Digital Storytelling Program for VCU Faculty

What's your story? What are important stories in your discipline? How might a story introduce students to important developments, situate content in the context of history or a larger picture? What questions might be generated by a grounding story at the beginning of class? Faculty in the CTE Digital Storytelling Program will explore these and many more compelling questions. APPLY NOW!

For centuries, stories have served as means of recording events, conveying wisdom and sharing a perspective about the world around us. Through the power of narrative, a story can unfold and tell who we are and relate the significance of events or ideas to listeners in a deeply personal way. Stories can give us a new perspective, and cause us to care about issues and/or challenge us to learn and inspire us to change.

The DST program is for VCU faculty who are interested in developing and incorporating their own (or student generated) digital stories in their teaching practice as a means to share narrative stories, provide background information on a particular topic or issue, generate interest and deep reflection, foster insight, encourage discussion and enhance student engagement and learning. Participants will engage with a cohort other faculty in sequenced sessions throughout the Fall 2012 semester, in which they will be introduced to concepts and engage in discussion and hands-on practice. Each participant will create their own digital story based on some aspect of their own learning or teaching and share this with cohorts in the program. Participants will then discuss what they have learned, identify how they will incorporate digital storytelling into their course(s) and create a second story and plan for use of digital storytelling during the Spring 2013 semester. Following implementation in 2013, participants will regroup to discuss and document their experience and impact on their teaching and student engagement.

See the embedded story about previous experience in the CTE Digital Storytelling Program.



Apply NOW!!! Participation will be limited (5-8 faculty).

This session is for faculty and is limited to 8 VCU faculty participants. Deadline for submitting applications is 5 pm, Friday, September 7, 2012. The application form is available at http://www.vcu.edu/cte/programs/instructional_technology/DigitalStorytelling/application.htm

Funsintheway: The Art of Living (now) in a Cluttered Environment

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

















It never ceases to amaze me, what I find in the clutter of my life. This post is actually some writing I did in 2000 (just after the computing world was supposed to come to an end) as part of a book (yet to be written/published). In going through old e-mail as part of a migration to a new system, I unearthed somthing that still resonates. So, why wait any longer? My creative works are all to often hidden under a bushel, so I'm going to let it rip.

"Funsintheway: The Art of Living (now) in a Cluttered Environment". Life is ultimately spiritual. For centuries philosphers, gurus and spiritual guides have directed their teachings to enable us to "be in the moment". "Oh, Sure, Come on Over" celebrates the fullness of life in the moment. Other self help books which focus on improving your environment and architectural surroundings are filled with photographs of pristine, elegant and sometimes zen like environments. However, these are routinely devoid of any people or evidence of human existance in these environments. These books are a lie. They document those rare moments when everything is "in its' place"; that rare
few minutes before guests arrive (After an all night cleaning session which ends up with the last few items tossed in a closet). When was the last time you saw a self help book which celebrated the naturalness and the elegance of shoes which had been kicked off in the celebration of rest, or underwear hanging from the arm of a chair? Or when have you seen a Ralph Lauren bedroom with a weeks worth of clothes on the bedpost, a laptop and papers on the bed and dirty dishes piled on the bedside table? How about any people who are seen just in the midst of living?

Living with guilt and anxiety over cleaning to be done or papers to be filed is not really living. Learning to live in the moment is a spiritual journey which is mastered by few. Celebrate the cobwebs on your bathroom lightbulbs. Wipe them away when the time is right.  Recognize the order in your apparent clutter. You know which pile to look in for your telephone bill! Invite someone in and clear of a patch in the middle of your "important papers";  share a glass of wine and nibble on some cheese. Pick up your instrument and share a few new tunes with a friend. Lean back on that pile of unfolded clothes and throw another log on the fire. Relax baby, it's Miller time.


In fairness to my collaborator, Jeanne Schlesinger, I am establishing the following copyright: All rights reserved to "Oh, Sure, Come on Over" by William Deihl and Jeanne Schlesinger. Note: "Funsintheway: The Art of Living (now) in a Cluttered Environment" is part of "Oh, Sure, Come on Over".