Everything noteworthy about digital storytelling can be related to the fact that classwork consists of a very large number of small projects. “Digital storytelling” is given a very broad definition and quite a fair number of interpretations are covered in the class. Nearly every week there will be a new project or set of assignments to be completed, often quite different from those previous.

However all of these assignments (except for the final project which for my class accounted for 20% of the final grade) are relatively small. Depending on your interests or skills they may take a bit of time to complete but are generally not difficult.

Thus, all that is really needed are management skills of the most basic kind. Of course this can be said of any college course but it is much more apparent in digital storytelling as every week will present a new set of assignments. Most of the assignments are not particularly difficult at a technical level.

There are two exceptions though. If one has never dealt with hosting services and the establishment of a website than the first two weeks are likely to be very difficult considering the amount of preparation required. Indeed I found that the first three weeks of the course were more challenging and stressful than everything which came after. Also one week is dedicated to HTML and basic programming which is a pain.

Otherwise the course is not terribly difficult. One thing to note is that unless one is completely ignorant of computers, the internet and modern technology one is not likely to learn any real skills. The class is far more about being exposed to new material and ideas. Though some technical ability is needed it is far more of an art class.