Sunday, March 17, 2013

Electricity and Water: Game Changers in Africa

ZooBurst is an easy tool for communicating key ideas quickly. The pop-up feature perhaps appeals to younger audiences most, but it should hold the attention of older audiences as well if the story is not too long. I am grateful to etMOOC for having motivated me to experiment with a wide variety digital storytelling tools. It's almost an addiction at the moment.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Genetically Modified Crops/Foods Debate

This is my first time to use Animoto for storytelling. Two questions are raised: Are genetically modified crops/foods safe? Who will control the food chain: farmers or transnational companies?

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

Having been a writing teacher decades ago, I could see how it is an excellent tool for stimulating creative thoughts in the classroom. It is clear that the tool primarily is meant for pictures without text. For example, there is little time for the viewer to read the book covers. The final clip is a diagram showing the linage of Dolly, a sheep who was born in July 1996 and was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. This proved that a cell taken from a specific part of the body could recreate a whole individual. At the time, the experiment drew heavy criticism. There was not much time to read the map either. Narrable seems more versatile.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Digital Storytelling: Contrasting Images of Africa Part 2

The previous post was a rumination about what a digital story is. The question raised was similar to the question, "If a tree falls in the forest and no animal, including humans, is there to hear it, does the fall make a sound?" Well, the post generated two Google + responses, so the falling tree was heard. The topic, Should we care about Africa?, deserves far better treatment than it was given in the previous post. I wanted to submit a post sooner but the frequent lack of electrical power (even now I’m writing the post off-line) and my having time to work on post only on the weekends has delayed me. This is my first time to use SlideRocket.