Case Study: commercial/high-quality digital story

https://www.pbs.org/video/pov-hyphen-nation-armando/

Hyphen-Nation is a critical, personal, collection of digital stories. The compilation of 30+ stories is centered around the question: "The time I felt most American was..." Most of the stories both negative and positive focus on Americans that come from different backgrounds other than "White" Americans (although a few are showcased). The thing that I found important, that INTE 5340 was lacking a bit, in regards to another narrative, is the story and positioning of digital stories, opportunities, access, and identity for people of color. For me, being brown and viewed as the “other” a person not seen as “American” who will be teaching students much like me in background and physical characteristics teaching history…. I find it to be my obligation and duty to be mindful and consistent in the content I choose to teach and how I incorporate a marginalized narrative. Literally, the stories of “others” in American history have been reduced to small paragraphs in the margins of textbooks. Hyphen-Nation takes a topic as simple and so personal as the memories and stories of Americans and asking them to share “The time I felt most/least American was…”

Platform used <what I thought initially>: Storywall is the platform used. The company is pretty cool and they do a lot of different concepts, such as concerts, news stories, and customer/marketing experiences. as they put it, “Strategic event marketing in real time! Engage, acquire, and retain customers with event driven marketing automation.” the companies website is pretty minimal, but they look to get customers the information they need while actively participating and engaging in whatever the product is. There team has an extensive list of accolades and years of experience in the entertainment business, all of which has brought the storytelling niche to this platform.
http://www.storywall.it/
“Content delivery and fan engagement”
Other Examples of Storywall:

*** I am having a bit of a hard time solidifying this is the exact platform used. I have been searching the site and can’t say for sure. However, I have found that PBS POV teamed up with the New York TImes to create this series.
http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/pressroom/2016/06/call-for-embedded-mediamaker-race-related-nytimes-pov-digital-documentary/ This is the blog talking about the project and seeking a mediamaker in various forms: documentary filmmaker, technologist creator...someone who stays rooted in documentary storytelling.
Following their chosen mediamaker Bayeté Ross Smith is a photographer, multimedia artist and filmmaker from Harlem, N.Y.
How does this story exemplify the ideals and theories of digital storytelling and learning?
This story exemplifies the ideas and theories of digital storytelling simply by the nature of the project and what it was set out to accomplish. It reminds me a bit of the Race Card project. Its interactive, personal, and also wants participation.
“The filmmaker and artist Bayete Ross Smith asked nine different Americans of varied backgrounds questions about when they have felt most and least American. You can see their answers in Hyphen-Nation, a video, art, and interactive project -- you can also participate.”
I believe a lot of what our class did, the theme, A Hero’s Journey, having to tell a story and create a deeper/unique identity has a lot to do with Hyphen-Nation. The way Hyphen-Nation asked a deep question, a challenging and personal question is what a step in the development and realization of identity can look like. I think that with the changing dialogue and greater mixing of people’s and families, what it means to be American and when you felt most or least American is an important question to ask. I also think that as teachers, educators, and students, it is vital that we hear and attempt to understand other’s (that are different from us-physically, economically…) points of view and experiences.


How might a story like this be leveraged in an educational setting?
I think this story could be leverage in many different educational settings. I see, secondary and beyond. This could be a journal prompt, a bell ringer, an intro or exit to a lesson/book/unit.
As a History teacher, I find this topic could be great for Civics and a way for students to explore American Identity and privileges that go along with it. It is also a chance to have an open discussion about who is considered American and who is left out and where does this stem from. Is there a particular point in history that we can definitively say, This is where the definition of American comes from: this text, this law, this movement, this [whatever].

  • https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/storywall/hyphen-nation


Stories on Hyphen-Nation






Life vs. Livelihood


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