Gloucestershire Pathfinder Project
Information relating to the University of Gloucestershire's Pathfinder project - "Enhancing Students' Learning Experiences Through the Use of Digital Storytelling"
11 June 2008
Pathfinder Journey
Our Pathfinder Journey report has been added to the project's webpages: http://www.glos.ac.uk/tli/lets/projects/pathfinder/
Posted by Phil Gravestock at 08:00
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28 May 2008
Digital Storytelling Event 19/20 May - Report
Once upon a time in a copper CETL far far away many enthusiasts gathered having heard the wise words of the Pathfinder many months previously in York. The Pathfinder wanted to share his experiences and invite those present to explore the art of reflection and the creation of stories. Those present came to hear the words of the Pathfinder and his disciples in their quest for the Holy Tale…
The delegates were shown examples of digital stories by several members of staff from different disciplines and freely discussed the delights and challenges they had encountered.
What delegates said they found most useful:
“seeing examples – and real feedback of +ve & -ve experiences”
“polished digital stories are not always the best – the football story was the most effective and least glossy”
“The power of the story to communicate personal journeys”
“Illustration of the range of uses for digital storytelling”
“That other people are working and struggling
with this”
After lunch and the opportunity to discuss the morning’s revelations everyone gathered for a workshop exploring the depth of reflection in written work led by Jenny Moon.
What delegates said they found most useful:
“Depth of reflections – Jenny Moon’s workshop”
“Analysis of reflective writing”
“Reflective learning session”
The activities continued in the evening with a storytelling workshop led by Nigel McLoughlin. Groups of delegates made characters and stories aided by prompts and wine until it was time to go to the banquet.
What delegates said they found most useful:
“The storytelling activity was fun”
“Creative writing session – very interesting”
Later that evening The Pathfinder held a banquet at the Storyteller Restaurant to celebrate storytelling and to allow delegates to network and socialise.
What delegates said they found most useful:
“time to mingle - met many interesting people”
“meal @ storyteller 
”
“networking and socialising”
“opportunity to share ideas/discuss with others”
Day II was for those delegates who wanted to put into practice what they had heard and seen the day before. Members of The Pathfinder’s crack-team of digital storytellers were on hand to support their efforts. The team appreciated the willingness and openness of those who shared their stories with the group and all those who participated.
What delegates said they found most useful:
“mixture of hands-on and conversation/play”
“being creative with technology”
“opportunity to apply skills”
“That movie maker software is sufficient for the purpose. I had thought we should master PremierePro, but maybe that could be learned later for the enthusiast.”
The Pathfinder was overjoyed that the event was well attended and enjoyed and appeared to have enthused all who attended:
“organisation, comfort, informal atmosphere. You had thought of everything and made us feel very welcome.”
“the organisation, skill and helpfulness of the team, and the good people who were attracted to come”
“Thank you all, a brilliant experience”
“Excellent event” “very enjoyable” “Great” “Wonderful – well done” “Great, fab, thank you”
The Pathfinder was delighted that he had been able to share the journey he and his disciples had been on in their quest to ‘Enhance students’ learning experiences through the use of digital storytelling’. The journey had taken them through challenges of:
• group versus individual storytelling
• reflection versus presentation
• student versus service users and clients
• process versus product
• issues of legality, quality, evaluation, assessment and exemplars
This has lead to a diversity of purpose and styles which was discussed openly and honestly with the delegates.
Summary comments from delegates:
“The power of the still image, forcing viewers to extrapolate their own meaning and experiences to apply to the text/dialogue”
“Need for clarity about distinction between ‘story’ as constructed future and ‘story’ as an account of life experience”
“Digital stories have a wide range of applications, but need to be carefully planned and managed as a learning activity”
“That a lot of tutors … are uneasy about students personal emotions”
“More time and attention to developing the voice of the storyteller … collaboratively refining a story takes time! And it is worth doing.”
“That Higher Education risks hijacking a very meaningful learning process and mistaking it for a way to produce evidence for assessment.”
And they all continued to learn happily ever after...
Posted by Claire Hanson at 14:37
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26 March 2008
Digital Storytelling Conference - full
Both days of the project's Digital Storytelling event in May 2008 are now full. We have been delighted by the response and are considering running another similar event next year, although some additional funding would have to be found.
Posted by Phil Gravestock at 15:21
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21 February 2008
Digital Storytelling Conference
Dr Jenny Moon (Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University) will be presenting the keynote workshop at the digital storytelling conference on 19 May.
