Map it out: Storyboards and Podcasts
I teach broadcasting in high school and the use of a storyboard is fundamental to any project we work on. Most of my students get frustrated when I tell them to storyboard, but in the end they figure out it was needed.
What is a storyboard?
- A storyboard is a drawing that represents the idea of what you think you would like your scripted shots to look like.
- Generally, they are put together on a paper that has several small squares for you to draw your shots in.
- Often, there are lines below each box to allow the artist or director to write out dialogue or screen directions.
Reasons to storyboard
- Visualize your shots - after writing your script, you can see what it might look like
- Your crew, or yourself, will understand what you want.
- Depict any planned camera movements or resources you will need.
- Helps point out the holes in your story.
(Journalism Education Association)
Possible Elements to Include in a Storyboard
- Navigation - GUI (Graphical User Interface), includes the buttons needed to navigate through the program.
- Course Contents - Must have a frame with a sample of the Table of Contents, outline and map.
- Quizzes/Testing
- Audio Scripting
- Learning Objectives
- Module Name
(Rector)
YouTube: Brigham Communications
12 tips for effective storyboards
1. Select a storyboard template - Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop or free online ones, such as storyboardthat.com or toonboom.com
2. Have a clear idea of your goals and objectives beforehand. Why are you creating this eLearning course? What are your main and secondary learning goals and objectives? What are the desired results?
3. Know your target audience. Research is key to creating a successful eLearning storyboard. Conduct focus groups, surveys, and one-on-one interviews to learn as much as possible about your audience, including their educational background, culture, professional knowledge base, experience level, and what skill sets or knowledge you need to include in your eLearning course.
4. Figure out when and how you will assess your learning audience. While many people might assume that adding eLearning assessments is one of the final stages in the planning process, it should actually be one of the first. While you are creating your storyboard figure out where each of the tests and exams will be placed and what type of assessment is best suited for the subject matter and audience. Look at the storyboard, as a whole, and map out your knowledge checks, as well as lesson summaries and chapter recaps.
5. Write content for each of your eLearning objectives. Writing content for each of your objectives will help you keep your eLearning storyboard flow natural and your audience focused.
6. Organize your material by creating your content sequence. To support your eLearning objectives, you need to define the right design elements. Gather the learning material from the subject matter expert and all information necessary from your client to organize your content.
7. Decide upon the multimedia elements. Images and graphics, animations, eLearning videos, all these and a lot more help your audience capture best the message you need to get across. Decide upon all the multimedia elements you will incorporate into your eLearning course by including an analytical description of each in the corresponding part of your eLearning storyboard.
8. Be as detailed as possible when storyboarding interactions. As your progress through each screen of your storyboard include every interaction that needs to be integrated into the final design.
9. Add your script. Keep screen text short and to the point, as it's going to be further explained in your voice overs. You have only one chance to deliver your points, so remember that too many words on each screen may tire or even bore your audience.
10. Prevent cognitive overload. Bear in mind that the storyboard is going to serve as a guide as you move forward in the development process. So, now it's time to take your final decision about how much content you are going to include on each page and how you are going to deliver the information.
11. Map out the eLearning course navigation. Decide where to put the next and back buttons, what graphics you will use to denote these actions, and how your eLearning course will respond to specific behaviors of your audience.
12. Include transitions between each lesson. Storyboarding gives you the opportunity to plan out every detail of your eLearning course, including how and when you will transition between slides and modules. Include transition screens between topics and make a note of how you will transition to the next segment.
(Pappas, 2015)
Podcasts
The COVID-19 epidemic lead to many changes in learning. One of them being including podcasts into courses.
Podcasting offers the opportunity for lecturers to easily broadcast engaging audio content, which students can then listen to at any time and wherever they are. A student only needs to subscribe to a podcast feed and suddenly you can push educational content to them, rather than wait for them to come. Podcasts can easily be used in Schools, universities or colleges to engage students, and improve your teaching and learning practice (Gray, 2022).
Some of the benefits to using podcasts in education are:
- Flexibility - it's available 24 hours a day. This makes it convenient for the student to listen whenever.
- Students listen for longer than they'll watch or read.
- Students can create their own content.
- Lecture review - easy for students to access and creates invaluable study aid.
- Make up for missed classes.
- Consistency - the teacher or professor can make sure they always cover any given topic the best way possible.
- Benefits for students who have mental or visual impairments.
(Gray, 2022)
YouTube: Think Media
Starting a podcast steps:
Ask these questions first: What's your podcast for? Who is your podcast for? Why do you want people to listen?
Naming your podcast - depending on why you are using the podcast depends on the name. You can be clever, descriptive, or just use your own.
Figure out how long you want episodes to be. Anything from 20-45 minutes seems to be the "sweet spot" for an episode length.
How often should new episodes be released - it’s doing nobody any good if you’re just putting episodes out for the sake of hitting a self-made deadline. You’d have a greater impact on your target audience if you put out one excellent episode a month instead of 4 very average episodes. So again, let your content dictate what you do here. And once you’ve been podcasting for a while and have gained a bit of traction, ask your audience.
Episode Titles - The biggest mistake when it comes to naming your episodes is to call them “Episode 1”, “Episode 2”, and so on. Nobody’s going to know what to expect if they listen. The whole point of a podcast is that people listen to it, so give them a reason to click on one of your episodes. Make it clear to people what they will get from listening to your show. If you look on any podcast directory you will see shows with titles like “How To…”, “Five Tips For…” etc. These are popular because they work. You just need to make sure that you are delivering in the episode what you promised in the title.
Format - Solo, Co-Hosted, Interview...pick the one the works best for your show.
Recording - simple microphone and free software like Audacity and you can put together a good podcast. Make sure you have a script or storyboard to keep you on topic.
(McLean, 2017)
My thoughts
The idea of storyboarding and using podcasts is something I am interested in implementing into my instruction. While my students have to storyboard their news stories, I can see the benefit of storyboarding out a lesson.
I can also see the benefit of using podcasts, even just as a simple lecture. I will be looking at to how I can implement both of these tools better into my teaching.
References
(2014, March 25). STORYBOARDING IN MULTIMEDIA BROADCAST. Journalism Educators Association. Retrieved February 14, 2024, from https://curriculum.jea.org/wp/storyboarding-in-multimedia-broadcast/
Gray, C. (2022, October 1). Podcasting in Education: What Are the Benefits? The Podcast Host. Retrieved February 14, 2024, from https://www.thepodcasthost.com/niche-case-study/podcasting-in-education/
Pappas, C. (2015, July 13). 12 Tips To Create Effective eLearning Storyboards. ELearning Industry. Retrieved February 14, 2024, from https://elearningindustry.com/12-tips-to-create-effective-elearning-storyboards
Podcast Academy (2018) How to Start a Podcast Step-by-Step. Retrieved February 14, 2024 from https://www.thepodcasthost.com/academy/resource-library/
Rector, R., (No Date). Storyboarding for Instructional Design. Retrieved February 14, 2024 from https://docplayer.net/2944105Storyboarding-for-instruc-onal-design-robert-rector.html
Comments
Post a Comment