You know what differentiates us humans from other animals on this big blue planet? Of-course you know. Our spine. Naa.. thumb? I got it.. brains! Well, well, all of it and a bit more. All vertebrates have spine! Apes have thumb! I’ve heard that Dolphins are smarter in the brains category!? Scientists say that even though there are other mammals/animals with abilities overlapping humans, we beat them by far with our ability to tell stories. Storytelling. Yes. Our ability to tell stories and to gossip have made us the un-beatable species on planet earth. Our ability to tell stories is what makes us feel brotherhood and kinship amongst complete strangers. And ofcourse the flip side of the coin – animosity and repulsion towards other strangers. Stories about ourselves even forms our identity. Now it is unnecessary to point out that stories makes concepts much more pliable and relatable to students. And what more compelling way to tell gripping stories than using digital tools? Clearly Digital Storytelling is in vogue and here are some apps to make sure that you get into the bandwagon before it is too late!

Digital Storytelling – you know you want it!

We bring to you 5 free tools which would make your classes more engaging and compelling with the usage of these tools! So here you go.

• Animoto

This amazing tool facilitates unlimited videos for educators.Make eye-catching school promotional videos with ease. Quickly create video newsletters, fundraise and recruit with private school marketing videos, and add technology to the classroom with their video maker for teachers, administrators, and students. With a beginner-friendly interface, Animoto makes it easy to help your whole school communicate better, with video. They also have a free video app for classroom, which requires signing up. The steps to make a video are very simple and straightforward. 1) Choose a template and add photos and video clips 2) Customize your video by dragging and dropping your own images, video clips, and logo right into your video, or search their library of Getty stock photos and video clips to find visuals for your project. 3) Share with your school community. Digital Storytelling will be your game now.

• Cartoonist

With Cartoonist you can create comic strips consisting of professional backgrounds, characters, props, images and text. You can also combine all this with your own images. Your comic strips will be organized into a strip with several panels, which can be viewed both on the web and printed out on paper. Cartoonist contains a wide variety of themes, each with its own content. With Cartoonist, you can create multimedia stories. You can use the tool to create comic strips or more personal digital narratives. Digital Storytelling. Hell yeah.

• MakeBeliefsComix

At MakeBeliefsComix you can create your own comic strip with an easy and fun way. You have to choose a character and emotion. Then you have to add talk or thought balloons and start your character talking. You can add other characters and more conversation. Also, you can add colored backgrounds, objects and panel prompts to keep your viewers interested. Scroll and select from their diverse cast of characters, text balloons, objects, words & backgrounds. Least but not last, you can continue to edit and make more changes, and when you are done you can print or email your comic! The New York Times Learning Network has cited MakeBeliefsComix as a fun classroom resource to teach students about the news. Digital Storytelling? Tell me about it!

• Pixton

Pixton is another popular website which enables us to create fabulous comics. This lil app empowers the world to communicate graphically with comics. Pixton introduces the world to Click-n-Drag Comics™, a revolutionary new patented technology that gives anyone the power to create amazing comics on the web. From animated characters to dynamic panels, props, and speech bubbles, every aspect of a comic can be controlled in an intuitive click-n-drag motion. Over 4,000 backgrounds, 3,000 props, and 700 subject-specific comic templates differentiates them with one of the most elaborate libraries. Pixton is free for fun but has paid version for Schools and Businesses.Digital Storytelling? Sounds like it!

• Smilebox

Smilebox lets you quickly and easily create slideshows, invitations, greetings, collages, scrapbooks and photo albums right on your computer. This is an easy-to-use app for making personalized slideshows, greetings, invitations and flyers allowing you to share your memories in a creative way. Each template has a unique animation that adds a touch of fun and makes it impressive. They’ve also made sharing easy at the click of a button. Once you have completed your stunning creation, you can share it via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Please note that they offer a variety of FREE, Premium and Business templates. However you need to sign up with your details to be able to use this app. Digital Storytelling? That’s my game!

Well, there is a big world of amazing digital storytelling apps out there!! Do you have any favourites? Come on now, don’t hesitate to share some of your adventures with us!