story map contains the following key elements:
Beginning
Problem/Issue/Question
Middle
Solution/Answer/Task-completion
Closure
Beginning The diagram begins with the call to adventure or something that will capture the audience’s attention. An effective multimedia product begins by drawing the audience into the presentation or story and engages the audience in wanting to know more or to proceed and move forward.
Problem/Issue/Question Tension or interest is developed through a problem, issue or question.
Narrative (personal expression, myth/tale or short story) In narrative types of products, interest is developed when something happens to a character or the character encounters a problem or issue.
Non-Narrative (informational/expository or persuasive) In non-narrative product types, authors highlight a problem, issue or essential question they want to address.
Middle This part of the multimedia product is when the problem, issue or question is explored in depth.
Narrative (personal expression, myth/tale or short story) For narrative products, the character may wrestle with possible options to the problem encountered. A transformation or change begins to occur as the character moves toward a solution or answer. Non-narrative products focus on possible options, probable answers, varying points of view, an elaboration of information related to the topic, or specific directions related to completing a task.
Non-Narrative (informational/expository or persuasive) In non-narrative products, transformation or change often occurs in the audience. The audience’s awareness is heightened, forcing viewers to begin to accept a specific viewpoint or gain deeper insight.
Solution/Answer/Task-completion This is the climax of the product.
Narrative (personal expression, myth/tale or short story) Characters in narrative products complete their transformation or change and resolve tension created by the initial problem or issue.
Non-Narrative (informational/expository or persuasive) Non-narrative products, such as a persuasive presentation, demonstrate how accepting the author’s point of view is beneficial. Informational presentations explain how the answer to a question or the information presented is important to the author, audience or the world.
End/Closure The finale of the product should provide closure to the audience. Often, in student multimedia products, closure is left out or the product concludes with a simple “The End” statement. Audiences that are effectively engaged with a multimedia product want—and in many cases expect—closure. If closure is not provided, audience members may feel they have been left hanging. Students need to spend time crafting how they will provide closure for their audience.
Narrative (personal expression, myth/tale or short story) Narrative products such as short stories show how the character’s life resumes as a result of what happened.
Non-Narrative (informational/expository or persuasive) Non-narrative products, such as a persuasive presentation, demonstrate how accepting the author’s point of view is beneficial. Informational presentations explain how the answer to a question or the information presented is important to the author, audience or the world.
Story-Mapping Benefits Each part of the story map has a specific purpose in the development of the content. Requiring students to story-map their multimedia presentations (including movies) provides them with a scaffolding tool to help them concentrate on the content of the presentation prior to determining how they will use various media to present their message. Once the content of the presentation becomes well-developed during the mapping step, students can devote their attention to collecting and designing media, including personal recorded or live oral narrations. For example, in some cases an image combined with carefully selected music may make a stronger non-verbal statement than a descriptive oral narrative at a key point in a presentation.
When students use story maps to plan multimedia products, teachers can glance at the story map and immediately determine whether a multimedia product will meet its intended purpose. The greatest advantage for using a story map as a planning tool is that students can make adjustments to the content of the presentation without sacrificing time spent organizing media or creating a product for an idea that is not quite developed. Students are less frustrated and more willing to make adjustments to content development before they begin collecting media and organizing it in a storyboard. By using story maps to develop the message and storyboards to design the presentation, students will develop multimedia presentations that effectively communicate their ideas.
Mapping Informational or Persuasive Presentations While it seems logical for students to create a story map when planning narrative forms of multimedia, teachers may question the relevance of asking students to create a story map when planning informational/expository or persuasive presentations. David Moursund, founder of the International Council for Computers in Education, and University of Oregon College of Education instructor Irene Smith noted that students find that multimedia communication requires attention in two areas: the content of the presentation and the design of the multimedia (2000). The use of a story map will help students develop the content of a presentation. For example, Ohler’s “Visual Portrait of a Story” diagram could be adapted to represent the flow of persuasive presentation content as shown below.
The map begins with information or statements that will initially capture the audience’s attention. Information related to how the presenter will persuade the audience or support the argument contrasted by an opposing viewpoint is placed in the middle plateau of the diagram. The end of the presentation or the final point is placed on the decline of the diagram, followed by closure that highlights the benefits of accepting the author’s point of view.
Storytelling Techniques Across the Curriculum Narrative multimedia products do not need to be used only for fictional forms of stories. Various storytelling techniques can be used across the curriculum as students develop stories on topics in core content areas. One form of story that can be used in content areas is a documentary or oral history.
Documentaries and Oral Histories By creating documentaries or oral histories using multimedia technology tools, students can develop a deeper understanding of a historical period as they document the story from the perspective of the people who lived the events. Creating historical digital stories helps students dig deeper and understand the reality of history. An example of such a project took place at the Urban School of San Francisco. In the early 2000s, Howard Levin, the director of technology at the school, assisted 10th- through 12th-grade students in developing the oral histories of Holocaust survivors. In an article titled “Making History Come Alive,” Levin explained the benefits of such a project and how the students gained a deeper understanding of history because of it. Levin noted that students in the elective history class at the high school “gained an entirely new perspective on modern history through personal involvement in documenting the experiences of European Holocaust survivors” (2003).
Story-Mapping with Documentaries Ohler believes that story maps are just as important when developing documentaries as when creating fiction because a well-developed story line will grab the viewer’s attention and get the viewer interested in the documentary just as a well-developed piece of fiction draws readers in. As a result, the viewer will remember or understand the content of the documentary because the story was engaging. “But at their heart, documentaries are stories in the mappable sense. If a documentary shows people evolving in the process of solving their problems—and/or if it shows how the narrator is transforming because of what s/he learns—then there is a better chance that you will remember what you learned while watching it” (Ohler & Dillingham, 2004).