2004 FPG Summer Project #00114

Last Modified: Mar 26, 2004

Name	College	Department or Division
Christine Beckman	Mesa Community College	Speech Communication
Employee ID	E-mail Address	Work Phone
xxxxxxxx	beckman@mail.mc.maricopa.edu	480-461-7192
Project
Title		Location
Digital Storytelling Research		Sedona, Arizona
Group Application
Applicant	College	Department
Cynthia Greening	Mesa Community College	Art/Photography

Project Dates and Amounts
	Summer I view timeline details	Summer II view timeline details
Timeline Dates	May 28 - Jun 15, 2004	(none)
Hours	76	0
Wages	$1,689.48	$0.00
Registration Fees	0.00	0.00
Subtotals	$1,689.48	$0.00
Total Proposal Amount		$1,689.48

Details
Abstract Write a concise overview with descriptive information about your project (location, time span, etc.) not to exceed 120 words. To take advantage of spelling and word count tools, you can compose this in a blank Word document, copy the text, and paste it in below (all formatting will be reset to normal text).
We (Christine Beckman & Cyndi Greening) are very interested in digital storytelling. However, we come from different disciplines and use different approaches to narration. We would like to attend a workshop and work together to discover ways of blending graphic art and oral storytelling into one artform. Christine Beckman (Speech Communication) and Cynthia Greening (Art) will be learning about this innovative approach to storytelling by attending the Digital Storytelling Bootcamp - Festival in Sedona, Arizona June 7th - 13th 2004. The three day bootcamp (June 7 - 9) is a hands-on training component of the festival at the state-of-the-art training facility of Yavapai College, Sedona Center for Arts & Technology. The festival (June 10-12) will feature various speakers, roundtable discussions, sponsor expositions, and a traditional storytelling performance. The final day (June 13) is a meeting for members of the digital storytelling association. We (Beckman & Greening) plan on attending the meeting to learn more about this professional organization and meet faculty who have been successful in designing and teaching digital storytelling in the community college environment. The festival and digital storytelling association meeting are also held at Yavapai College, Sedona Center for Arts & Technology.
Purpose Explain your purpose in depth and include relevancy and components of the project. Include a statement of goals and objectives. This is what you want to do and why.
The purpose for going to the workshop-festival is to learn how art and speech communication can approach digital storytelling. From the speech communication point of view, this material is vital to better understand first person narratives. I (Beckman) currently teach storytelling in my communication classes for international students. These students outline a story about a personal theme in their lives. Students learn how to order the events of their stories so they are interesting to the audience. Students learn guidelines for self-disclosure (ie: what is appropriate for this culture, etc.) My goal in attending the conference is to be exposed to various approaches of storytelling and see how technology interfaces with this form of rhetoric. From the art point of view, I (Greening) would like to learn about the new versions of software available for storytelling. My goal is to be exposed to, and learn about technology which enhances personal discourse. Technology provides the visual dimension to this art and I believe I need to learn the latest versions of media software in order to better understand how graphic art and oral communication can link together for digital storytelling. Together our objective is to learn the current pedagogical principals and methods associated with storytelling and gain a working knowledge of the technology available to students in the digital storytelling classroom. In the future we would like to use this knowledge to explore the possibility of a learning community between Speech and Art. This experience will allow both of us grow professionally because we are a new team We hope to develop our professional skills as we learn the art of collaborating across discipline so we can blend our training and talents.
Professional Growth Your own professional growth is a large part of your project. Your professional growth is important to you, your students, and possibly other colleagues. How will this project affect you professionally? What skills will you learn? What environment will you be working in, and how will it influence your teaching or other responsibilities?
Beckman - I have used storytelling in the classroom and applied it to public discourse and self disclosure but, this has primarly come from material I have developed or researched while teaching at the community college level. I will grow professionally by attending this conference since it will be my first experience to learn about digital storytelling from professionals. Learning about storytelling methodology (point of view, emotional content, dramatic action) will greatly expand my ability to incorporate narration into the communication class. Greening - Though I have used media software in the classroom, this conference will allow me to learn about the newest versions and upgrades to Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, and iMovie. I will be exposed to how storytelling and media art weave together to allow students to produce a personal piece of art. Both- We will be in a "hands-on" environment for the three day bootcamp and learning environment for the festival as we listen to presentations and attend roundtable discussions. The Digtial Storytelling Association membership meeting will help us decide if the professional organization meets our needs as communicty college instructors. All of this will effect our teaching since we will be exposed to the current research, methods and approaches to storytelling within an academic setting. Most importantly we will gain the experience of working together across discplines as a team.
Benefits
Select the primary area of benefit:	Benefits for students
What benefit is this project to the group checked above? What new information, ideas, attitudes, skills, appreciation, etc. will you bring back?
Students have been able to produce digital stories in graphic art classes at MCC but there hasn't been a course dedicated to this art. Students write and present personal stories in Speech Communication classes but linking their stories to media art has not been an option in these classes. We (Beckman & Greening) hope to learn the principles and methods associated with designing classes in digital storytelling. This desire to learn is "student generated" since both of us have had numerous students asking to learn more about this oral art. Blending what we both teach to create digital storytelling opportunities for students is our response to student generated interest. Finally, our experience of working together as professionals with different perceptions and approaches will help us become better educators. Our collaboration will help us learn to blur the lines of our academic displines and explore what we can learn from each other.