We are pleased to have Hedren Sum (SG) from NTU Libraries and Darrel Manuel Marco (PH) from Xavier School Nuvali to share their insights with us on Digital Storytelling. Make sure you click all tabs (Discover, Explore, Activities and Thinking Points) to get to the end of the lesson.
Storytelling is nothing new. In fact, it has been around for thousands of years, with the earliest form found at the Lascaux cave paintings created more than 17,000 years ago.
Storytelling never went away, but rather there was a change in medium. According to Weich J. (2013), we are not experiencing something new. We are merely experiencing a “storytelling renaissance” fuelled by the developments in social media and mobile, given that most of us are in touch every hour of the day.
This phenomenon leads to the growth of digital storytelling, which is basically the use of new media tools and platforms to tell stories.
Discover
Regardless of what platforms you use or how many new ones are coming up, stories essentially still come from us and storytelling is a thing that truly connects.
- Read Darrel‘s experience with Digital Storytelling at Xavier School Nuvali (XSN)
- Check out this short video, The Technology of Storytelling, by Joe Sabia on TED
- An example of digital storytelling about The Serengeti Lion from @NatGeoMag
- Australian regional communities were telling their own stories in the @ABCOpen Day in the life project to capture a typical day in your life, or the life of someone you know, in a short video.
- A lot of people share information about #digitalstorytelling on Twitter, frequently with links to apps and project websites.
- Libraries collaborating with communities–making and sharing stories including projects like the Queensland Stories Project and the Singapore Memory Program iniated and supported by the National Library Board of Singapore (read more in Chris Tang’s IFLA paper).
- Four LIS students explored the concept of digital storytelling for communities.
Explore
Today, there are so many storytelling platforms or applications out there. Below are a few of them:
![]() |
Animoto Web | iOS | Android |
![]() |
SlideStory Web | iOS |
![]() |
Storify Web |
![]() |
Storehouse Web | iOS |
![]() |
ThingLink Web | iOS | Android |
In recent years, there has been a growing trend in telling stories from data by creating infographics. Below are some platforms/applications that allow you to create and share infographics easily:
![]() |
Easel.ly Web |
Infogr.am Web |
|
![]() |
Piktochart Web |
![]() |
Venngage Web |
- How interactive technology is transforming storytelling by Naomi Alderman
- University of Wollongong’s guide for library clients to Digital Storytelling resources
- Some Digital Storytelling tools on your mobile device include: Animoto (iOS and Android apps available) Prezi (iPad app only), Voicethread (iOS app) and Slideshare.
- Find more digital storytelling links to explore on our Pinterest board.
Activities
- Think about your last holiday trip or the experience you have had for this 23 Mobile Things initiative. Share it with us through this blog. You may use the tools or applications, such as video apps, photo apps, Slideshare, Prezi, etc., that you have learned from the previous Things to create your content.
Thinking Points
- What are the existing or potential roles of your library in helping communities keep their own stories?
Remix from the original 23 Mobile things :
23 Mobile Things – Thing 23
ANZ 23 Mobile things – Thing 23
Follow 23mobile things’s board Digital storytelling on Pinterest.
Thing 23′s Guest Bloggers:
Hedren Sum is an Assistant Librarian (New Media Group) and Art Librarian (Design) at the Nanyang Technological University. He has more than 7 years experience on designing promotional materials. As part of this job, Hedren is constantly exploring and leveraging on different media to engage library users for teaching and learning. Follow him on Facebook, Slideshare and Linkedin, where he frequently shares interesting news and tips on design.
Darrel Marco works as a school librarian in Xavier School Nuvali. His passion is to spread the love for reading and literacy throughout the country. He has done different outreach activities, stoytelling mostly, to different rural areas in the Philippines.