The most extensively used framework for digital storytelling was developed by the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, California. The framework identified 7 Elements of Digital Storytelling (summarized in the table below) that served as the basic starting point for those looking to create effective digital stories. Robin (2020) has further modified the new steps as posited by Lambert, noting that the approach presented lacked the specificities as it relates its applicability in educational environments, specifically stories that were to be created by students. His modified elements are also highlighted in the table below.

CDS Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling Robins (2020) Ten Elements of Digital Storytelling
  1. Point of View – What perspective/main point of view is the story being told from?
  2. A Dramatic Question – Does the story pose a dramatic attention-grabbing question that will be answered at its conclusion?
  3. Emotional Content – What connections does the story make with the audience?
  4. The Gift of Your Voice – Is the story personalized, allowing the audience to understand its context?
  5. The Power of the Soundtrack – Does the story make use of music and other sound effects to support the flow of the story.
  6. Economy – Does the story overload the viewer with too much content?
  7. Pacing – How slowly or quickly does the story progress? (Alismail, 2015; Robins, 2020).
  1. The Overall Purpose of the Story
  2. The Narrator’s Point of View
  3. A Dramatic Question or Questions
  4. The Choice of Content
  5. Clarity of Voice
  6. Pacing of the Narrative
  7. Use of a Meaningful Audio Soundtrack
  8. Quality of the Images, Video & other Multimedia Elements
  9. Economy of the Story Detail
  10. Good Grammar and Language Usage

 

In 2010 Lambert himself had also rewritten and reordered the seven elements to frame the approach as structured ‘steps’ in digital storytelling rather than ‘elements,’ i.e.:

  1. Owning your emotions,
  2. Sharing your Story,
  3. Assembling your Story,
  4. Seeing your Story,
  5. Owning your insight,
  6. Hearing your story, and
  7. Finding the Moment.

In justifying the rewrite Lambert (2010) notes that at the core of the rewrite is the idea that the new steps can help “storytellers fully visualize their story as a finished piece before they begin to write their script” (p. 9). It is important to note however, that process of constructing a digital story, should not be a mere prescriptive application of the elements or rather steps identified by Lambert. Each stage of the digital story development process will require careful consideration of the story’s elements or steps. Watch the video below to learn more about these steps.

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Source: Henry, J. (2020). 7 Steps of Digital Storytelling [YouTube Video]. 

 

Let’s Recap

 

References

Lambert, J. (2010). Digital storytelling cookbook. Berkeley. Retrieved from March 1, 2020 from https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/cookbook.pdf

Robin, B. R. (2020). The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling website. University of Houston College of Education. Retrieved January 30, 2020 from http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=27&cid=27&sublinkid=31

StoryCenter (formerly the Center for Digital Storytelling – CDS). (2020, February 7). STORYCENTER. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from STORYCENTER website: https://www.storycenter.org