A Digital Storytelling Website
Storyjumper.com is a free and easy to use digital storytelling website. Anyone can create a login or teachers can create a classroom login for his or her group of students. Members of Storyjumper.com select from a storystarter or from scratch. Each story includes a book's front and back cover, a dedication page and 16 additional pages to create one's individual story. In the design area, the story's creator uses props, scenes, photos and text to develop the story. The design area also includes editing tools from resizing, repositioning, copying, text font, size, color and so on. After the book is completed, the creator has the opportunity to share with friends, family and/or the public as well as order a printed copy of the book for a fee.
History:
Storyjumper.com is just one of the many digital storytelling web resources emerging in today's Web 2.0 world. As I began to research the topic, I discovered that digital storytelling, although a recently new term to me, actually began long today's Web 2.0. According to the authors of Web 2.0 Storytelling: Emergence of a New Trend, Bryan Alexander and Alan Levine explain that "storytelling with digital tools dates back to the early days of personal computers and the first networks" (Alexander & Levine, 2008).
Storyjumper.com is a recent addition to the digital storytelling technology world. Peter Weck, Blake Williams and Kai Zhao, founders of Storyjumper.com launched the website in February of 2010 as a "creative writing platform for kids" (PRWEB, 2010). According to Weck, "Our mission is for every child to feel the joy and excitement of publishing their very own book" (PRWEB, 2010). The website aims to make it easy and exciting for children to create, publish and even share their stories. Storyjumper.com offers online publishing tools for free and this makes it easily accessible to students, parents and teachers.
A Web 2.0 Technology:
This Web 2.0 technology provides students with the opportunity to access the world wide web and use the online publishing tools to create a final product. Collaboration occurs as students can edit previously created stories by other users or use the story starters provided by the website. This technology requires interactivity as students edit and manipulate photos, text, and page design. In addition, students can take their own digital photographs, upload them to the website and insert them into their individual stories.
Storyjumper.com is just one of the many digital storytelling web resources emerging in today's Web 2.0 world. As I began to research the topic, I discovered that digital storytelling, although a recently new term to me, actually began long today's Web 2.0. According to the authors of Web 2.0 Storytelling: Emergence of a New Trend, Bryan Alexander and Alan Levine explain that "storytelling with digital tools dates back to the early days of personal computers and the first networks" (Alexander & Levine, 2008).
Storyjumper.com is a recent addition to the digital storytelling technology world. Peter Weck, Blake Williams and Kai Zhao, founders of Storyjumper.com launched the website in February of 2010 as a "creative writing platform for kids" (PRWEB, 2010). According to Weck, "Our mission is for every child to feel the joy and excitement of publishing their very own book" (PRWEB, 2010). The website aims to make it easy and exciting for children to create, publish and even share their stories. Storyjumper.com offers online publishing tools for free and this makes it easily accessible to students, parents and teachers.
Want to learn more about how Storyjumper.com began?
Read this brief digital story, About Story Jumper.
A Web 2.0 Technology:
This Web 2.0 technology provides students with the opportunity to access the world wide web and use the online publishing tools to create a final product. Collaboration occurs as students can edit previously created stories by other users or use the story starters provided by the website. This technology requires interactivity as students edit and manipulate photos, text, and page design. In addition, students can take their own digital photographs, upload them to the website and insert them into their individual stories.
Storyjumper.com is a Web 2.0 technology because as with most of the emerging trends, the users no longer have to focus on learning how to use the tools, but rather they focus on the end product. For example, pre-web 2.0 storytellers had to select the right tools, learn how to use them and then design the product. With the easy use of many digital storytelling websites such as Storyjumper.com, storytellers quickly learn to use the tool and then focus on creating the story. All of the tools required to make a great product are user-friendly and readily available.
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A Sneak Peak into Storyjumper.com
Other Digital Storytelling Resources:
To discover more digital storyelling resources, check out iLearnTechnology.com, an EDUBLOG about integrating technology into the classroom. The blog has a list of thirty-one links and descriptions to various digital storytelling websites useful in the classroom (Tenkely, 2010).
