First Five

 

First Five Hybrid Digital Storytelling Project

As an alumna of the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program in 2009 and a Fulbright FLTA Program in 2012, and as a current ACCESS teacher, I applied for the Alumni Small Grants Program to facilitate a Digital Storytelling Project for ACCESS girls with my long-time colleague Jode Brexa, an alumna of the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program in 2010 and a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching in 2014.

In 2009, I met Jode Brexa  in Washington, D.C.  in a Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program networking session.   Following my program in the United States, Jode came to

Sarband 2010 on the TEA Program exchange. In 2011, she returned to Tajikistan on a TEA Alumni Grant and we facilitated a successful Digital Youth Action Project using then beginning skills for Digital Storytelling.  

 With our decade-long friendship and collaboration, we applied and won an Alumni Small Grant from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe.   We planned  Digital Storytelling workshops for 15 girls of the ACCESS program in Kushoniyon district and arranged transportation, housing , and visa to bring Jode Brexa from the USA as Lead Facilitator to conduct the workshops.   We scheduled four workshops weekly to meet ACCESS students’ schedules over the course of one month at the American Space. But due to COVID-19, our project was put on hold because Jode Brexa could not travel and the American Space closed.

Online, through Zoom meetings, we re-visioned the project as a hybrid model.  Since August 2020, Jode and I have been planning two-hours every morning, reviewing the Digital Storytelling process, creating teaching materials, and planning technology access for the girls.   My role would be to facilitate the workshops face-to-face  and Jode would facilitate by Zoom. Jode and I received permission from the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in early September and we selected five Access girls for the First Five Hybrid Digital Storytelling Workshop.   In preparation for the workshops and to re-tool for the hybrid model, I  wrote,  edited, and recorded a narrative, added photos, transitions, and music to create my own Digital Story titled «Vision.”

 

As of Saturday, October 2, five workshops will have been conducted in public spaces such as a local park and socially-distanced in a restaurant as well as technical work facilitated at an NGO with PPE including masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer along with a  temperature check.   An  invitation-only socially-distanced screening of the Digital Stories and certification ceremony is  scheduled for Saturday, October 10, 2020

Through the process of participating in the Hybrid Digital Storytelling workshops and producing a Digital Story, these young girls with elementary digital literacy skills have learned  storytelling and technical skills, including narrative writing and editing, recording and editing audio, selecting, creating and editing photo, and basic video creation as well as Microsoft Word, Gmail, WhatsApp, GoogleMeet, and Blogspot.

 

Project Activities we have done:

First Workshop  Students took a skills pre-assessment and they and their parents signed a Media Release permission form.  The students listened to a  lecture about the theme of  Resilience and an overview of the  Hybrid Digital Storytelling Project. Students identified their skills and coping strategies to overcome the challenges they face in a global pandemic. Students brainstormed their story topics and wrote a draft narrative story.

A WhatsApp group was created where students received suggestions to their first narratives and Zebo’s follow up two times a week by cell phone.  They revised their second draft and shared it with Zebo and Jode.

Second Workshop  Students typed their final narrative on their phones. Students highlighted on the printed copy of the story the hook, conflict, solution, and conclusion. They typed the narrative in Word and saved it. Students practiced checking the word count. Students learned how to attach the draft and sent it to Zebo and Jode’s email. Jode Brexa edited their final story.

In  WhatsApp, students practiced recording their narratives and sent the audio files  to each other and to Zebo.

.Third Workshop Students reviewed their skills in Microsoft Word (type, copy, paste, word count,  save).  The watched model  Digital Stories and registered in a video-making software program licensed by Jode. . Students recorded their narratives. Students worked with storyboards and brainstormed about the photos they plan to take for their story.

In WhatsApp, students sent their completed storyboard and shared it with this group.  Students listened to some suggestions on taking photos for their story from Jode and Zebo.

Fourth Workshop  Students learned how to create a folder on the desktop and transfer photos from their cellphone to the computer and then how to upload photos to the Media Picker in the software program. Students made their First Cut by dropping photos into their timeline, then explored transitions and themes. They sent their draft videos to Jode for review and editing.

 Fifth Workshop  Students take skills post-assessment and review the Digital Storytelling process.  They review their finalized Digital Stories and export them to screen with their peers. . After identifying the take-aways of the five weeks, they will plan how they will cascade their knowledge and skills.  Students will plan the Community Screening.

 Community Screening   Students will host a by-invitation socially-distanced Digital Story screening to celebrate their accomplishments and promote the use of video in building digital literacy.   

Certificates of Achievement will be presented to each Digital Storyteller and photos will be taken. Each Digital Storyteller will receive a flash drive with the stories created during the workshop.