I was at StoryCenter in Berkeley this week to participate in a Digital Storytelling workshop. It’s been five years since my first workshop there.

I returned to community college as a non-traditional (adult) student after President Obama urged displaced workers to update their skills in his first State of the Union address. I had such a terrible experience in Oakland’s Peralta Community College District I was inspired to become a student leader. That led to being invited to a New Organizing Institute workshop to learn Harvard University’s Marshall Gans’ “Story of Self” method for political communication. Hey, it worked for Senator Barak Obama.

I then discovered the Digital Storytelling Center (now StoryCenter.org) in nearby Berkeley, California. I’ve taken all the workshops they offer and have been trained as a DS Facilitator. I recently co-taught a Digital Storytelling workshop with Dr. Bryan Alexander at EDUCAUSE’s annual convention in Denver. I highly recommend his “New Digital Storytelling: Creating Narratives with New Media“. 

It was fun to just be a participant again. With the support of the other workshoppers in the story circle, and StoryCenter facilitators Rani and Andrea, for the first time I was able to edit an idea down to about three minutes and actually finish a digital story during a three day workshop! 

 

Please leave your comments below.