Digital Storytelling

This week's assignment was really difficult because of the limitations we had by not going "premium" with Animoto. I couldn't use Toontastic because I do not have an iPad, and the only other story telling website that I could get to work was Voki. I did not like Voki because it is too boring and plain, and it limits you in the amount of things that you can say. Animoto looked really fun, and I used an app like this in another class that I have. I would have used the other app (iMovie), but, like I said, I do not have an iPad. It is neat that you can upload your own photos and videos and then add effects to them. With Toontastic, I thought that the coolest thing was that you could create emotions throughout the scenes. I wish that I was able to look into it more on the iPad. With Storybird, I liked that the Hangout was saying that students feel like a real author. This seemed to be the one I had most trouble with though, because it would not let me go from one author's artwork to another, and the other artwork on the first artist's page did not go along with the theme of my video. With Voki, all that you are able to do is record your own voice, or make your avatar speak by typing words. I thought this was cool, but other than dressing the avatar the way you like, this was all that you could do on the site. It also stopped me from typing more about Stockton.  
This is my Voki about the education program at Stockton College. Xtranormal from livebinders also looked like it would be fun to use, but it is not free and they have discontinued their service. I like that this blog tells teachers that they can use Voki to explain directions to their class about assignments, and this seems like a more realistic way to use it, rather than to tell a story.

Overall, I think that more practice with digital storytelling is what would help the most, because it is difficult to get used to. However, it is important because our students are going to be relying on technology by the time that we become teachers, and normal storytelling will be outdated.