One of the most common and familiar designs in traditional tattooing is the Japanese koi. He appears in a variety of ways on the human body, following the natural lines and patterns of the wearer’s skin, musculature and bone structure. He symbolizes overcoming challenge and adversity and represents a personal struggle. Koi placement, coloring, orientation and elemental […]

My final portfolio for Learning with Digital Stories displays samples of critiques, scholarship responses, daily creates and social media interaction throughout the semester.

How did I learn in this course? This was definitely a course where I learned by doing. I had to attempt things, take initiative, try, fail and try again. That was true for every step along way, from setting up a blog, to linking my classmates’ blogs to feedly, to deciphering the DS106 website, to … Continue reading Final Course Reflection

I came across this digital story in a different way than usual. I wasn’t searching online for hip hop storytelling like I normally would. This story appeared out of nowhere and happened to catch my attention. At this point in the semester, I almost feel like I find digital stories waiting for me around every corner… … Continue reading Digital Story Critique 12: Fresh Empire

My previous scholarship response on digital storytelling and writing skills made me want to learn more about this topic. This curiosity led me to the article Once Upon a Time…Digital Storytelling Brings New Dimensions to Reading, Writing and More  by Karen Feldman. For such a magical title, the subject matter is very down to earth. The article starts … Continue reading Scholarship Response: Once Upon a Time…Digital Storytelling Brings New Dimensions to Reading, Writing and More

This is going to be a short digital story critique, but I’m very excited about it. About a week ago I caught wind of a new development in the world of the British band Radiohead. I don’t usually take a lot of time to read news, but like many of us I passively receive bits and … Continue reading Digital Story Critique 11: Radiohead and Social Media Marketing

I’ve been sitting on this digital story for a while, not sure how to approach it or to dissect it for our class audience. The author is Molina Speaks – an MC, poet, spoken word performer, activist, and author from right here in Denver. His says that his work “balances humble roots and urban grit, street … Continue reading Digital Story Critique 10: Bronze Future

(Everything is more magical with Harry Potter. Find an academic paper that starts with “The” and insert “Harry Potter And” in front of it.) Photo Courtesy of BigStock And in case you’re really interested, you can read Simulations, Games, and Experience-Based Learning for yourself.            

This reading, Digital Storytelling: Extending the Potential for Struggling Writers, is about how digital storytelling can help students with writing assignments when a conventional approach to writing “Digital storytelling is an example of a multimedia text that encompasses both traditional and new literacies and has the potential for stimulating struggling writers.” The article presents a compelling synthesis of … Continue reading Scholarship Response 4: Extending the Potential for Struggling Writers

(Most everyone has seen the infamous picture of The Brady Bunch where everyone in the family is showcased in their own personal box. Whether your actual family or your close group of friends, make a collage mimicking the picture shown below. In your post, explain why you chose the people you did in your collage.) … Continue reading Assignment Bank: Visual

(Type/write a favorite or meaningful poem. Put it on paper and attach it to your refrigerator or bulletin board or heck, just tape it to your bathroom mirror.) Tomorrow is May 1st, and this poem’s most memorable line is: “The month of May without France isn’t the month of May…” I was going to stick … Continue reading Daily Create 14

I’m taking a break from hip hop storytelling this week because of a digital story I recently stumbled upon. Barbie Savior is the Instagram account of a (fictitious) Barbie doll who travels to Africa to volunteer in a village. The story chronicles her journey, her discoveries and her transformation in the “country of Africa”. So far … Continue reading Digital Story Critique 9: Barbie Savior’s Instagram

Using the online organizational tool, Kumu, I created a web map of student services relationships at CU Denver.

This week marks not only William Shakespeare’s birthday but also 400 years since his death in 1616. This daily create asks us to interpret a famous line from Hamlet with something involving a skull. I chose a painting done by a friend. Enjoy. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent … Continue reading Daily Create 13

Find one special lone tree, take a photo! I took this photo in the San Francisco Botanical Garden on April 3, 2016. I think it looks like someone strutting his stuff in the midst of what others might consider a serious environment. Strut your stuff, tree man!

