Watch the video:

Storytelling for Community Planning – Training Video from Orton Family Foundation on Vimeo.

Watch the slideshow:

Being the daughter of a historian who spent his life researching, writing, and teaching about the early days of this country, I’m naturally thinking back today as I look out over the fields I call home…to the rich history of Vermont and its role in the country’s story, its public figures from Ethan Allen to Patrick Leahy, its deep land ethic, its commitment to social justice, its hardscrabble farmers then and now. I’m thinking about the Champlain Valley where I live, celebrating this month the quadricentennenial of Samuel de Champlain’s voyage and our connection to New France and Quebec.

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What brought me to Digital Explorations (other than a call from Barbara!) is a curiosity about how best technology can be utilized to push innovation, communication, and education.  A lot of “ation” there…  Growing up in small town Maine, I found stories to be at the “cent-ah” of how people communicate with and relate to each other.  Speaking plainly, there wasn’t a lot of internet or computers around growing up.  When I began regularly using both in college I realized the heightened sense of ownership I had over my education when I was able to bring technology into my studies – specifically multimedia visual presentations/projects, digital storytelling, blogging, etc.  The classroom grew.  I’m a visual learner, a doer, and using cameras, computers, and the web helped me better organize, make sense of, and express what it was I was taking in in the classroom.  Since graduating, I’ve been working inside and outside the classroom, in experiential education settings, and in international systems of education (namely India) working to consciously implement technology into classroom curricula, set up after school programs, and design programs of study that utilize multimedia tools.   Technology for the sake of technology does not get my turbine spinning, rather it is the application of the technology that interests me – how can technological innovations weave into the realities/routines of everyday life to improve communication, learning, teaching, and, ultimately, understanding among and between different groups of people.  It’s here that I find purpose in fiddling around with media editing software, cameras, and computers and teaching others to do so.

From time to time, I’ll write on this blog about current workshops and the development of the CCDE’s.  I thought it might also be useful for me to profile websites, storytelling (digital & non) projects, and emerging/existing technologies that can be useful in organizing, creating, communicating, and teaching – Would this be useful to you as a reader?  Stay tuned…

Summer at Digital Explorations

We offer a sampling of our innovative, experiential workshops here in our Vermont barn. If you’re interested in exploring the rich promise of storytelling and social media join us. Be inspired by our surroundings and our creative exercises and expertise. We tailor our workshops to meet the needs and interests of our participants.

Ask us about our Workshops-to-Go!

Connections, Conversation and Creativity: A Social & Expressive Media Workshop July 8 – 10

How do we harness the connective and creative potential of online practices in our communities? How do we move beyond simple information sharing to fostering creativity and sustained collaboration? In three days of discussion and hands-on activities, we cover a range of social and expressive media practices to enhance communication and collaboration, to foster creative culture, and to engage our communities actively in our work. Limited to 10

Storytelling in Our Communities July 30 – August 1 October 1 -3

In this workshop, we explore storytelling in community-based efforts. We help participants design storytelling projects for civic engagement and participation, using a range of old and new media to enhance bonds and build bridges across community while creating a vision for the future. We cover traditional and digital storytelling methods in an experiential, fun-filled three days. Limited to 10

The Whole Story: Deep Creativity and Balance August 6 – 8 September 17 – 19

During three days of storytelling, movement and meditation, we will deepen our practice as artists, activists and citizens. Learn to listen deeply and actively, to share stories, and to incorporate the serious play of creativity into your life. Workshop Leaders: Barbara Ganley and Cynthia Fuller-Kling

Workshop Leaders:

Barbara Ganley, Director and Founder of Digital Explorations. Known for her energy, her creative exercises, and her deep knowledge in the field, Barbara brings over twenty years of teaching writing and creative thinking, and eight years working in the worlds of social media and digital storytelling to our workshops. Read more about her on our About Us page. Remy Mansfield, Storytelling Fellow. Remy brings his great skill in digital storytelling, in designing and leading storytelling workshops for youth, and his gifts as a photographer to the workshop setting. Read more about him here. Cynthia Fuller-Kling: Cynthia joins us for The Whole Story workshops this year. A former modern dancer, she has been a noted yoga teacher for twenty years and artist who draws upon movement, photography, video and language in her installations and performances.

Daily Schedule for All Workshops:

9:00 -noon Morning session noon-1:00 Lunch 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Afternoon Session

Location:

Tucked away at the end of a long dirt driveway, and yet just two miles from the center of Middlebury, Vermont, you’ll find our barn studio, fields and patios set in glorious surroundings with pastoral views reaching to both the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks. Workshops meet in the barn studio and porch, and, as weather permits, out on the nearly 70 acres around us. At the end of the day, you’ll have time to explore the countryside (lakes, mountains, villages) by foot, bike or car.

Lodging & Meals:

For overnight accommodation, many charming inns and bed & breakfasts dot the area. Contact us for recommendations. As a college town, Middlebury has an array of dining options. We will cook and eat together the first evening; Digital Explorations will provide local-ingredient based lunches.

Costs:

$400 per three-day workshop includes all instruction and materials, three lunches and one dinner. Lodging not included. Take a peek at our setting through this Flickr slide show. For more information: Email: Barbara@digitalexploration.org Phone: 802 989 1885