Category: digitalstorytelling
-
Slideshow via FFmpeg
Since I’m known in our family (and in parts of my community) as someone with a few technology and media skills, from time to time I’m asked to help out with slideshows at special events. In the past this has included funerals for both of my spouse’s parents, as well as my mom’s funeral. Back…
-
Memes, Warfare, and Propaganda
In my April 26 Media Literacy Roundup, I previewed our then-upcoming Media Education Lab webinar on “Memes, Warfare, and Propaganda” and promised a reflection afterward. This is that reflection. I was reminded about needing to share it because the latest CBS Sunday Morning episode, “Inside Iran’s online propaganda war,” covered nearly identical ground for a…
-
Lead4Change Summit Reflections
I’m writing this from downtown Nashville, where I just wrapped up Day 1 of the Lead4Change Teacher Summit at the beautiful Hotel Noelle and VentureX Co-working space. It’s mid-April, the weather is gorgeous, and I’m feeling energized, seen, and hopeful. I want you to know why! In addition to sharing this blog post with details…
-
Sketchnote to AI InfoGraphic
Today was one of my favorite lessons in my middle school media literacy class: We started our “Froot Loop Conspiracies” unit about the Moon Landing Hoax, Lateral Reading, and using the SIFT web literacy framework to vet and verify online information and sources. Today’s introductory lesson involved watching the first two of three videos, and…
-
A Powerful Story
In my 55 years of life on our planet and 32 years as a professional educator and teacher, I’ve shared a lot of stories and more than a few presentations. This evening, I believe I shared one of the most important and powerful stories I’ve ever personally connected with. But like we often do as…
-
Normalize Your Video Audio with Auphonic (and QuickTime Player)
One of the most common problems I see in student and creator videos alike is inconsistent audio. You shoot a clip facing the camera, then turn around to capture something else — and suddenly the audio levels are completely different. The result is a video that sounds unprofessional, even when the content is great. The…
-
Interactive Fiction Database and CYOA Video Stories
I grew up in the 1980s and loved reading “Choose Your Own Adventure” (CYOA) stories. From time to time, as an advocate of “Playing with Media” and “Show What You Know with Media” pedagogy and learning, I’ve created my own CYOA stories and helped others create them too. Today I learned about the “Interactive Fiction…
-
Burning DVDs in 2025
This evening I successfully burned two DVDs for the 40th Anniversary of the Mint Hill Historical Society, which is coming up on Saturday. For several years now I’ve been volunteering with the MHHS, helping with oral history interviews and their website. For Saturday’s event, they want to play a silent slideshow of 1087 photos on…
-
Creating YouTube Shorts with Descript.com
I recently created and published a series of shorts for YouTube (videos less than 60 seconds long, all formatted with a portrait (9 x 16) rather than landscape aspect ratio from the 8 minute video of my speech at the No Kings rally, in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 14, 2025. In this post, I…
-
Preserving the Past Through Technology
At the March 2025 NCMLE Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, the American Book Company‘s podcasting team interviewed me and published an 8 minute audio recording of our conversation. Check it out! “Preserving the Past Through Technology” My middle school family oral history unit is available on my curriculum sharing website. Learn more about Bob Sprankle…