[MUSIC] Lesson 9, save files early and often. A guiding principle for digital storytellers, is to save their important files often, especially after any significant changes have been made to the files, as has been mentioned, but we feel is worth repeating. We encourage students to save all of their digital story files, such as images, audio narration, music and video clips, both on their computers and on a thumb drive or external hard drive. We also recommend that a backup version of all important files be saved online using resources such as Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive. We strongly encourage students to keep all of the files they have collected and created, as part of creating their digital story. We encourage students to think carefully before they delete any files, so that they don't accidentally erase a file they may want to use again later. In today's world, computer storage is inexpensive and plentiful, which makes saving files easier than ever. Keeping all of the important files may save a good deal of time and effort in case anything unexpectedly goes wrong during the digital story development process. When working with recorded audio and video clips, we suggest making copies of original media files and editing the copies. We also recommend saving the final version of the digital story in the highest quality format available, and then saving the copies in different formats for other purposes such as for playback on smart phones or tablets. Lesson 10, record high quality audio for voice over narration. Many students find it difficult to make a high quality recording of themselves narrating the script of their digital story. This is not surprising since there are many factors involved in creating a high quality sound recording for use in their story. These factors include the specific audio recording software being used, the type of microphone, the quality of the computer sound card, the recording volume setting on the computer, how loud the student speaks, and the amount of background noise that can be heard during the recording process. We recommend that when possible, students choose one of the following options. Record narration on the computer with a USB microphone using Audacity, a free digital audio recording and editing software program available for Windows and Macintosh computers, or record narration on a smartphone, using an audio recording app that allows the user to download the audio file or email it to themselves so that it can be inserted into their digital story. And, of course, always try to record audio narration in a quiet room that is free of background noise such as barking dogs, television sets, air conditioners, or ceiling fans. Lesson 11, consider issues of copyright. Issues of copyright, ownership, permission, and educational fair use, invariably come up in any discussion involving the use of digital content created by someone else. The use of copyrighted material is indeed a serious concern, and one that many educators and policy makers study and discuss. Unfortunately, there is not yet a definitive answer to the question of what materials may or may not be freely used in educational projects such as digital stories. Some educators feel that if a picture or a video clip may be easily found and downloaded from the web, then it is permissible to use this material in an educational digital story. But other educators have a different opinion and do not want their students to use any materials that were created by someone else. As has been mentioned, we encourage our students to use digital cameras and camcorders to shoot their own pictures or video, create their own charts and graphs with software such as Microsoft Excel and search for copyright free music on sites like jamendo.com. Lesson 12, collect or create educational materials that support the digital story. We encourage students to think about a digital story, not as a single educational resource that others will view once or twice, but as a key component in a set of educational resources that can be used by people who view the story, and then want to learn more about the topic. In some cases, these might include classroom activity sheets, a glossary of terms, a collection of PDF files, PowerPoint presentations, journal articles, and links to external websites, blogs, or podcasts. The important concept to remember is that educational digital stories can be an excellent way to motivate viewers to seek new information and more in-depth instructional content. Since the digital story may be just the first of many other resources that viewers will encounter in order to add depth, complexity and richness to the learning experience, students are encouraged to locate suitable support materials, as well as develop their own as part of the digital storytelling process to support teaching and learning. [MUSIC]
