The Digital Memoir

in English 101
A Worked Example
Dabian Witherspoon

Introduction
English 101: Freshman Composition I

classes
digital memoir, a short video

companion piece for the written memoir

essay
digital media learning (DML)
worked example: an experimental
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 introduction-body-conclusion structure of a

formal essay
beginning-middle-end structure of a three-acts

story
emphasis on planning, outlining, writing, and

revision

This worked example addresses the following

questions:
1) Does requiring an audio-visual component such as

digital storytelling to supplement a written essay

assignment engage the students more than just writing
the essay?
2) Do students perform better overall when they must

meet this expectation?

Compare diagnostic essay grades from the beginning
of the semester to the final grades for the memoir
essays.

Background:
Digital Media Learning
Professor Keith Mehlinger, Director of the

Digital Media Center, and I discussed ideas such

as participatory group learning, universal
themes, critical thinking, and social and political
themes.
I reviewed various DML internet resources,

articles, white papers, books, and

documentaries such as Digital Media: New
Learners of the 21st Century (2010).
I can provide this list to anyone who is

interested.

A key concept in these approaches is that students

learn more thoroughly when they must teach or

present what they learn to their peers, and they
perform even better when they believe that an even
wider audience might eventually see their work.
This is related to another concept discussed in the

documentary. In focus groups, students meet amongst

themselves outside of class, either in person or via
social media.
Students benefit from these types of interactive,

shared spaces (Digital Media).

Digital media learning is not a

replacement for traditional classroom

learning.
Instead, it is an effective supplement,

especially considering:

the digital literacy of todays students and

the increasing importance of people being

capable of solving problems right now and in
the future, when they encounter things that
might not yet exist.
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Traditional learning

and digital media

learning must coexist.
Educators must find

ways to coordinate
traditional learning
with digital media
learning

Preparation
Collaborating with the Digital Media Center

(DMC):

Final Cut Pro 7 (video editing software)

lab space

Set up and technical support

Factors in choosing a course section.

a class time that would avoid conflict with the needs

of other instructors

class size (the smaller the better in both composition

and DML)
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Introducing the Project

The

memoir essay (written)

Essay

guide

Sample

essay outline

Brief

introduction to digital storytelling and

three-act story structure
Examples

(created by other students):

Communities

of Color at the Center for Digital

Storytelling
YouTube

Introduction

to Final Cut Pro by a DMC staff

member
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My class was not held in the lab everyday.

I oversaw the completion of the project in

the lab.
I gave tips on using the internet safely and

working on their projects efficiently.

Manual virus scan for any download

Adequate file storage

Backing up their work

When students had questions that I could

not answer, I brought in a DMC staff

member.
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The Video Project

Three parts:
pre-production
production
post-

production

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Pre-Production
Collect and return memoir essay rough

drafts.
The essay becomes the script that the

student will read from.

Student collects personal photos and Google

images (theme and metaphor).

Student selects instrumental background

music (no lyrics)

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Production
Record the students narratives, using a

portable Zoom recorder .

Importing files to a Final Cut Pro file
Audio

(narrative and music) in MP3

format

Video

files (jpeg photos)

Synch photos with the narrative.

Create smooth transitions.
Title and Credits pages
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Quality Check
Sound
Photo

arrangement

Transitions

Convert Final Cut Pro file to QuickTime

format.

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Post-Production
We viewed the QuickTime video to check

the video and sound quality.

If necessary, we made adjustments back in

the Final Cut Pro project file, re-saved, and

reconverted to QuickTime.
Some students ran out time and had to

complete their projects without any last

minute video changes such as sound level
improvements or better photo transitions such
as dissolves or fades.
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Students uploaded their videos to

YouTube.
A YouTube video can be marked as public,

private, or unlisted (viewable only by

invitation via website link).
Since their QuickTime video files were

too large to submit to me by e-mail, the

students e-mailed their YouTube website
links to me.

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I hoped to have time for an-class video

screening and to allow the students to

interact, discuss the project, and even vote on
the best video.
Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

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Conclusion
The conclusion consists of:

Student reactions

Project results

Essay comparisons

Other Ideas

Recommendations

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Student Reactions
At first, the students were not excited

about the project because it just seemed

like extra work, and their inexperience
made them uncomfortable.
After they began importing their photos
and music, they became absorbed in the
project.
Some students balanced their time
between the project and their remaining
written essays, but a few students didnt
want to do anything else.
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Project Results
The digital memoir project was engaging

but labor-intensive. It was fun but not

easy.
There were minor errors in sound level

and photo transitions.

Still, as expected, students

demonstrated basic media literacy and

simply needed time to adjust to a
specific type of software.
Students did a nice job, overall.
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Essay Comparisons
At the end of the semester, I compared the

students Pre-Test/diagnostic essay scores (0100) to their final essay scores (0-100).
None of the students performed well on the Pre-

Test essay.
Pre-Test grades ranged from 40 to 60.
However, the final essay grades ranged from 60

to 72.
These were grades of C and D, but their grades

improved between 5 points and 20 points

(between 7% and 33%).
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Of course, participation in the digital memoir

video project was only one factor that seemed

to help students improve.
Our extensive in-class review of grammar,

sentence structure, brainstorming, outlining,

and basic essay structure (including the threepart thesis) was crucial, and there is no
justifiable substitution for it.
In-class activities, both as a whole and in

smaller groups, were also beneficial.

Students had plenty of practice with formal

essay assignments, completing a total of five

essays this semester.
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Any student who puts forth a legitimate

effort will make some level of improvement

over time.
Unfortunately, with any approach, the degree of

student effort varies. For example, three students

did not complete the final essay, and two of those
students did not complete the memoir video
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Considering all the factors involved in even

the slightest improvement in students

performance, it seems that this worked
example is most useful in determining
whether DML engages our students more
than a traditional approach alone.
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Other Ideas
Group DML assignments could be given, but

students are more connected to individual

projects. Individual projects encourage voice.
Any combination of traditional learning and

digital media is more engaging for todays

students than traditional learning alone.

For example, in all of my classes, I assign an essay in

which students compare a short novel to its movie
adaptation.

Students find it engaging, learn digital storytelling basics,

and still must apply basic essay structure and a specific
three-part thesis.
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Recommendations
The process of completing a digital media

learning project is time-consuming and difficult

to complete within one semester.
Although this generation of students brings at

least a basic level of media literacy with them to

college, students need time to adapt to the
applicable software and possibly, hardware.
In the case of the memoir video projects, the

time required to record the students narratives

and to thoroughly edit their individual projects is
even more costly.
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Therefore, in order to incorporate DML

assignments in an English class, the

instructor would need at least one
assistant.

This could be a student assistant such as a Teaching

Assistant (TA) or a lab assistant who is dedicated
only to working with a particular class.

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Regarding class size, fortunately, this

worked example involved a smaller-thanusual class of 14 students.

The current maximum of 35 students per

English 101 course section in the fall and

even the maximum of 25 per section in
the spring would hamper the efficiency
and the effectiveness of any DML
component.

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Digital Memoir Examples

The following videos are marked Public on
YouTube:
Change Is Inevitable, Growth Is Optional

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOtMOP
2FAYM
The Best Years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg15_ogrj
t8
Anything is Possible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR2Dr1k
NTDg
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