Posted by Phil Gravestock at 09:20
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08 February 2008
Digital Storytelling Conference
The project's conference details have been arranged and are as follows:
And They All Learned Happily Ever After...
The Use of Digital Storytelling in Higher Education
19 and 20 May
1 or 2 day attendance
Further details will be available on the project's webpages (http://www.glos.ac.uk/tli/lets/projects/pathfinder ).
Posted by Phil Gravestock at 09:15
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09 January 2008
Second Steering Panel Meeting
No blog entries for ages, and then two come along at once!
We have just finished our second Steering Panel meeting. The main points of discussion focused on the project's outputs: website, guide and national workshop.
In terms of the website there was overall approval for the proposed structure, which uses a PebblePad webfolio. This will allows visitors to the site the chance to comment on the individual digital stories. There are some legal issues to consider before the website can go live (e.g. confirmation of terminology on the students' release form to allow the project to publish the digital stories, and issues relating to images used within the stories).
The guide will be written along the lines of the JISC Applied infoKits ( http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits ).
The national workshop was originally going to be a one-day event, mainly focused on the production of a digital story. However, it was decided that some people might be more interested in the pedagogic applications rather than the technical aspects, and so we are proposing to hold a two day residential event in May looking at the pedagogical applications of storytelling and digital storytelling on the first day, and the technical issues of creating a digital story on the second day. Delegates can attend for the first day only, or will be able to stay overnight and create their own digital story.
Posted by Phil Gravestock at 16:20
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Update
Lack of activity in our blog does not indicate lack of activity with the Pathfinder project! Our second Steering Group meeting takes place today, and this has provided a useful point to reflect on where we are with the project. The following is a summary of our activities and thoughts:
* We have had a number of Faculty-based mini projects using digital stories during semester I, including: induction for Level I students; social work students on placement; Level III students reflecting on work placements; sports development; landscape architecture and design; Accounting. Questionnaires and focus groups are being used to determine the students' perceptions of the use of digital storytelling.
* Leaders of the Faculty-based projects met on 30 October to discuss a number of issues relating to the ongoing development and production of digital stories.
* A digital storytelling workshop - Supporting Reflection, Learning and Assessment using Digital Storytelling - was held at the University on 1 November, on behalf of the Social Work and Social Policy (SWAP) Subject Centre. The event was organised by one of the Faculty-based project leaders.
* Several issues have arisen from the use of digital storytelling, partly due to the diverse range of uses. These include: the relative importance of process versus product (particularly in relation to assessed digital stories); quality of production; and, fundamentally, is there a story to be told?
* Martin Jenkins presented a paper at the ASCILITE conference (Dec 07): Jenkins, M. & Lonsdale, J. (2007) Evaluating the effectiveness of digital storytelling for student reflection, ASCILITE conference 'ICT: Providing Choices for Learners and Learning', Singapore, 2-5 December 2007.
* We are starting to develop the project's web pages with examples of digital stories, and hope that this will be available soon. We are currently choosing appropriate stories and obtaining permission from the students to publish these stories on the website. Transcriptions of the stories will also be made, for accessibility purposes.
Posted by Phil Gravestock at 09:15
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07 June 2007
Project Details
Information about the University of Gloucestershire's Pathfinder project can be found in the document 'Gloucestershire Pathfinder Details', which can be accessed from the 'Assets' link in the right-hand frame, or by clicking the 'Read more' link at the base of this message.
ABSTRACT
Storytelling is a process that has been used extensively in children’s education, and which is now being transferred more frequently into higher education contexts as a method of encouraging reflection and promoting deep learning. Digital storytelling combines a narrative of about 250-300 words (approximately 2-3 minutes length) with a selected sample of still images. The simplicity of the process, and the fact that the technology required is fairly basic and easy to use, means that the focus is on the reflection and the story rather than the technology. The project will evaluate the use digital storytelling as a method of encouraging and enhancing student reflection at the micro (e.g. module) and macro (e.g. course) level, and to capture students’ stories as a method of evaluating and developing their learning experiences.
PROJECT TEAM
* Dr Phil Gravestock (Head of the Centre for Learning & Teaching)
* Claire Hanson (Learning Technologist, Centre for Active Learning - CeAL)
* Martin Jenkins (Academic Manager, CeAL)
* Dr Kenny Lynch (Deputy Head of the Pedagogic Research & Scholarship Institute - PRSI)
* Professor Lindsey McEwen (Head of the PRSI)
Posted by Phil Gravestock at 09:15
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