My latest digital story critique is also about a detective. This time, the story is a comic strip, so I will be discussing both the visual and textual components. The artist/storyteller is Jamar Nicholas. The comic is no longer running and I had difficulty retracing its storyline, so for this critique I will focus on Nicholas’ eye for the hip … Continue reading Digital Story Critique 8: Detective Boogaloo: Hip Hop Cop

(Visit the home Google Streetview to find a spot of interest which you have not and will most probably never visit in your life) I don’t want to imagine that there is anywhere in the world that I will probably never visit – that is too depressing! But when I think of the impossible I … Continue reading Daily Create 11

This audio assignment is about misunderstood lyrics. We’ve all misunderstood lyrics to songs – the Jimi Hendrix example is classic: “Excuse me while I kiss this guy?” Go right ahead, sir. I’ll just keep singing along pretending I understand what you’re saying… For this assignment, I recorded myself rapping along to the original version of the Boogie Down Productions … Continue reading Assignment Bank: Audio

After exploring several video stories and one podcast, my next digital story critique is a Twitter novel. Most of my ideas for critiques are generated through Google searches for hip hop and digital storytelling. As with any online search, one thing leads to another and suddenly you find yourself down a rabbit hole of related … Continue reading Digital Story Critique 7: Teriyaki Joe: Neo-Harlem Detective

Since I am critiquing a digital story by rapper Lupe Fiasco this week, my mind started wandering and I realized that he bears a strong resemblance to one of my favorite reggae musicians, Garnett Silk. I would love to see a biopic made about the latter artist’s life, which ended tragically when he was just 28 … Continue reading Assignment Bank: Mashup

Last week I attended a concert by a band whose most famous song is entitled “Endless Cycle of Violence“. The very next day I found myself making dozens of waffles for a brunch with friends. So I present here: ENDLESS CYCLE OF WAFFLES. The original song is playing in the background. Enjoy!

Make bike art for Bike to Work Day Here is a spider web wheel where we see a scary spider made of bike gears as she ensnares cars in her trap! I found this at the Center for Appropriate Transport in Eugene, OR, during a week-long bike trip from Portlan...

The digital story that I am critiquing this week is a 30-minute episode of the popular podcast Radiolab, which airs regularly on NPR. Radiolab is an informative and educational podcast whose structure often utilizes storytelling. The program is hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich and is described as follows on their website: “Radiolab is a show … Continue reading Digital Story Critique: Straight Outta Chevy Chase

This week I have chosen to critique a chapter in The New Digital Storytelling: Creating Narratives with New Media by Bryan Alexander. It is relevant to the digital story critique that I am currently working on because it discusses podcasts. Here the author outlines the use of storytelling tools that rely on audio and video elements and he … Continue reading Chapter Critique: Social Media Storytelling

(Have you ever looked around and suddenly noticed faces everywhere? Find a “face in the wild” and take a picture to share.) Found this little guy smiling at me at the gym today, as if to say, “Keep going, you can do it! “

Get rid of something in today’s world, put its tombstone up at Boot Hill:

I have been aware of some of Dr. S. Craig Watkins‘ work since I decided to focus on hip hop music and culture in this class. References to his work with social media behavior and youth culture consistently appear in my digital storytelling searches related to hip hop. I was pleased recently to find a piece written … Continue reading Scholarship Response: Critical Design Literacy

I have been aware of Dr. S. Craig Watkins since I decided to focus on hip hop music and culture in this class. References to his work with social media behavior and youth culture consistently appear in my digital storytelling searches related to hip hop. I was pleased recently to find a piece written by him … Continue reading Scholarship Response: Critical Design Literacy

(Find an image of a well known western figure, add to it a famous quote by someone related in some way to the figure in the image and then attribute the quote to a third, related figure.) I didn’t get the third part, but here is a lyric from a Toby Keith song about his … Continue reading Daily Create 7

This is a critique of a digital story published by the entertainment blog Consequence of Sound. Among the many regular features of the popular music and film entertainment blog, Masterpiece Reviews is a series of album reviews produced by Nick Freed and Sami Jarroush. Freed appears as the host and narrator of each review. The story that … Continue reading Digital Story Critique 5: The Story of Wu-Tang