Guideline 3: Choose an interesting topic and add a personal connection
A major challenge for a digital story creator is how to write a script on a topic that will present
information in a way that interests viewers unfamiliar with the topic. For example, if a student is
writing a script about how computers have become an important part of everyday life, he or she
might start by going to the Wikipedia website to get some background information about personal
computers that they could use as the beginning of their story. Here is what they would find:
“A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original
sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an enduser
with no intervening computer operator. In contrast, the batch processing or time-sharing
models allowed large expensive mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the
same time. Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer)
However, that text is mechanical and dispassionate and would certainly not fit most teachers’
description of an engaging script for a digital story. Instead, a student might try writing something
more personal, such as this:
“When I wake up every morning, one of the first things I do is turn on my computer. I never have
given this much thought, but recently I began wondering about what people at other times in
history did when they first woke up each day. For many throughout history, there was no
electricity, which meant there were no refrigerators. So, finding food to eat when you first woke up
was probably a lot more challenging and necessary than turning on a computer.”
Students should be encouraged to select a topic that they feel passionate about, write a script that
reflects that passion, and make the story as interesting as possible for their specific audience.
Digital story creators should add a personal viewpoint to the script so that it sounds more like a
story they are telling from their own experience and less like passages from a textbook, a journal
article, or a website. Digital stories that focus on significant life events, honor the memory of
friends and loved ones, or recount the process of accomplishment, challenge and recovery gain an
extra measure of emotional power and meaning that is felt by both the digital story creator and the
viewer. A first person account may be used to highlight recollections from the past, provide an
understanding about present day events and look forward to hope and aspirations that may occur
in the future. In all of these cases, the personal connection to the story is what makes it compelling
since they often revolve around universal themes and questions that we all share.